Hi Friend,
Do you want to make changes in your life but find yourself feeling that if you’re going to actually make a change, it needs to be all or nothing?
For example, if you want to start meditating you may assume you need to meditate every day for 30 minutes -- for the rest of your life. Maybe you start off gung ho and meditate for several days in a row and you’re feeling pleased. But then you skip a day because either you simply didn’t get around to it or you were preoccupied with other things.
Then another day goes by and then another and you still haven’t meditated. You start feeling guilty and your inner critic chimes in and tells you that you aren’t good enough or that you don’t have the discipline or motivation to actually follow through....on anything.
So you give up. You feel like crap. You feel stuck. So you abandon the idea of meditating because you feel like you didn’t even stick to it for two weeks so you think, “I can’t do this, why bother.”
The problem with this all or nothing attitude is that it’s hurtful and harmful to your sense of self and it negates the progress you actually made by meditating, even if it was for just a few days.
I mean think about it, maybe you had an a-ha moment one of the days during meditation, or maybe one day you really felt a sense of calm and grounding while you were meditating and that lifted your spirits and energy throughout the day. So instead of "why bother" what about, "heck yeah I meditated for 4 days!"
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I am a self-compassion advocate, I promote “slow and steady” forward movement, and I want you to meet yourself where you are at.
One of the ways I help my clients make sustainable life-long healthy changes is by guiding them to take imperfect action. Showing them that they are indeed making progress, even if they are taking small baby steps.
Progress, no matter how small or big, is forward movement to your goals. Any kind of movement, even if you believe it to be insignificant, is helping, and is supportive.
And on this note, join me for tomorrow’s episode of my podcast, Positively Anti-Inflammatory, (Episode 13) “Progress Over Perfection.”
Do you place unrealistic expectations on yourself when you’re working towards a goal? Do you find yourself stuck, or having an all or nothing attitude when you want to make changes?
If you’re constantly striving for perfection and your harsh inner self-critic keeps showing, then you’ll want to join me for tomorrow’s episode.
I share the importance of focusing on progress, not perfection and encourage you to practice celebrating imperfect action. Let’s internalize a healthier, healing mindset together: Progress Over Perfection.
Listen and subscribe to Positively Anti-Inflammatory wherever you find podcasts.
Love, Your Wellness Coach,
Alyssa
P.S. If you're interested in more about this topic, check out my articles:
P.S. Ready to improve your health and wellbeing? Want to work with me? Set up a FREE discovery call.
March 23, 2021