GOOD ENOUGH… it’s a term that most people dislike because they automatically let their brains go to “settling for less.”
And while that can be one interpretation, I believe there’s another more positive side to “good enough.”
The recognition that the NOW, the here, the what is right in front of you has TREMENDOUS value already!!!!
I’ve coached hundreds of people through exercise and nutrition and if there is one thing that’s apparent, it’s that you can be miserable and happy at ANY SIZE and at ANY WEIGHT.
You can lose those extra 15lbs, you can diet down til you see your 6 pack, you can eat your way to tiny… and still find yourself displeased with your reflection and how your clothes fit on your body.
Here’s what some folks miss, forget, or don’t realize it’s even an option:
You can want to change,
work like hell for it,
but from a mindset that you are
an amazing human being AS YOU ARE!
In fact, the folks I’ve witnessed have the most brilliant physique changes… work from MINDSET of “I’m already good enough!”
Gah!!!… so how can I get you on a fitness journey that supports change and “good enough?”
- Take the EMOTION out of numbers.
I’m not a numbers hater.
I understand the importance of keeping up with calories, macros, weight, or measurements at the beginning of a new goal. When you are walking into unchartered habit change territory, numbers can help you get precise and even scientific about your journey. There is value in that.
However, if you are treating your scale at home like Snow White’s Mirror Mirror on the Wall, we have BIG issues…
b/c if you woke up this morning feeling #sexyAF and proud as hell at the changes you see and are living out, the scale SHOULDN’T have the power to take that away from you.
You were SexyAF before getting on the scale, you are SexyAF stepping OFF the scale too!!!
Scales, measuring tape, apps for calories and macros are INFORMATION GATHERING TOOLS not magic 8 balls!!!
If your relationship with numbers is one where your whole days happiness relies on the feedback of numbers, throw the tool away until you are ready to get scientific with numbers again.
2. You’re SUPPOSED to struggle!!!
A little tough love here… but if you walk into lifestyle change and think it’s a linear path w/ just a few bumps on the road and that life is fair and your outcomes will come as fast as your B.F.F’s, you’ve already LOST.
Your body is complex.
Your life is complex.
Your tastes are complex.
Your schedule… well… it’s likely a hot mess.
You can’t skip the messy middle part of the journey and fast forward to the triumph at the end b/c all your answers are a PRODUCT of your grit and tenacity.
If you want to own the hell out of your now, then believe that frustration is the very avenue to your “next level.”
Take on discomfort and HACK it out. There is no triumph until you stick around to fight.
3. Look at your whole self vs. individual parts!!!
This is huge!
We could all obsess about that one “trouble area”… that spot that just doesn’t want to budge… the thighs, the butt, the belly, the back of the arms etc.
You can drive yourself nuts making your mirror a microscope or you can opt to take a MACRO view of yourself.
Take in ALL of you at once.
Yes, this takes practice and won’t come automatic to anyone struggling to be at ease with where they are now.
You have to retrain yourself to know that the few parts you’re not that in love with are not bigger than the sum of all the other ah-may-zang parts of you!
4. Create your big 3 questions…
I love this exercise so much and highly recommend you create your own 3 questions.
Whenever I feel in a rut or begin to fall into a bad mindset trap, I’ve got three “go-to” questions that put my perspective back in check…
I’ll say… I may not be perfect but do I…
a. look strongAF?
b. have high energy and easy to manage hunger?
c. enjoy my meals and workouts?
If I can answer YES to all three, I know I’m fine!!!! I’m not staying worried about what didn’t go perfect today or yesterday or a week ago… b/c I’m GENERALLY on the right path so NEXT please cause I’m not wallowing in guilt.
If I answer no to any of them, I know what to fix!
Last year when I up and decided to take on contest prep, I hit a point I could NO LONGER answer YES to questions “b” and “c”… and so big fat middle finger to that physique goal.
I choose to only participate in things that make me better both physically and mentally and I was trading happiness for body change. No thanks.
So, listen… thinking positively is a CHOICE… not a permanent place of being. A large part of getting right with your journey is to work from a place that enables you to be happy in your present.
Because you know what… one day… your present will be 10 lbs less than you were 8 months ago… and if you didn’t appreciate your bad assery then, you sure as hell aren’t guaranteed to see your bad assery now.
GET YOUR HEAD RIGHT!
You are good enough now!!!