Counting Up
This year we have talked about all manner of good things that you can do for yourself so I am back again this month with another - and this one is a doozy. So much so that it is a key part of my 12 Days of You Project.
So many times in a day, we admonish ourselves for what we don't do. I didn't work out, I didn't drink enough water or the other ones, I made dumb choices.
How about we flip it? How about we stop being "perfect" and be "good enough" instead. It's time to outswim the sharks. Here's one of my quick story - and today's Tara's Tip.
When I was a dive instructor, I always told my group that if we saw a shark, I never had to swim the fastest. I just had to swim a little faster than the slowest person.
In other words, when you're improving your habits and choices, you never have to be "perfect".
You just have to be a little bit better, consistently.
Let's try a game.
You know those parents who focus on how much less than 100% their kids got?
As in, "If you get 90% on your English test, what happened to the other 10%?"
They start from 100% (i.e. perfect) and work backwards. So everything is always less than 100%.
So, let's try an Opposite Day:
Start from 0%.
Then add.
For instance, let's imagine:
What is 0% fitness? Well, maybe lying in a full body cast in a hospital bed on a ventilator for a year.
What is 0% nutrition? Hmm. Maybe eating stuff that isn't even food. Like old newspapers, Vaseline, or cotton balls. Or rat poison.
What is 0% health? Dead.
If 0% fitness is the body cast... what's your current fitness level?
If 0% exercise is lying in bed immobilized... how much better are your exercise habits?
If 0% nutrition is eating bits of string, dust bunnies, or antifreeze... how much better are your nutrition habits?
If 0% health is dead, then even if you've got raging stomach flu today, you've gotta be at least 50% healthy.
See how much better things look when you start from the worst-case scenario?
Now keep playing the game.
Start from 0%.
See how much better than 0% you are right now.
Think about what would make you just 1% better today. (Or 0.5%.)
What would move you just a little bit forward today?
What could make you just a little bit better today?
Progress, not perfection.
Consider two options.
Option 1: Making yourself crazy for a week chasing a "100%" performance, then burning out and giving up.
Option 2: Trying to be 1% better every day, for the next 28 days.
Let's do the maths.
7 days x 100% effort + 28 days x 0% effort = no change, or backsliding. You end up feeling like a failure.
28 days x 1% better every day = significant transformation. You end up feeling like a superstar. ⭐️
Focus on "making a little progress" each day rather than being "perfect".
Start from 0% and add. Notice your small accomplishments.
Let yourself be "good enough for now". Take the pressure off. Be patient.
Keep showing up. Keep trying.
And let the shark bite someone else in the butt.
Start NOW.
Don’t wait for the “perfect” day, “perfect” body, or “perfect” schedule full of free time to come.
It never will.
Do something NOW.
Take a "5-minute action" doing whatever you can do, immediately, to stay on track.
Do that, and you're already 1% better. Congrats.
Keep it real. Repeat the mantra:
Start wherever you are. Use whatever you have. Do whatever you can.
Outswim the shark. Remember: you don’t need to swim the fastest; you just need to swim fast enough.
Shoot for "pretty good" or "a little bit better" instead of "perfect". Trust me, this works so much better.
Get on track right now with me and 12 Days of You. Stop "wondering and worrying". Start doing.
We have a new Project kicking off Sunday. Limited to a max of 12 but I have space as some people who said they needed it are not following through.
And that's on them. But for you, it means there's a spot. And I don't work on minimum numbers so it is running anyway.
Let's go: https://allergictosugar.co.nz/12-days-of-you-project/