How to Use the 20 Mile March for Every Day Awesomeness

The 20 Mile March is a concept which appears in Jim Collins’ book Great by Choice. The book focuses on businesses and corporations that have weathered the storms of adversity and flourished in the process.

The businesses and individuals who incorporated the 20 Mile March into their structures, goals and processes were much more successful than comparison companies that didn’t.

So what exactly is the 20 Mile March, and how could it help you become a better Dad and person in general?

What is the 20 Mile March?

In Great by Choice the 20 Mile March is an example used of consistency over a long period of time. The specific example is of someone who is walking across the USA. Coast to coast.

The man who walks 20 miles consistently over a long period of time will reach their destination sooner than someone who walks bursts and long pauses.

A real world example of this was Roald Amundsen, the first man to the South Pole. His expedition traveled an average of 15.7 miles per day to reach their goal.

Slow progress but ultimately successful.

Collins gives examples of businesses he studied that took this approach in some form. For example one business set a sales target for each of its employees. Every sales person had to reach this target. There were no prizes for greatly exceeding it but there were consequences for missing it…

It was a realistic and achievable target.

This kept growth sustainable and manageable. The business thrived while competitors saw boom and bust.

Applying the 20 Mile March Concept to Every Day Life

Can Collins’ 20 Mile March have a bearing on how you live your life? What parts of life could you apply the 20 Mile March to?

• Improving your diet
• Career or other business targets
• Reaching a fitness or fat loss goal
• Raising well mannered, well trained children

All of these are legitimate goals and aspirations. However the temptation is that you want to achieve these things yesterday, never mind today or tomorrow!

Fad diets, 12 week transformations, fast business success are all up for grabs.

If you read the right books.

If those are paths you’ve chosen, I salute you. However the risk is that after that initial period of enthusiasm and motivation, boredom and complacency sets in and you end up right where you started.

Take this blog as an example. When I started out I was writing loads but also recording YouTube videos, sometimes several a week. At the same time I was picking up a lot of freelance work.

After reading Great by Choice, I realised that I was spreading myself too thin. I chose a more realistic goal of posting twice a week and only picking up freelance work if time allowed.

If that means turning down work and leaving money on the table, then so be it. It’s important that my posts are quality reading.

That’s what separates this site from other ‘Dad Blogs’.

The result is that the site is growing. I’ll return to the whole YouTube thing at some point but right now I’m focusing on you, the reader.

I’m writing this post in a room with no WiFi but I’m still planning on getting it out there. The 20 Mile March can apply to more than just business or polar exploration!

(I’m now sitting in a coffee shop in Oxford editing this post. Making those 2 posts a week is a declaration of consistency – what can you apply it to?)

A Consistent Approach to Health and Fitness

It’s 5 am and I’m standing on the front step while the sleet drives horizontally in front of my face. I need to run now or I won’t get the chance for the rest of the day. ‘I’ll just do 20 minutes’ I think to myself, knowing full well that if I commit to this short distance, it’s better than nothing.

Missing a day’s training is not an option.

If you’re embarking on a new fitness regime or you’re just looking to clean up your diet a little, consistency is key. The 20 Mile March concept can help you break down your goals into achievable, manageable chunks.

Think about it: If you eat super-duper healthy for three or even four days of the week but then pig out on junk food for the remaining days, how is your body going to look over a prolonged period.

Or if you train like a maniac for two weeks, or even two months and get completely burned out and can’t train for a month (I’ve done this more than once) will you make any real progress?

However if you’re consistent, bringing healthy eating and training into your lifestyle, those habits will stay with you.

I like having a cheat meal although you could also call it a reward or a treat meal. If I’ve eaten healthily throughout the week and stayed away from cakes, biscuits and anything else that I tend to binge on, I’ll reward myself at the end of the week.

For one meal on the weekend, I can eat whatever I want: chips, burger, ice cream – nothing is off limits for that one meal.

When it’s done, it’s back to my normal way of eating.

Having consistency when it comes to fitness is not only better for your gains, its also better for your body. If you can avoid injury or burnout indefinitely through sensible training and rest, you will make progress.

I guarantee it.

This is one of the advantages in following a set program such as Jim Wendler’s 531. You’re much less likely to over train or get worn down to the point of exhaustion.

I trained myself to the edge of my physical health. I eventually broke down into exhaustion, rashes and fever. It took me a long time to recover.

You can’t train like a professional athlete year round without the same rest, nutrition and (dare I say) drugs they’re on.

But if you’re smart and make small changes and commitments like ‘I will go to the gym four times a week for at least 30 minutes’, that’s better than unrealistic enthusiasm punctuated by injury and ultimately failure.

The 20 Mile March Applied to Raising your Kids

Can the 20 Mile March apply to the parenting part of being a Dad? I think so. But what does this look like?

Firstly, I don’t believe home should be like a prison or a military camp. I want my kids to have freedoms to make choices in a relaxed but firm atmosphere.

Sanctions such as ‘the naughty step’ can be invoked as necessary but if used too often, or not consistently, their significance wears off quickly.

Consistency needs to be a feature of a parenting approach. Even the youngest of children can skillfully play parents off each other if they sense weakness. This leads to conflict in the home and so should be avoided.

Consistency and Achievable Goals

There are several take home points from applying the 20 Mile March to fatherhood. These are:

1. Maintain a consistent approach: Whatever your goals are, consistency is important. If you are only disciplined enough to work towards a goal half the time, you’re not going to succeed. This could apply to health, fitness, money, career, relationships…anything really.

2. Don’t overdo things: Being manically obsessed with goals is fine for those who a) Don’t have kids. b) Don’t work 2 jobs. c)Don’t have crippling mortgage debt. Otherwise, as a Dad, you’re going to need to spread your time and priorities over lots of things like bath times, homework, cleaning the house, working, being the best Dad ever etc… Having the steady 20 Mile March approach will bring your closer to your goals without bringing you to the edge of reason.

3. Break your goals into manageable steps: When I lost my Dad Bod, I did it a pound or two a week. Over the 12 weeks, that added up to over 17lbs of fat loss. Even if you lose half a pound per week, that adds up to 20lbs in under a year. You’ll find that easier to maintain than if you went on some faddy crash 3 week fasting diet.

Apply the 20 Mile March to your life to see those goals become a reality.

P.S. You can buy or download the audio book (recommended) version of Great by Choice by Jim Collins here (Amazon).