Does cheating on your goals completely throw you off track? Try scheduling your cheat day to maximize your success.
I know I’m a day late with this…Sorry about that! I love tracking my goals, and I’m sure that you do too. February is the shortest month of the year, and therefore it should be easy to keep up with something for a month. Um, it’s not that easy.
I once read that uber successful people have a mindset that they just don’t cheat. They don’t drop the ball, not even once. That seems very unforgiving. But if you think about it, it kind of makes sense. Take something as simple as drinking water. You know drinking water is good for you. You know you feel better and look better when you are adequately hydrated. So why not do it? Don’t reach for the soda. It’s easy to reach for the soda or that extra cup of coffee. Sure, it may taste great, and give you the fix that you are craving, but it’s temporary. Ok, so water might be a silly example, but it’s the same with everything.
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If you are going to cheat, if you know you need that day where you order the pizza, drink the margarita, skip the work out, whatever it is, schedule it ahead of time. Seriously. Write it down in your planner in ink! For example, Sunday I want to lie on the sofa and eat s’mores until my hands are sticky and there is chocolate all over my face. DO IT! But until then, eat the quinoa asparagus salad, go on that run, drink the water! Earn your cheat.
It’s called structured flexibility and the idea behind it is to help ease the pressure that we put on ourselves, the same pressure that ultimately causes most people to fail. So your “cheat day” is not really cheating at all!
Another thing to think about when taking time off from working towards your goals, is that it doesn’t have to be a whole day. Just because you had the waffles with extra butter and maple syrup for breakfast, does not mean that the day is ruined, so you just eat what you want for the rest of the day. Just because you don’t go for that early morning run, doesn’t mean you can’t do a quick ab workout. This idea of a cheat meal; not a cheat day can be applied to more than just diet and exercise. Apply it to life. No need to go to extremes.
Have a cheat meal; not a cheat day.
Want those printables? Fill out the form below! For instructions on how to print these to your planner size and how to add them into your spiral bound planner read this post.
So do you think you will schedule your cheats? We all need a day off occasionally and scheduling those times will actually help you reach those goals!
This is so interesting to think about, how to tangibly make your goals happen. When I think of my next goal, I will keep this in mind and think of a way to track it. Very inspiring post.