“I’m all in, or not in at all”… (I’m enthused but not sure how to do this, so my enthusiasm alone wins until I’m not enthused anymore).

“Go hard or go home”… (If you go too hard in the wrong way, you will be going home…broken).

“I’m going to smash this diet”… (I won’t eat rubbish until I do, then the diet is done and I’ll start next week).

“I’m going to smash the exercise”… (The exercise will smash you without the right approach).

“I want maximum benefits for weight loss!”… (Loads of lost weight through restriction, bam! Hello yo-yo weight).

Ok that’s enough examples.

Common things said by all at some point or another, including me. I was once that guy that thought if I didn’t take BCAA’s I would shrivel up like a deflated balloon instantly (yes, my head is in my hands).

Let’s start with a super positive, the enthusiasm…it’s awesome, enthusiasm is an integral part of doing anything…especially lifestyle transformation.

Only, in health and fitness enthusiasm is common, and endurance is rare.

Why?

  • Perceptions (Limiting stories, beliefs, attachment to past failures).
  • Fads (unsustainable for sustainability wink wink).
  • Weight-orientated progressive attachment for success (in context of course it has a place).
  • Lack of persistence and patience (Links to the below point).
  • The now mentality (All or Nothing)
  • The understanding (or lack of) of the all or nothing concept with health and fitness.

That’s ok if that’s you right now, it is/was everybody at some point in one dynamic/way or another, but the big one to get it right with is health and fitness.

It’s the thing that protects, preserves, and enhances our time on the planet… Literally.

That being said let’s take the concept of persistence, patience, discipline, goal setting, and the correct systems into account.

For all of the above to work for us, we must adopt the mentality that aims to persevere, one that accepts failure is inevitable but not permanent.

For example…

“Well, that’s the diet out of the window now, because I had a biscuit”.

“I’ve ruined all of my hard work now because I’ve had a night out”.

“I’ve lost my fitness now because I’ve been unwell or injured, what’s the point in going back”.

They are unhelpful fixed mindset agenda orientated ‘all or nothing perceptions’. Annoyingly normal for human subconscious thinking, we all do it unless we consciously intervene with growth agenda orientated thinking.

Talking of fixed and growth mindset here’s a previous read on that concept and how it can help you in addition to this post.

Those fixed perceptions will never serve because at some point in our lives, we are all going to have an element of indulgence, adversity, injuries, setbacks and dropped balls, etc. (ask Michael Jordan, Cristiano Ronaldo, The Williams Sisters, Oprah…they did alright for themselves right?)

So, when that happens and we beat ourselves up for not ‘being perfect’ we create a crappy feeling that we are not doing what we think we should be doing. Of course, the system knowledge, supporting know-how of the actions, and goals are a huge part of this process.

Consider this…

What if All or Nothing, was imperfection? To fail forwards. Consistency in the majority. Discipline to routine. The ongoing concept of growth…

Can all of that be nailed first time every time?

Realistically?

No.

What if the ‘All’ section is imperfection with a commitment to move forwards and then the ‘nothing’ is just plain old quit on yourself?

Is that a more realistic concept for you to be all in now?

How can you expect never to miss a workout on the odd occasion? That’s not a go ahead to actively skip training, sometimes things happen. Majority wins. Working out consistently 3, 4, 5 ,6 times per week (whatever your frequency is) consistently with the sporadic missed one beats working out until you can’t move/attend and subsequently quitting until you get sick of being out of shape and then ‘get at it again’.

How can you expect never to make a ‘bad’ (unhelpful, processed foods, none goal aligning) nutritional choice on the odd occasion? Exactly. Never.

This may sound counterproductive, but it’s actually the opposite. Lots of people give up when they ‘fail’ one time.

Failure is feedback, feedback is information, we learn from the information.

It’s all about momentum, let that sink in.

Go again, again, again, again, again, go again, again, again, again!

What happened when you learned to walk?

Exactly, down you went and up you got…100’s of time.

Learning to walk is obviously very important, and you succeeded.

(When else have you overcome adversity in your life?)

Learning how to balance self-care is the same if not more important.

That means learning how to care for the body, the way it moves, to stimulate it with exercise, to nourish it, rest it, hydrate it, keep stress levels low, live with purpose, with the growth mindset agenda.

Don’t be a dummy and neglect your most valuable asset.

Like anything, done right, in context, with full circle perceptions, in conjunction with the correct principles with the balance of the application, you’ll fly and achieve all kinds of results.

Done right, All or nothing will serve you well.

Done wrong, it’ll sit you on your arse and keep you there.

You deserve more.

Health and fitness is a mindset, not a thing.

This concept is a big part of that.

When you get this right, everything else falls into place.

  • The big picture
  • The universal principles
  • Balance with scheduling
  • Goal setting (motivation)
  • Persistence
  • Not quitting
  • Balancing the concept of short term failure against long term
  • Fast recoil
  • And having a f*****g good time growing yourself.

Remember, enthusiasm is common, we all want to grow and/or change.

Endurance is rare in many.

Don’t let it be you.

Make them both your mainstays, be enthused, endure your time on this earth with vitality, energy, and happiness. Oh yes, weight loss, muscle, fat loss, and all of that jazz will come as a bi-product.

 

Original vlog video December 12th 2019:

Paul Cleaver