I have said it and heard it countless times, ?I will start my program when the situation is perfect? or ?I will start next week, I?ve already fallen off my program?. At times, we all seem to get caught up with the idea of being Perfect. What I would like to share with you is that Being Perfect is a Myth. It?s not possible. You will have off days, you will fall of your program and you will experience challenges. What will determine your success is how quickly you get back on track and how quickly you create solutions. I have said the same thing many times before: There?s no starting or stopping, just doing. This idea has taken me many years to understand and accept.
Being a Collegiate Athlete and Fitness model I put so much pressure on myself to be perfect, to always be 100% compliant, to ignore what cards life dealt me, all with the thought that perfection in my nutrition & exercise would make me happy and mistakes would mean I?m failing. What I learned is the exact opposite. Mistakes are a part of life. They?re the way we learn.
You see, life is a process composed of many moments, some amazing and some challenging. Making your Health a Priority in your life is also a process. As you move through these processes you learn new things, then implement them as you go. This is the way you progress and evolve, and how you eventually achieve your goals. For example, I have worked with many clients that would eat too much food in a restaurant and/or have too many alcoholic beverages. They chose to enjoy the moment and they did nothing wrong, their choice is a part of life. The successful clients would evaluate the choices they made and see if anything at the meal could have been adjusted. They would then immediately get back on track and continue progressing, continue moving forward with an understanding that the occasional off meal is just part of the process. Unfortunately, a few clients would take that same event and view it as a failure because they weren?t Perfect, which would act as a catalyst sending their health into a downward spiral. The clients who struggled strived for something that isn?t possible, Perfection. They lived in the ?All or Nothing? mentality, just as I did for many years. With this attitude, you?re either 100% on or off completely.
The way you can break that mindset is to let yourself accept that Perfection is a Myth. Once you make the choice and accept it, the Possibility of achieving your Health Goals will become a Reality. Permanent Success with your health takes time and is accomplished through hard work, education, pacing yourself and finding enjoyment in the Process. I invite you to make that choice today, and remember: ?There?s no starting or stopping, just doing.? When you?ve finally adopted this mindset, you will feel far less pressure, achieve more than you could ever imagine, and have a great time doing it!