Get 1% Better Today
Yesterday was Halloween, and if you have some feelings about your food, drink, or candy consumption over the weekend, or if you have any stress or anxiety about any candy that's currently in your house, go back and read last week's Halloween post!
If you, like many people, are aiming to start this week with a reset -- getting rid of any and all candy, eating "healthy," etc. -- my advice to you, as a trainer and nutrition coach, is to take it slower. Much slower.
Start with one step at a time.
Get one percent better every day.
Please don't try to go all in with your workouts and your nutrition and your sleep all at once in one day. It will only feel overwhelming and lead to stress, burnout, and ultimately needing to start over (again)!
Trying to go all in and make major lifestyle overhauls all at once is too extreme. It's the reason so many people struggle and "fail" and feel like they're "back at square one."
As I've said before, there is no square one, because life is not a board game that sends you back to the beginning when you make a wrong move.
That's one of the problems with crash diets, fad diets, 10-day detoxes, 21-day challenges, etc. They're designed to be extreme, which is unsustainable, which means you need to sign up and pay again to repeat the vicious cycle of short-term results followed by frustration followed by "failure." Many of them even tell you that if you don't stick with it 100%, you're cheating yourself and your results.
I call b.s.
Screw 100% commitment and going all in and completely changing your life in somewhere between 10 and 30 days. Because I've been in this industry for awhile, and it's not gonna happen, and if it does, it's almost certainly not going to last.
Instead of 100%, try 1%.
Yup, that's right, one tiny percent.
Small changes, done consistently, add up. They're easier to manage, so they're easier to stick with for a long time.
Think about it. What sounds more doable: changing EVERYTHING right this minute, or doing one thing today, and adding on a tiny little step every day?
I am all for small, consistent actions. Doing less to ultimately get more sustainable long-term results. Easing myself into a change until one day, I don't even have to think about it, because it's just what I do.
THAT is the better way to get where you want to go.
Not by flooring it non-stop until you run out of gas, but by taking your time, being smart, and making 1% more effort and progress every day.
What ONE small thing can you do today to get you closer to your goals, or to improve your quality of life by 1%?
Pop over to my Instagram and share what you're working on!
