Perfectionism is the Enemy of Done

Getting your habits done is better than doing them “perfectly”.

So many times we aim for perfection, or doing things the “most optimal” way especially when we are focusing on our training and eating habits.

Unfortunately aiming for unrealistically high standards can cause stress and make us feel like a failure if we slip up only a little bit and can be a one-way ticket to “screw it” mode. Or the classic “If I can’t do it perfectly then there's no point in doing it at all.” This all or nothing approach, of course, gets us nowhere because you end up circling around rather than inching forward.

Thinking you have to do something perfectly increases the barrier to you doing it. Instead, focusing on your minimum standards to make progress and building up your little wins will move you towards a better you.

The best way to progress is consistent important action, MOST of the time.

I like to focus on an 80/20 rule.

Set your plan and aim for 80% consistency per week, allowing some leeway. This will reap better results than aiming for 100% all the time.

Allowing some wiggle room in your week reduces the all or nothing approach. “Screw it” mode happens pretty quickly if you feel like all your efforts were for nothing.

This means that it is okay every now and have a meal out that you aren’t sure of the calories, or to skip a workout or let life get in the way. As long as 80% of your week you are hitting your targets, you will maintain progress forwards. This, of course, doesn’t mean justifying not doing the work!

Little slip-ups and mistakes are fine because they are lessons towards growth. If you don’t go through those, you never learn and end up stuck in the same cycle.

Some nutrition examples may be:

For nutrition, meal prep and make your plan for the week allow 2 meals out a week and estimate, or if you happen to choose to go out with friends for lunch on Friday.

Or have 80% of your day’s calories of very high quality nourishing food, and allow for 20% lower quality treats (still sticking with calories!)

Or eat 6 of your days at a slightly bigger deficit and one day in a bigger surplus so over the week you are still tracking towards your goal of fat loss.

Overall, your consistency, in the long run, will make the biggest change.