The wagon & the dial

Do you find yourself constantly “falling off the wagon” whenever you try to implement a healthy change or behaviour into your life?

You know how it goes. In the beginning your motivation is high, you’re enthusiastic and things seem to be going pretty smoothly. “I’ve got this!” you say to yourself. But then life seems to come along and you soon find yourself unable to maintain the momentum. One day of slipping up becomes a few days, and then most of the days.

You eventually admit defeat and fall off the metaphorical wagon, finding yourself once again bruised and frustrated with your apparent lack of discipline and willpower.

You promise yourself you will get back on the wagon again, but right now you need to nurse those bruises (and have some fun before you have to start all over again.

This all-or-nothing, on-or-off the wagon thinking isn’t the only way to think about your health behaviours and habits.

And it is definitely not the most effective or sustainable.

And let’s be honest, it feels like crap. We beat ourselves up for being ill-disciplined, lacking willpower or being lazy. This is all completely unnecessary and unhelpful.

So what is the alternative?

Imagine that your health behaviour is on a dial where the numbers are ranging from 1-10, with 1 being the least you could do and 10 being the mostest. For example, with exercising your number 1 could be taking the stairs instead of opting for the elevator, and 10 could be exercising for an hour every day.

The exact things that will make up each point on this dial will be different according to your goals and capabilities, but the idea is the same.

Instead of being on or off the wagon, you are simply turning the dial up or down depending on what else is going on in your life and what feels manageable.

No more beating yourself up, no more pressing pause on your health and no more bruised butts.

How much more sustainable would your health habits be if you approached them this way?