Do you ever start something new, only to feel disappointed with your progress and give up, searching for another solution? Let’s break that frustrating cycle and find a path to lasting success.
Today, I want to talk about a powerful approach that can help you achieve your weight loss and health goals. This method isn’t just about shedding pounds; it’s about transforming how you approach any big challenge in life. Let’s dive into it.
Have you ever noticed how, when you think about some big lofty goal (like losing weight or starting a health quest), it seems like this massive, insurmountable mountain? It feels so overwhelming that you might end up procrastinating. That’s completely normal! We all feel that way at the beginning of a journey to any big goal.
Because we haven’t done it before. It’s new and scary for our brain because it’s unfamiliar. Our brain can offer all kinds of resistance and reasons why it’s such a better idea to clean the toilets or garage or do anything else but face the big scary monster goal straight on.
We can also come up with pretty clever ways to procrastinate – that often feels useful and like we’re actively working toward the goal but we’re really not doing ‘the big scary thing’.
Our attention and energy can go to things like researching – that takes us down some pretty interesting yet distracting rabbit holes to avoid doing the real work. Then one rabbit hole leads to the next so it feels productive, yet all the research in the world will not give us the results we’re looking for – that actually requires action.
At the beginning of a new path, our brains can tell us that we’re confused or don’t have enough information – and that’s just another way your brain is trying to protect us from discomfort. It wants to keep us safe doing what it already knows where it’s comfortable. The unknown is unchartered territory and scary to the survival parts of our brains.
We can spend decades getting ready to be ready and never really do what we intend to.
But here’s the secret: You’ll never feel completely ready, and that’s okay. Today I’d like to share the framework I like to use and offer it to my clients.
Make a Decision:
Choose what you’re going to do. That may mean stopping some of the mind drama around making the decision. Your brain may tell you that you need more info, time or money or that you don’t know how or what to do. It’s all drama and a form of procrastination to keep you safe. Just decide. If you decide ‘I want to be healthy and I’m going to make it my priority’, it can literally be that simple. Next, what methodology am I going to use? Ok, I’m going to focus on diet. Cool! (I’d agree that’s a perfect place to start. Decide on a way to eat that supports your health mission. I’m going to eat to balance my blood sugar. I’m going to do this IF thing. Just decide, then make a plan. (if we work together it’s a little more nuanced at this stage) but I think you get it. Make a plan for what you’ll do and consider thinking about all the obstacles that may come up on your journey. Write them down and consider how you’ll address them when you come across them. It may be helpful to think of traVelling here – what could possibly happen en route – what would you possibly need so you’re prepared in advance. Plan how long you’re going to follow this particular plan in advance. And address the possible obstacles in advance.
Take Imperfect Action:
Follow the plan you laid out for yourself. Do it, even if it’s not perfect. And shocker it won’t be. How can it be? When’s the last time you did something perfectly the first time you did it? It’s not a realistic expectation. Start by doing what you intended and said you’d do and plan and when the obstacles come up don’t be surprised, remember you have a plan for this. You already decided what you’re going to do and how you’re going to address them. Refer to back up travel plans and let yourself off the hook for not being as perfect as you’d hoped. You’re doing something new for the first time. You’ll get better with more attempts.
Evaluate:
At the end of the time period you decided on, Look at what worked and what didn’t. Make notes and make some adjustments on how this can be improved in the future, then go back to taking more imperfect action. The problem is at this stage most people don’t do it. When we decide and take action, we want immediate results and we want it to be easy and we don’t plan for the obstacles that will eventually come up. So we get let down or frustrated with the first round of imperfect action and go back to deciding another path will be easier or better. So we just prove to ourselves that this path doesn’t work because we don’t evaluate and tweak our actions.
The Cycle of Growth
Here’s the magic part. You don’t go back to step one and remake your decisions. Instead, you keep cycling through action and evaluation, tweaking as you go.
I’ll give you an example unrelated to health. I’ve been testing new ways to plan my calendar and determined I’m going to schedule my weeks in advance – all the little things that need doing because I’ve been feeling like I don’t have any distinction between work and life and always feel like there’s so much left undone that I keep rolling over to the next week. Maybe you can relate. I was excited to see all the time blocks in my calendar, the first week I planned it all out, hopeful and excited. By the end of the week I made some pretty amazing progress and fulfilled many of my own commitments. I analyze at the end of the week. And felt like I could’ve done more yet that would’ve left me with even less personal time. A trade I didn’t want to make.
The next week, after making some tweaks, after evaluating at the end of the week, I see that I crammed way too much in – I expected way too much of myself. So I tweaked again. And I keep tweaking and have a good little rhythm and yet still find ways to improve.
Training Your Brain
By taking imperfect action and evaluating your results, you’re training your brain to see things differently. You develop new neural pathways that help you focus on what’s working and what needs to change.
Remember, this is your journey. It’s about progress, not perfection. Decide, act, evaluate, and adjust. Repeat this cycle, and you’ll see growth not just in your health, but in every area of your life.
So, take that first step today, even if it feels like you’re not ready. You are! You have everything you need right now to start. Trust the process and know that every small action you take is bringing you closer to your goals. You’ve got this!
Sending you love and light on your journey,
Sharlene
