Achieving your goals in 2026 using “The Stonecutter’s Creed”
It is well known that the majority of New Years resolutions and goals fail pretty quickly. Applying the “Stonecutter’s Creed” can help you overcome the sometimes-overwhelming thought of the task ahead.
"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before."
- Jacob Riis
Whether your goals in 2026 are related to physical health or injury recovery, this quote serves as a powerful psychological tool for long-term success.
The creed explores the idea of small, focused and repeated efforts contributing to a result - the final blow.
The science of physical adaptation mirrors the stonecutter's work. To change the body, we must apply consistent, controlled stress.
In Recovery: This is progressive overload. You aren't "fixing" an injury in one session you are signalling to your nervous system and tissues that they need to adapt.
In Health: One healthy meal or one gym session won't change much, but it creates the internal "fissures" necessary for the eventual split of the rock.
Most people quit at strike 60 or 70 because the rock looks exactly the same as it did at strike one. To stay the course, try these shifts in perspective:
Focus on the strike, not the crack: Make your goal "completing the session" rather than "losing two kilograms." You control the hammer; you don’t control exactly when the rock splits.
Trust the process: Every squat, “clam” ,lift, run, jump or hop is a strike. Even if you feel "stuck," the integrity of the rock is weakening.
Expect some resistance: Stone is hard. The body is stubborn. Resistance isn't a sign that you’re doing it wrong; it’s a requirement of the process.
The stonecutter doesn’t need to swing with significant force once; they need to swing with focus and intent,and do it a hundred times. As physios and exercise physiologists. we can help you direct each strike.
Whether you are recovering from injury, training for an event or building a foundation of strength, remember that your progress is often invisible until the very moment it becomes transformative!