As an author, one piece of feedback I occasionally get from people either about my own work (particularly with motivation) or another person’s is that “it isn’t anything new.”

And my response would be something like “do you want to learn something new that doesn’t work, or learn what’s age old and has worked for thousands of years?”

To me, I’d rather go with the time tested and proven approach any day.  After all, there’s really nothing new under the sun. Most things written in a fitness book in the last 10 years have probably been known about for at least several generations if not thousands of years.

While it could be said that a characteristic of success is “constant learning,” that’s a little too simplistic.  Instead, it’s about HOW people learn that makes or breaks their results.

It’s not only in seeing something new that you learn, but also in seeing something old in a new way.

Most of the time we lose sight of the basics and need to constantly get refocused on the boring things we all know about that lead to results.

Many of the world’s most successful people re-read the same books over and over again. Obviously they’re not getting new information, but they’re still learning because each time they read, they’re coming from a different place.

It’s easy to get caught up in fitness fads and seeking out “shiny new objects” where we want something new and different instead of doing what we already know works.

While learning novel information has its place, I encourage you to take a new look at old things.

Walking for instance isn’t a new and sexy form of exercise, but could you make it exciting by walking and listening to an interesting podcast?  Find a walking partner to have conversations with?  Walking up hills instead of on the sidewalk or treadmill?

You could also re-read an old book and see if you get new perspective now that you’re a different person reading it than the first time around.

Old and boring is typically old and boring because you’re not making the effort to see things in a new light.

Try seeing everything through “beginner’s eyes” and notice how much more interesting your life becomes.