“Let’s plan on starting Monday.” It is something in my daily life I hear from time to time and even used to tell myself a lot.
Mondays for most people are one of the most, if not the most, hectic days of their week. So trying to start a new routine or habit honestly just isn’t a good idea.
That is where the term “having a case of the Mondays” comes from. It is based on that day being chaotic and crazy.
In my own personal life, I do this from time to time. Need to cut my grass? It can wait until Monday. Pick up the phone and call a friend? It can wait until Monday. If you have ever read any of my blogs before, you may have heard me say it before, but it rings true here also: there is no better time than NOW.
The Cost of Constantly Starting Over
In my own health and fitness journey, I was always putting off starting until next Monday. So I would make terrible decisions with my health and fitness, especially my nutrition, until Monday rolled around. Then Monday was there, and the same stresses in my life were occurring, and I would find myself putting things off for another week. This continued for a year and a half, and I got in pretty rough shape.
Making promises to yourself and then repeatedly not following through is a recipe for disaster. Personally speaking, it shook my confidence, big time.
Starting over holds you back. Simply put, it keeps you from even having the chance to develop the habit or skill in the area you are looking to change.
If I woke up this morning and somehow forgot to brush my teeth, would I say, “Hey, let’s just pick this back up next Monday”? I sure hope not. Yes, I did something I know I didn’t need to do. But I can pick the toothbrush back up tomorrow morning and get back in the routine. One off day won’t ruin your progress.
People do the same thing with their exercise. They were planning on working out today, and life happened, and they missed it, so now they have done “bad” and choose not to go to the gym the rest of the week.
I see it too with people’s nutrition. They go on vacation or are out of their normal environment, which leads to less-than-ideal nutrition choices. Rather than getting back in a routine when they are back in their environment, they decide to pack it in for a month and run the risk of derailing all their progress.
What Does Not Starting Over Look Like?
Miss Monday’s workout? Go on Tuesday.
Ate poorly at dinner? Go on a walk after dinner and make a better choice the next morning at breakfast.
Rough weekend? Get back to your normal routine on Monday.
Missed the gym for a week because you were away with your family on vacation? Start again when you get back.
Couldn’t work out for an hour? Work out for 30 minutes.
“Consistently good will always beat occasionally great.”
Doing something well 80% of the time is way better than doing something perfectly for 2 weeks, then stopping because it wasn’t sustainable based on your life.