Ever heard of the Real Book?

Since the mid-1970s, almost every jazz musician has owned a copy of the same book. It has a peach-colored cover, a chunky, 1970s-style logo, and a black plastic binding. It’s delightfully homemade-looking—like it was printed by a bunch of teenagers at a Kinkos. And inside is the sheet music for hundreds of common jazz tunes—also known as jazz “standards”—all meticulously notated by hand. It’s called the Real Book.

But if you were going to music school in the 1970s, you couldn’t just buy a copy of the Real Book at the campus bookstore. Because the Real Book… was illegal. The world’s most popular collection of jazz music was a totally unlicensed publication. It was a self-published book created without permission from music publishers or songwriters. It was duplicated at photocopy shops and sold on street corners, out of the trunks of cars, and under the table at music stores where people used secret code words to make the exchange.

– 99% Invisible

I like to think of Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 Forever book as the weightlifting equivalent. Sure, it’s not illegal. But it is similarly hacky, and similarly genius. It’s basically just a collection of Jim Wendler’s blog posts. And it transformed my lifting forever. Most of my friends who lift seriously are on 5/3/1.

Note

The correct reading order is 5/3/1 2nd Edition followed by 5/3/1 Forever . You can skip Beyond 5/3/1.

I’ll probably write a different blog post about these books, because there’s a lot to unpack, good and bad. But today I thought I’d try to answer the following question: What lessons from 5/3/1 are transferable to other goal attainment systems?

Here’s a list:

• Create an algorithm. Follow a process. Use a framework.
• Workload can be algorithmically generated in a way that guarantees steady progress
• Make the algorithm real by writing down the formula
• Choose workload ahead of time. Plan it in simple planning sessions each cycle (e.g., the weekly 5/3/1 planning session takes less than two minutes)
• Cycle should feel real and external. Synchronize efforts with the cycle, not the other way around
• Eliminate day-to-day discretion as much as possible
• Thinking and decision making about workload are generally frontloaded
• Allow flexibility for tired days (but not zero days)
• To make progress towards the goal, simply put in the hours
• Set long-term goals, then work in the context of chunked “supporting goals”
• Keep moving, always following the cycle. No flailing
• Cycle should provide an immediate and unambigous plan for the current day
• Choices exist to help modulate difficulty and prevent falloff. Preventing falloff raises the long-term effectiveness and strengthens the habit.
• Don’t worry about seeing fast short-term progress, worry about putting in the work
• Go to work, do the work, finish. Feel good. Don’t think about it before or after.

Lessons I Haven’t Applied:

I base my progress block around hours worked each day per activity. This keeps it pretty simple.

Here are some other things from 5/3/1 that could hypothetically work:

• algorithm for choosing tasks by intensity and enjoyment
• algorithm ensures variation, pacing, etc. rather than the same hours every day
• focus primarily on a single priority (e.g. leg day) each day, rotating them throughout the week
• cycles or days with either high intensity and fewer hours, or longer hours with less intense tasks
• anchor or leader cycles with different areas of focus
• “supplemental” or “assistance” work to go along with the core, high-intensity deep work