Never Miss Twice
You may have noticed that I didn't send a newsletter last week. It was a week of too many tasks, and creating a newsletter stayed on my to-do list and didn't get checked off.
The subjects I write and talk about on my podcast is actually stuff I practice in my own life! After a lot of personal work, I actually didn't beat myself up for having this happen. There's a difference between accepting yourself and your mistakes versus becoming complacent or apathetic. I felt that familiar itchy, uncomfortable feeling for not getting it done, but I gave myself a break. There's a difference between laziness and taking on too much, but there is nuance too.
So here I am this week! That brings me to today's topic. My health coaching practice is all about behavior change (if you're interested in becoming a client, just hit reply!) and it's something that comes often. Consistency is one of the most important factors in achieving anything in life. Oftentimes, missing an action that you're trying to turn into a habit or one that has been a habit for awhile can be a slippery slope into quitting altogether. Think of it when you're trying to eat healthily- have you ever fallen into self-sabotage by thinking, “Well, I already ”messed up" today, I might as well eat this whole bag of chips, 3 cookies, and order a pizza." That insidious temptation is all-or-none thinking.
How do you avoid having a slip-up turn into a giving up completely? Simply tell yourself, “I missed that one time, but I will not miss twice" and then make sure that it doesn't happen. So this week? I made it my #1 priority to make sure this newletter goes out. Here's another example. Considering eating habits, if you eat something you didn't want to eat (or just ate too much of something), make sure your next action, snack or meal is a healthy choice. The sooner you get back on track, the sooner you maintain your habit loop.
Outliers are just that- they are not the norm. But if you let your outliers become the new pattern, that's where consistency breaks down. Individual mistakes rarely affect the big picture unless they become consistent. Progress is not linear, but it's what you do next when you realize you're off track that matters!
If you enjoyed this article, you might enjoy enrolling in my Moxy & Grit Mindset Academy!
