Dre's Takes: What You Avoid Right Now Will Show Up Later

The things you're skipping, avoiding, or letting slide in May will be obvious in summer. Here's why the small stuff actually matters — and how I hold myself accountable when no one else is watching.

"Pressure exposes what you avoided. But if you feel prepared, you are unstoppable."

We're mid-season now. May. The point in the year where the initial momentum, promises and “new year resolutions” starts to fade and the real work begins. And here's what I've noticed — both in myself and in watching other people operate at a high level:

This is when people start cutting corners.

Not in big, obvious ways. In the small things. The things that seem like they don't matter. Skipping the warmup ( which I have done ). Letting the recovery slide. Not prepping the night before. Checking your phone first thing in the morning even though you know it derails you. Saying "I'll do it tomorrow" when you know tomorrow is already full. I have never been a procrastinator, I think it actually makes me itchy.  Hehe. 

And here's the truth that no one wants to hear: what you avoid right now will show up later. The things you're skipping in May? They'll be glaringly obvious in July. In August. When it matters most. 

01 — The Little Things People Start Skipping

Let me be specific about what I mean. These are the things I see people — including myself when I get bored— start to let slide when the initial excitement wears off and the grind sets in:

The recovery. This one has been difficult for me. The stretching. The ice bath. The foam rolling. The sleep. You tell yourself you'll catch up this weekend (jaja, weekend?)  But the weekend comes and there's always something else. And it all feels like a perennial monday. 

The prep work. A big goal I have had in my 12 grapes since december it has been to dress up like I know how! (aka somehow put together).  You know, the usual; laying out your clothes the night before. Packing your bag. Meal prepping. The boring, unglamorous stuff that makes the next day run smoothly. You skip it because you're tired. And then you spend the entire next morning in reactive chaos wondering why you feel behind before you even start.

The non-negotiables. No phone in the morning. Water first. The five minutes of journaling ( which I don’t do).The thing you said you'd protect no matter what. And then one day you skip it. And then another. And suddenly it's been two weeks and you can feel the difference but you can't quite put your finger on why everything feels harder.

These aren't dramatic failures. They're small skips. But here's what people don't realize: small skips compound.

02 — Why Small Skips Actually Compound

One missed warmup doesn't destroy you. One night of bad sleep doesn't ruin your performance. One skipped prep session doesn't derail your week.

But the problem isn't the single event. The problem is the pattern.

Because once you skip something once, it becomes easier to skip it again, it’s like it’s been given permission to happen. The brain learns. "Oh, we can survive without that." And the threshold for what's acceptable starts to shift. What used to be non-negotiable becomes negotiable. What used to be a standard becomes optional.

And the scary part? You don't notice it happening in real time. You notice it three weeks later when your energy is off. When your performance plateaus. When something that used to feel easy now feels hard and you can't figure out why.

The compounding truth: Discipline compounds. But so does the lack of it. Every time you skip the thing you said you'd do, you're not just losing that one rep — you're training yourself that the standard is flexible. And once the standard is flexible, it's only a matter of time before it disappears entirely.

03 — Taking the High Road (Even When There's a Shortcut)

I've never been able to take shortcuts. And I don't mean that in some self-righteous way. I mean it literally — I am incapable of doing it. Even when the shortcut is right there, even when no one would know, even when it would be easier, I can't bring myself to do it.

Why? Because I know myself too well. I know that if I take the shortcut once, I'll remember it. And the next time it gets hard, that shortcut will be sitting there in the back of my mind as an option. And the option alone is dangerous.

The high road isn't always harder because of the physical effort. Sometimes it's harder because it's lonely. You're doing the thing everyone else is skipping and wondering if you're the only one who cares this much. You're showing up early when no one else is there yet. You're staying late when everyone else has already left. You're doing the unsexy, unglamorous work that no one will ever see or celebrate.

But here's what I've learned: the high road is the only road that gets you where you actually want to go. Shortcuts get you somewhere — but rarely where you intended. And when the pressure comes, when it actually matters, the shortcut reveals itself. The thing you skipped? It shows up. And you're not ready for it.

04 — The Mental Battle of Doing the Thing You Don't Feel Like Doing

Let's be honest about something: most of the time, I don't feel like doing the thing.

I don't feel like getting up early all the time. I don’t feel like washing my hair when it’s going to be sweaty again. I don't feel like having the hard conversation. I don't feel like reviewing the financials. I don't feel like stretching after a long day when all I want to do is collapse on the couch.

The mental battle isn't about motivation. Motivation is unreliable. The mental battle is about doing it anyway. 

And the only way I've found to win that battle is to make the decision before the moment arrives. I don't negotiate with myself in the morning about whether I'm getting up. I decided yesterday. I don't debate whether I'm going to do the recovery work. I decided when I committed to the training plan. The decision is already made. All I have to do is execute.

The moment you start debating with yourself, you've already lost. Because your brain is incredible at justifying why today is the exception. Why this one time doesn't matter. Why you deserve a break. And maybe you do. But if you're asking that question every single day, you're not managing your energy — you're negotiating with your discipline. And discipline doesn't negotiate.

05 — How I Hold Myself Accountable When No One Else Is

Here's the thing about high performance: most of the work happens when no one else is watching. No coach. No teammate. No accountability partner. Just you and the mirror.

And that's where I hold myself accountable. The mirror.

I know it sounds dramatic but I'm not kidding. Some of the most powerful decisions I've made in my life have been made standing in front of a mirror. Looking myself in the eye and asking: Are you really doing this? Are you really giving it everything? Or are you just going through the motions and hoping no one notices? 

The mirror doesn't lie. I have physically stood in front of the mirror and told myself.  “You are done señorita” I think that you can convince other people. You can post the right content. You can say the right things. But when you're standing there alone, looking at yourself deep in your own soul, you know the truth. You know if you did the work or if you cut the corner. You know if you showed up or if you just checked the box.

And that's the accountability that actually matters. Not external validation. Not someone else's approval. Your own integrity. The ability to look yourself in the eye and know you did what you said you would do — even when no one else was there to see it.

Mirror test: Can you look yourself in the eye and honestly say you gave it everything today? Not "everything you felt like giving." Everything you're capable of. If the answer is no, that's the gap. And tomorrow is when you close it.

06 — Knowing vs Doing vs Mastering

Most people confuse knowing with doing. They read the book. They understand the concept. They nod along and say "yes, that makes sense." And then they assume that means they've done it. But knowing is not doing.

Knowing is understanding that you should warm up before training. Doing is actually warming up. Every single time. Even when you're late. Even when you're tired. Even when no one else is.

And then there's mastering.I think that I will forever love the act of learning with the goal of  mastering. To me is when the thing you used to have to force yourself to do becomes the thing you can't imagine not doing. When the discipline becomes the default. When the high road stops feeling like a choice and just becomes the road.

The gap between knowing and doing is where most people live. They know what they should do. They just don't do it consistently enough for it to matter. And the gap between doing and mastering? That's where the real separation happens. That's where you move from "pretty good" to "undeniable."

And the only way to close those gaps? Repetition. Doing the thing even when you don't feel like it. Doing it when it's inconvenient. Doing it when no one is watching. Doing it until it's not a decision anymore — it's just who you are.

07 — Pressure Exposes What You Avoided

Here's what I know from competing at a high level: pressure exposes everything.

The warmup you skipped three weeks ago? It shows up in the injury you're managing now. The recovery work you let slide? It shows up in your energy levels when you need them most. The mental prep you didn't do? It shows up in the moment you freeze under pressure because you haven't trained yourself to stay calm.

Pressure doesn't create weaknesses. It reveals them. It finds the gaps in your preparation and makes them impossible to ignore. And if you've been cutting corners, if you've been skipping the small things, pressure will expose every single one of them.

But here's the flip side — and this is what makes all of it worth it:

If you feel prepared, you are unstoppable.

When you know you've done the work — not just some of it, not just the parts you felt like doing, but all of it — pressure becomes fuel. It doesn't scare you. It sharpens you. Because you know you're ready. You know you didn't skip anything. You know that when the moment comes, you'll be able to execute because you've already done it a hundred times when it didn't matter.

That's the difference. That's why the small stuff matters. Because when the big moment arrives, you're not scrambling. You're not second-guessing. You're not hoping you did enough. You know you did. And that certainty is everything.

 

So here's my take for May: don't skip the small stuff. Don't negotiate with the standard. Don't let mid-season fatigue convince you that the unsexy work doesn't matter.

Because it does. And you'll know it does when summer comes and you're either scrambling to catch up or you're operating from a place of total certainty because you did the work when no one was watching.

The mirror knows. And so do you.

That's the take.

Chao!