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Hello my friend,
I write my posts following this mantra: "You teach best what you needed most".
And I can undoubtedly call myself the best at not finishing.
But I am not alone though.
Did you know that 92% of New Year Resolutions fail, and only 8% succeed?
I bet you’re one of those 92%, just like me, that’s why you’re here..
Well, that won’t be the case anymore.
Why?
Cuz I’ve finally managed to join those 8% on the other side, and..
I’m taking you with me!
Believe me when I tell you.. The feeling over there, is a breath of fresh air.
And after reading this post, you too my friend will be able to say:
"I am a Finisher".
So how exactly am I gonna do that?
I am taking you on a journey from the moment you start thinking about a goal till the moment you shout out loud the most beautiful word in the English language.
No it’s not "I love you", it’s DONE!
In our journey, we’ll be having 8 stops.
Each stop is inspired by a strategy from the book that helped me the most to finally Finish my goals, and soon, will be helping you too.
The book is called “Finish: Give Yourself The Gift of Done”, by the amazing and hilarious author Jon Acuff.
Below is the book Finish through my eyes..
(PS. The structure of this post is completely different from the book. Yet it was inspired by the book's strategies. Here you'll find my ideas blended with the author's, and I would highly recommend you still go and read the book)
If you haven't already, go and check the previous stops first:
I will be waiting for you;)
Now to our most important stop in the journey..
Stop 6: Messing Up
The inevitable has happened and the dreaded day has come. You messed up.
Strategy 6: Pass The Day After Perfect
It’s been 2 weeks.
You go to the gym everyday.
You're eating so freakin healthy.
You're so excited for the new beginning.
Until one day,
you come home so late from work, tired and hungry.
You skip the workout, and instead, you binge on some pizza.
You're scared to step on the scale the next day.
Then, someone offers a cookie, and you say "why the hell not, I already ate pizza".
You know how this ends.. You're falling into the downward spiral.. Again.
And it just feels so sad.
Because you're losing one of the main ingredients that are keeping us ALIVE:
HOPE!
That's why this strategy is one of the most life changing yet simple advice I have ever encountered.
Remember it by hard.
Write it on the wall and on your hands.
The day after you mess up,
the day after you skip practice or eat the whole chocolate cake,
the day you receive that rejection,
when you see zero orders,
when you see your views count not moving,
this is the most important day in your journey,
this is exactly the day you choose,
the day you choose whether to be from the 8% who stick to their resolutions,
or the 92% who don’t.
Because you are your worst critic,
your own disappointment and shame are your biggest obstacles.
If you can move past that, you'll be unstoppable.
This mindset changed my life,
I was always the “I will start again next week person”.
Deleting any record of the mistake ever happening.
Dreaming of a white page, full of green checks.
Yes it never happened before,
but in my mind, I was 100% sure I can get it perfect the very next time.
The problem with this mindset is that:
we're not even taking a break and switching to our defaults. I wish!
But what really happens is that we mess up more,
under the illusion that we're going to completely erase this day from our lives' record.
Cuz we're gonna be perfect tomorrow. Right?
Of course this never happens.
Nothing is erased, and we're never perfect.
Because who said that me tomorrow will be any different than me today?
Who said I'll be more disciplined or organized?
Who said that I'll be having more time or less cravings?
Who said that there will never be a day where I'll be feeling stressed or sad.. or just sick?
Nobody.
The fact is that future me, unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, will not be a determined Super Hero.
It will be exactly the same as the current me, unless I change something!
Understanding this, fast forward to now.
Every time I pass the day after perfect and I bounce back,
I write that in my achievements journal:
"I just passed the day after perfect and I am back on track wohou!"
As a former perfectionist, of course it still stings every time I mess up.
But I can safely say, that celebrating passing the day after perfect,
is the number 1 trick that made me slowly slowly dump my all or nothing mindset, for good.
Instead I became a habit ninja!
Try just to pass the day after perfect and baby you will slide.
Action Time:
This is the stop where you:
1) Expect that you will inevitably mess up. Get mentally prepared for it.
Perfect streaks are not your goal, you're in it for the long haul.
You can go with 80% on track, 20% life happens.
2) Instead of getting disappointed when you mess up, get right back on track and celebrate it. (I can't stress enough on this. You've earned that celebration. This was a very hard day, yet you did what 92% of people couldn't do.. You persisted)
Great, now that we're back on track.. Wait that's actually the name of our next stop:)