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Hey everyone, Aaron here! Today I want to discuss the “ALL OR NOTHING” mindset that is so prevalent in our world! This type of mindset is characterized by the idea that one needs to be completely and totally immersed in a thought process or idea in order for it to be useful, or in order to move forward toward a goal. Many of us deal with this issue, and it can be a huge problem, especially when it comes to a journey toward a health, or fitness goal, because it can cause a setup for injury, metabolic problems, or failure to sustain in general, leaving the person (many times) in a worse place than they started.
A person with an “all or nothing” mindset will often wait until change is perceived to be needed “RIGHT NOW” before they act, and then they overreact by diving headlong into whatever they are doing, making many, many (and sometimes huge) changes all at once. This is very rarely sustainable because they are rushing to fix whatever the issue is as fast as possible. The problem is, from a health and fitness perspective, that you can’t treat a body like this and not expect consequences. You didn’t get to be where you are overnight, and you certainly can’t fix it overnight.
Let me tell you a story about the last house I owned. That house had many problems that needed to be addressed. When I decided to address those problems I had to identify the issue and do the demolition before I could start to fix the issue. Then once the demo was completed I would have to look at what was underneath it all, figure out exactly what the repair required, and then get the materials from the hardware store in order to fix it. Have you ever stopped to consider your health and fitness in such a way? If you need to lose weight or start an exercise program to reach a goal, I would submit that you need to consider the same plan…Understand the issues (what do I need to fix in this house and how did it get this way to begin with) at hand and how they occurred. Unlearn the things that aren’t serving you (do the demolition and figure out what is underneath) and that haven’t worked in the past, the things that brought you to where you are. Uncomplicate the process of fixing the issue (make a plan and get the supplies) by creating the right plan with all the information, and Unleash, or execute on the plan (fix the house).
And just like fixing a house, the repairs to our body take time. Home renovations and repairs can take weeks, even months to complete. Building a new home can take a long, long time, and you have to take things in order.,You can’t skip steps, or the thing will all fall apart again. It’s the same with your health and fitness, if you push too hard, too fast, or try to skip steps it will all fall apart before you get where you want to be. You need to take the right steps and do them well, and in order to make your dream a reality, and have it be sustainable. Yes, I know we have all seen shows on TV where massive groups of builders come together to create a new home from nothing in a week. And occasionally you will hear a crazy story of some person creating a massive massive shift in their life in a short period of time, and who manage to make it stick. But I assure you these stories are rare, and if I had to guess are in the <1% range of people who actually take on the challenge of massive change all at once.
Making crazy changes all at one rarely works, because for most people it is logistically impossible to sustain them. We are all programmed into a certain mindset, and have been that way for a long period of time. You can’t force massive shifts on a mind without experiencing massive resistance from your ego, whose job it is to keep you safe and comfortable. You know the ego, I guarantee you. It’s the voice in your head telling you to quit. The harder the change is all at once, the tougher it is to accomplish, and the more that voice will talk back. Oftentimes, when the voice starts loudly talking and trying to undermine efforts, people lose heart, they lose hope, they get tired, and they give up. What is even worse, is that often this approach leaves the person, not only with the frustration and depression of failure, but with physical side effects, injuries, or metabolic problems. This can make the person prone to winding up in a worse state than before they even started.
So consider adopting a different approach to your journey the next time you want to undertake something new. Whether it is weight loss, conditioning, or a fitness goal, think about adopting a thought process of making small, incremental changes over time, and stacking those changes one on top of the other. This is how change is really best accomplished in the long term. It is how I have come to make changes in my own life that are sustainable, and how I help my clients to make the same thing happen in their lives.
What sounds better…Imposing massive change and stress on yourself all at once and shooting out of the gate like a rocket ship, only to crash and burn a few weeks down the road and set yourself up not only to feel badly yet again, but to also potentially develop physical problems as well? Or to pick one of two things in your life, make the simple changes needed to gain mastery over them, and then pick another couple things and add those on top of the change you already made? I promise you the latter is the better way to go, because over time when you stack one simple habit on another you gain momentum as you go. If you change just a little bit in each major area of your life consistently, you will find that in short order you have created massive change and momentum towards your goal that is not only healthy and effective, but SUSTAINABLE over time.
Maybe start by just adding a couple thousand steps a day to your daily activity. This is relatively easy and can be done without a lot of problem. Then pair that with drinking an extra glass of water a day. Then maybe cut 100 calories out of your diet every day, and begin to add a short bike ride in daily. If you add these things in one at a time it won’t seem like much, but when you achieve mastery over each habit, then add another and another, you can start to see a lifestyle shift occurring without the massive stress of major change all at once. You’re able to fit these things into your life as you go, and make them sustainable, as you gain momentum without heading for a crash landing.
If you pick a new healthy habit to form, even just one a week, that’s 4 new habits in a month, 12 habits in three months, and 24 in six months. You can see how when that occurs you start to get the compound effect happening and gain massive momentum towards your goal. So consider that a slow and steady wins the race. Ditch the “all or nothing” mindset and adopt habit stacking and small consistent changes. I promise you that’s where amazing change lies. I would encourage you to start today. Pick one or two easy things that you can make a change on and get started now. Welcome to MASSIVE CHANGE to your life!
-Aaron
#IAmUnbreakable