We have only two more surprises left to cover. Here’s number five
People’s actual circumstances didn’t determine what they were able to do.
Most people assume having specific demands on them makes it harder to stick to healthy habits. But PN asked their clients about their work schedule, kids, travel, and/or how much stress they feel.
They found no correlation between how much stress people feel at home or work, or how well they said they were coping with stress, and the results they ultimately got.
Basically, no matter what dumpster fire of flaming stress some people’s lives were, if they were able to figure out how to take small, meaningful actions every day, they were able to be consistent anyway.
This often meant having creative solutions, like:
- Eating the same meal for breakfast and lunch, rather than prepping two separate ones.
- Getting meal or grocery delivery, if they could afford it.
- Enlisting older kids into shopping and meal prep help.
- And so on.
They also learned how to scale back a little when needed. So, rather than completely shutting down when life got in the way and it didn’t go as scheduled.
Like if you sleep through your alarm or drop the carton of eggs on the floor. Now there’s no time to get to the gym. Instead of skipping the workout completely, you could turn a walk with the baby in the stroller or a trip to the playground into a workout. It may not be perfect or what you expected, but it’s better than getting no exercise.
This is called adjusting the dial. It helps you stay consistent, even when life turns unexpected.
This concept can be applied to your exercise habits, eating and overall wellness habits. As you build these workarounds, your consistency will improve, as will your results. Some of PN’s clients became so good at this they were able to achieve an astounding 90-100% consistency.
This level of consistency isn’t doable for everyone, and that’s okay. Not everyone wants to work this hard or live with all of the tradeoffs it requires, or even care about that level of physical changes.
Either way, 17% of PN’s clients were able to hit this mark, and they did it by adding one habit at a time and building from there.
In health, Diane