All or nothing. I know a few people who gravitate toward that mindset. 🙂
“I ate something that wasn’t great for me” ==> Screw it; give me that ice cream now, too.
“I didn’t hit that PR on my pull-up goal” ==> All that training was for nothing.
“I’m doing the 26 day diet where I can’t have x,y,z” ==> Day 27: eat all the x,y,z things.
“I didn’t workout at all yet this week” ==> I might as well skip the gym and sleep in tomorrow.
You see, we often have a mindset that if we can’t be *perfect* at it, then why bother?
But guess what? Really good stuff happens in the not-so-perfect, too. And, as fitness/nutrition/mindset guru Jill Coleman says:
The Why Bother-type of thinking is actually kind of lazy. You aren’t lazy.
That mindset is lazy.
It keeps us in the cycle of inaction and needing to be perfect in order to progress.
The “Why Bother” mindset is actually a perfectionist one: “If I can’t be perfect, then why even try?” It’s a terrible strategy and it keeps us struggling!The most successful people are not the most perfect, they are the most consistent.
So, we show up. We do our best.
We grab that scrap paper and scribble down a plan for food for the week (even if we don’t have the perfect candlelit, relaxing moment to blissfully sift through Pinterest).
We grab our tennis shoes and take a brisk walk around the block (even if the kitchen isn’t cleaned up yet).
We show up to the gym on Monday (even if think we ‘lost all our gains’ from being on vacation the week before).
…Because part of being a fit, healthy person means riding the ebb and flow of life, and often, right down the middle.
Part of being a fit and healthy person means navigating that middle with confidence knowing that even the teeniest movement forward is progress, is rewarding, is good.
You’re only one meal (or bite!) from getting back on track. You’re only one workout away from ‘consistent again’.
So, what all-or-nothing thing are you going scrap this week?
Cheers to showing up…even in all your non-perfect glory.
~ Jess + Team Valeo