The All or None Syndrome

Ever experience Pause Button Mentality? Perhaps during the holidays, your birthday, after vacation, when work gets crazy, or kids go back to school?

Human beings tend to have this “all or none” attitude, so we usually end up with none—because, last I checked, life is not perfect.

We have the desire to do our best, so if it isn’t going to be our best, we want to start over, or give up entirely. It feels easier. This is actually the route to self-sabotage.

The Pause-Button Mentality only builds the skill of pausing.  

This is not about building willpower. It’s about building skills. How to get and stay fit under non-ideal real life conditions, which happens to be most of the time.

The game of life keeps going on and there is no pause button, no time-out. There is never going to be a time when things are magically easier.

When you hit the bump in the road of life that makes you want to pause, just say NO. Don’t turn off the food and fitness routine that gives you better energy, helps you avoid getting sick, relieves stress, and produces better sleep. Simply dial it down.

If 10 is you hitting all your workouts and eating pretty well, then go for 8, or 5. Even ONE is a courageous choice here. Dial it back up, as you are able. This helps you avoid mental beatings, which so many of us do extremely well.  

The same process holds true with food. Let’s say you go out with friends and REALLY enjoy an amazing burger, fries, and shake. Next meal, make a choice that includes more vegetables than the pickle or tomato you had on that burger—and omit the fried anything.

The mantra of the Balanced Warrior is “ALWAYS SOMETHING!”

Much love,
Carol

P.S. Plagued by a pause you can’t get past? I’m here to support you. Send me an email and we’ll start dialing it up again.

“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.”—Sean Patrick Flanery