Don’t Torture Yourself With Positive Life Shifts - Do This Instead

In most cases big shifts of any kind are not good for you.

Why is it that a fitness industry is on the massive rise for the last 15 years?

Why is it that there is more type 2 diabetics all over the world every day?

How is it even possible that both statements are true at the same time?

Well, there is an easy answer and there is a hard answer. Both answers speak to the same truth which you are about to realize or confirm.

The easy answer — sedentary lifestyle, pandemic, fridge next to your work desk, and stuff. You stay more at home, you can’t stop yourself from eating everything and your fork, you move less... The result? The mirror says it all, you should probably work out and get that lean look you once never had.

The hard answer — People tend to make big big shifts in life. Or, their brain forces them to compensate for certain actions with an oposite. Why do they make shifts?

Well… they think they f***** up. They need to get out of the rut, they had a traumatic or important life event… Or the other case, they eat a lot so they should workout a lot. Either to erase the fact they ate so much throughout certain period or to simply compensate eating habits with workout regime.

Well, here is an example. Consider this a one-year cycle of a person who made two big shifts in 2021.

In case you constantly make shifts, the problem is your amplitude is to big. You fight long waves with even longer waves. From one extreme to another…

This leads to noting bad the bad stuff. And here is a fun fact.

The gym and fitness extreme is as bad as the overeating extreme, if not worse. They are two sides of the same coin.

Important note: I took overeating as an example of any “bad habit”. The concept illustrated can be applied for any excessive behavior. This article is a mockumarticle — an article with a goal to teach you a fundamental lesson in a provocative, funny, and illustrative way.

One step at a time, slowly but surely

Let’s change the entire concept to the approach of “making positive shifts”. Instead of spiking that amplitude up and down like a rollercoaster, you could take the approach of shrining the amplitude first.

So, you want those curve ends to be just a bit closer to the middle line. Here…

Just make small incremental steps at a steady and sustainable pace.

What I mean to say is — eat 230 cookies within a week instead of 250. Week after that eat 220 or something…

Yes, we all know eating 230 cookies is still bad for you and there is guilt involved. The guilt shaming you for not giving up completely on cookies.

But, think about it. If you quit cookies cold turkey, who will eat the supplies you got in advance? You would really let those cookies go to waste? 😂

Anyways, what I am trying to say is that you don’t need to shoot a youtube video of you on a path to losing 2654 pounds in a week. No one should take that route because it is way too hard, not enjoyable, and not forgiving on your body and mind regardless if you fail or not. And 99% of people fail, just saying.

The most important reason why you shouldn’t make severe shifts is this.

Big shifts are not sustainable.

Balance is the key

Remember this line in the middle?

Consider this line to be a symbol of unreachable life balance. Where you have enough of everything. Just as much as you really need.

Well, the closer you get to the line, the better of you are. Theoretically. I wouldn’t know because I never got that close.

But the closer I got, the better my life quality was. Other human animals say the same. It must be true.

The reality is you always walk on one or the other side of this line.

Here is how I imagine two exemplary human animals with different approaches. First person has huge amplitudes, the second person is living near by the middle line.

The first one, Bikram. Aside from him being able to balance his body in challenging positions, the life balance seems to be stretched out.

From enjoying popularity, being the charismatic person he undoubtedly is, to relapsing into “potential” sexual assaults and manipulations from the position of trust. On the top end of an amplitude he is spiritually enlightened, on the bottom, however, he is a sexual offender.

The other human animal is, well… Your regular everyday normal-looking and behaving guy/girl. For this instance, let’s say it is HE and he is a ridiculously regular math teacher.

The average guy made a simple conclusion sometime early in his life. He likes that line in the middle, it feels good there.

The average guy gets a pound here and there, losses one. His GAINZ resides in the realm of 2 pounds up maximum because he looks ok in the first place.

He is healthy, his body is not absorbing any muscle-busting shocks. His ankles are not his enemies, so he doesn’t torture them. Neither with his body weight or his artificial steel weight.

Ok, maybe I got a bit off the rail with two personas. But the point stays the same.

The closer you are to the line in the middle, the better you get.

If you are positioned currently on the bottom of an amplitude — don’t rush straight to the high end. Go slowly. Stay on the bottom of amplitude rather and try to shrink the amplitude. Go near the middle line, the promised land.

Maybe you just need a small changes. Tiny shifts that lead to a healthy, normal, sustainable lifestyle. Maybe you should go for longevity and not stress about severe changes. To have more time in this world, enjoy more nice conversations, have a clear and clutter-free mind.

Just maybe, you need to eat one cookie less the next day…