I don’t have time to do a full workout, so I’m just going to skip it.
Does this sound familiar?
I know that there was a time in my exercising life that I had this mindset: “Well, I can’t do the workout that I’m supposed to do, so why do it at all?” And so I get it. You want to be all in. If you don’t have the time to dedicate to doing it, it’s not worth doing.
But here’s the thing: This mindset is holding you back.
Because exercise doesn’t work that way.
Health doesn’t work that way.
Consistency is the true contributor to progress when it comes to exercise, eating, and your goals.
I posted this on FaceBook the other day:
Many folks feel that they need to be ‘on’ all the time, or follow their plan perfectly to get results. Yes, you do need to be ‘on’, but you don’t have to be perfect. Perfect is a fallacy.
And quite frankly, perfect is a cop-out.
Let’s look at both the ‘perfect’ mindset & the ‘I’m not perfect’ mindset.
Let’s say that I’ve started a new diet or exercise plan
‘Perfect’
For the first few days, maybe weeks, it’s going great! Before the plan started, I hunkered down, figured out everything I needed to be compliant. I’m seeing some results. It’s great! I FEEL great!
But then, life gives me a speed bump.
And that speed bump throws me because I need to be perfect on this plan, or it won’t work. Right?
That speed bump becomes more like a the beginning of a huge obstacle.
Maybe I soldier on. And then I get another speed bump. This one throws me further off my mental game.
And on it goes.
Until I’ve given up on the plan.
Because I was supposed to be perfect. And now everything is messed up. And I can’t get my mental focus back.
Sound familiar?
Okay – so let’s now look at ‘I’m not perfect’
Just like before, for the first few days or weeks, the plan is going great.
But then, either you knew that things weren’t going to go 100% to plan, and so you created contingency plans, or you expected things to come up, and so you decided that your mantra was going to be, ‘Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough.’
And maybe you didn’t follow the plan 100%, and yes, it’s you had, maybe you would have gotten better results, BUT I’ll bet you got better results being not perfect, than giving up half-way through.
Because sometimes when we are trying to change really hard things – like our diet or activity, sometimes good enough is all that we can do.
Just last week, JillFit posted this:
The leanest and healthiest bodies are not built by being perfect all the time, they are built through days, months and years of simply doing your best, showing up as best you can, but prioritizing consistency.
Being a little less perfect will help you be a little more compliant.
And remember, not every day is going to crush. Just this morning, I was about three-quarters of the way through my workout and just decided I wasn’t feeling it, so I unloaded the bar and left. NBD. It’s fine! And to take it one step further, I felt pretty good that I pushed myself pretty hard for those 20 minutes, ha!
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that shorter workouts aren’t worth your time. In fact, the best use of your time is to do a little something daily, all the while building a habit (not to mention a body) that will serve you later.
And it all goes together. Doesn’t it?
I love this quote: “Being a little less perfect will help you be a little more compliant.” Because it is SO SPOT ON.
All of a sudden, there’s no pressure. Your workouts don’t have to be perfect. Your eating doesn’t have to be perfect. (Because what is ‘perfect’ eating anyway? I’ve never had a week of ‘perfect’ eating!)
The mindset of “if I can’t go all the way, I’m not even gonna try” is a perfectionist attitude. If I can’t be perfect, why even bother?
The perfectionist mindset is something that really resonates with me. I know that for years I called myself a perfectionist, and it really was a way for me to disconnect from others, and to avoid the pain of failure – because there. was always an excuse for why I was unable to finish the goal.
And when you’re dealing with health, the body doesn’t know ‘perfect’. It knows consistency. And your health will reflect what you consistently do.