Why You Should Think Less This Year
Happy New Year! Did you set a New Year’s resolution? I’m not huge on resolutions.
I always used to set health goals for myself, but I would bite off way more than I could chew and then burn out. And feel crappy about it. Which made me stressed. And therefore less healthy.
I’d set a goal and then spend weeks crafting my plan to meet that goal.
This year I’m going to get in the best shape of my life! I’m going to do that by going for a long run every day, going to X yoga classes a week, eliminating sugar and wine from my diet, and eating XYZ every day.
That’s how it will go down. Perfect, perfect, perfect.
I would spend so much time analyzing how it should be, planning the ideal situation, mapping out exactly how and when it will happen…
I’ve spent hours charting meal plans, cleaning out the junk from my cupboards, reading diet books, looking at fitness class schedules online, buying new running kicks, buying a new yoga mat, downloading guided meditations (this list continues on for awhile).
I’ve always done all the prep work, but the follow-through hasn’t always been there. Too much thinking, not enough doing! That’s no way to move forward.
Too many of us set unrealistic goals for ourselves and then feel defeated when we inevitably fail to meet those goals. The first moment things don’t go the way they’re “supposed” to—the moment things become less than ideal—we want to give up.
Because perfectionists make perfect quitters.
We can get paralyzed by the fear of not being perfect. We have a tendency to think of things as all-or-nothing. Either I’m running 6 miles a day, 6 days a week or not at all. If I don’t eat a salad for lunch like I am “supposed” to, then I might as well eat a box of cookies at dinner. I already had one glass of wine, so I’ll just polish off the bottle.
Enter the Monday Morning Syndrome.
I screwed up today, so this week is a wash. I’ll just start again Monday morning. (Wash, rinse, repeat.)
Is this you?
Then stop trying to orchestrate the PERFECT scenario.
Trying to restructure your life/your body/your health overnight doesn’t work. It’s too overwhelming. When we realize we can’t do it all, or do it all perfectly, it makes us feel stuck. Because if I fall short of the (unrealistic) goal I set for myself, then what’s even the point??
Stop thinking of ALL the things you should be doing and the perfect way you could be doing them and actually do one. Just one! That’s it.
Go to one yoga class. Go for one run. Sit and meditate for 10 minutes. Try one new recipe.
Not all at once. Not all in one day. Maybe not even all in one week. Start small and experience each step forward as a little triumph. You’ll feel good and then you’ll want to take another step forward. This, my friend, is movement. Baby steps work. They eventually add up to create real, lasting change. But only if you keep moving.
Stop overanalyzing so much and just do something. Think less, move more.
This year I want to help you get out of your head and into your body. Let’s take the first step together.
Create a list of 5 thing you told yourself you would do today.
These things are probably swirling around in your head, haunting you, teasing you and stressing you out.
Here’s mine (in an attempt to be orderly, calm and clean):
1. Meditate
2. Clean the bathrooms in my house
3. Try a new workout DVD during baby’s nap time
4. Make extra baby food
5. Finish this blog post
Got your list? Now go do one task. If you can’t do it this moment, then do it by the end of today. JUST ONE. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Stop thinking so much—just move!
Now I gotta go move my biscuits so I can scratch #5 off my list.
