It’s Monday evening. And boy did today get away from me.
Time flies when you’re having fun in the gym. Sometimes it feels like we’re time-traveling when we look up at the clock and say, “Holy cow! Is it really [time of day] already?!”
So, while we’re talking about how our mind plays tricks on us, let’s talk about cognitive distortions. Which is just a fancy way of saying ways our brains can trip us up if we’re not careful.
Let’s take a step back – waaay back to our caveman ancestors.
Back when we weren’t at the top of the food chain, our ancestors had lots of threats. And limited time to deal with them. So, they made decisions quickly (otherwise, you risk being eaten by a lion while you’re lost in your thoughts).
We evolved by creating shortcuts in our brains by:
- Hyper-focusing on perceived threats
- Making judgements with limited information
- Over-generalizing by taking facts about a single situation and applying them to everything (if there’s a snake in the grass, it’ll be there again)
These things were necessary for our ancestors’ survival. Had they not created those shortcuts, they would have spent too much time contemplating their surroundings and not enough time avoiding danger.
Here’s the rub: Those distortions are great when lions are on the loose. But in our modern world, they stress us out.
For example, All-Or-Nothing Thinking…
You know how this goes:
“If I don’t workout, my day is ruined. So, I’ll eat whatever I want.”
“My front nine was atrocious. My back nine is going to be garbage.”
When we participate in all-or-nothing thinking, we’re flipping between extremes like “perfect” and “terrible”. With nothing in between.
It’s dangerous because it can really set us back if we’re not careful. It’s a huge obstacle for us to move forward with “good enough”.
Like just doing a 15-minute workout on a hectic day vs. skipping the 50-minute workout entirely.
And I’m just as guilty as the next guy.
The solution is simple…just be okay with some days being GOOD ENOUGH.
This is a marathon, not a sprint. Good enough is going to keep you moving in the right direction. “F it!” sends you off the rails in the wrong direction.
You’ve got this!
Your #1 Fan,
Jeff Pelizzaro
PS – If you’re looking for a program to keep you moving in the right direction, we’re already built-in the shortcut. You don’t have to think about it. You just have to do the work.
Check out the 18STRONG Membership. You’ll have plenty of time and mental capacity to watch out for lions.