Living a healthy lifestyle isn’t a black & white thing. It’s about the various shades of grey that exist between.
I see the negative outcomes of black and white thinking in clients all the time – and I’ve witnessed them in myself. If I did all my workouts and ate perfectly clean I was GOOD (cue angels singing). If I missed a workout or “slipped” and had an “off plan” treat I was BAD (clearly evil and doomed for failure). But the trouble with this approach is that nobody can be good/ clean/ on plan all the time. And when we allow our behaviours to define US we’re setting ourselves up for a big old dose of FAILURE!
Because inevitably we will “slip up.” We won’t stay “on plan” and if we allow that choice to define us – cue the guilt, the shame & then bring on slippery slope of more poor choices. But what if instead of allowing ONE choice define us, we re-framed how we define a healthy lifestyle?
What if we instead looked at our healthy lifestyle as simply a series of choices, where every single choice is a clean slate?
What if we viewed every choice as an opportunity to work towards our goals?
How would that change your life?
What I know is that this approach can be game changing. Because it’s realistic and something most people can be consistent with – LONG term. And LONG term consistency – that’s the magical ingredient of success.
So instead of looking at your healthy lifestyle as black & white I encourage you to re-define it in shades of grey. And the shades of grey will change day to day, week to week & year to year based on your priorities, goals & vision. More on that topic here. For now, I’ll leave you with this:
Every choice is a clean slate. YOU are not defined by the choices you make. And in the pursuit of your goals progress IS perfection.