We all tend to live in the extremes, or at least find ourselves in the extremes from time to time.
It’s all or nothing.
You’re either crushing your fitness, or it’s been weeks/months since you’ve worked out.
You’re either strict with your diet, or it’s like the wild west of fast food.
You’re either all in on your work, or you’re so burned out you can’t bring yourself to be productive.
You’re acting like a bit of a light switch. You’re either on and shining bright, or you’re completely off and in the dark.
That ebb and flow is vicious and exhausting. What would happen if we stopped the all or nothing lifestyle and gave our energy accordingly?
For all of us light switches out there (yes, I say US because I’m right there with you), let’s try and be dimmer switches instead.
Dimmer switches are always on. They might be so dim that you can barely see the light, but it’s still on. You can crank that baby up to shine bright, or you can back it off and create some more ambiance.
You have options with a dimmer switch and how much energy you want to give it. It’s not an all or nothing situation.
With 33 days left before the New Year and a ton of events/travel coming up for you, it might be an easy thought for you to say, “Well let me just take a break and I’ll pick it back up in the New Year.”
That’s a light switch thought.
Instead, what if you took this approach?
“You know, I have a couple of trips and a lot of meals out this month. I’m going to adjust my expectations from 4 workouts a week to 2 workouts a week, and I’m going to do my best to eat in alignment with my goals while still enjoying these events I’m looking forward to.”
Ahhhh, doesn’t that feel better?! Instead of packing it all in and switching off, you’re still going to maintain your long-term consistency AND get to enjoy those things you’re looking forward to without beating yourself up.
Beating yourself up does nothing good for you. NOTHING. You can avoid this by adjusting your expectations and accepting that you can’t be 100% all the time with whatever your endeavor is (I might have written that sentence for me…).
So, with 33 days left in the year, take a moment and think about what’s really important to you. What are the compromises you’re willing to make? What are you going to dim the switch to? Or are you going to turn it up brighter?
I don’t know what’s important to you, but here’s what’s important to me:
- Keeping my fitness consistent with 4 workouts a week, but understanding that just showing up and checking the box is perfectly OK.
- Keeping myself well nourished, but enjoying special holiday moments with friends and family and accepting that might slow down my current weight loss goal.
- Keeping myself feeling GOOD and minimizing stress, which means doing the above 2 week in and week out until January.
You don’t have to have a perfect formula or some amazing blueprint. What you do need to do is take time each day and week to notice how you’re feeling, make adjustments as needed to your dimmer, and keep showing up and giving your energy where it’s important to you.
Let’s ditch the light switches. Become a dimmer.
-Coach Clark
