Shrink the Size of your But
It’s time to review those long-term goals that you set at the beginning of 2020. How is that long-term goal for the end of 2020 looking? Are you feeling like this goal is attainable, or did you get thrown off track?
If you had a weight loss goal for 2020, and you are nowhere near where you want to be, but you weren’t thrown off track; let’s say your gym closed, you were stuck at home…we could go on and on with reasons why after the first half of 2020.
Often with a health and fitness goal, we’re striving for perfection rather than progress, and this is when our minds start playing tricks on us. “I have to start on a Monday”, “I ate two cookies so I’ll just have the rest”, we don’t log our poor food choices, we don’t meal prep, or we skip a workout. We may also find that we are using the word BUT more, and making excuses for these behaviors that we know delay our goal attainment. Let’s look at some examples:
“I had some great goals set for this year, BUT COVID-19 closed my gym.”
“I’ve gained some consistency with eating more real food, BUT I’d prefer to go out since we’ve been at home for months.”
After having some setbacks with meeting our long-term goals, it’s time to gain some consistency with healthy habits. This is an important time to really strengthen our mindset and challenge our thoughts in order to achieve our long-term goals. Look at your dialogue and challenge yourself to come up with alternative thoughts if you notice that you are starting to use the word BUT to make excuses for behaviors that could derail you.
Remind yourself of WHY you are working hard to achieve your goals and reframe those statements to shrink the size of your BUT. Here are some alternatives to the statements above:
“Being at home for two months proved that having a community of supportive friends to workout with is what I need to stay motivated and scheduling my workouts is a priority.”
“My work week is busy, and I know that meal prep helps me make better choices during these busy times of the week. It’s worth the small investment once a week to have a healthier week ahead.”
To improve your chances of achieving your long-term goals, you must shrink the size of your BUT.