Why do you fall off the wellness wagon? (And ideas about how not to...)

I ran across a very interesting post on the blog of author Tim Ferris.  It features something called the Transition Curve.  It reminds me of what Seth Godin calls The Dip.  The post runs through several stages of a recurring cycle in the life of an entrepreneur.  I'll let this excerpt speak for itself:

The concept that we’re going to examine is called the Transition Curve. It resembles a rollercoaster...

* Stage 1: The first stage of the concept is called “Uninformed Optimism”. At this stage on a rollercoaster, just getting to the top of the rollercoaster, you experience feelings of an adrenalin rush, characterized by excitement and nervous energy.

* Stage 2: The second stage is called “Informed Pessimism”. As you ride over the top of the curve you now have a bit more information. Feelings of fear, nervousness, and frustration begin to set in. Perhaps you even want to get off of it.

* Stage 3 – The third stage is called “Crisis of Meaning”. You’re past scared. You feel despair. It’s as if you’re standing on the edge of a cliff ready to jump, and you begin to think “Today the rollercoaster’s going off the bottom of the track for the very first time.” You feel helpless and you’re both terrified and frozen.

* At this point, you face a critical juncture. You can come off the bottom of the curve and crash and burn, which is when your business goes bankrupt, you lose your marriage, you start drinking, or you end up in a doctor’s office because of stress. Or you can come around the corner because you’re getting support at “Crisis of Meaning” and you can enter an upward swing call “Informed Optimism”.

* Stage 4 – Informed Optimism. You’re calm. You’re informed. You might even say you are cautiously optimistic.

(via The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss)

In reading about the Transition Curve, I could not help but be struck with the parallels to be drawn with people who are on the wellness path.  Whether it is a resolution to eat better, move more, regain lost movement capacity, reduce aches and pains, develop better energy reserves, etc, the above pattern is almost universally applicable.

Think of the last time you resolved to eat in a more healthful manner.  Something triggered it, right?  You saw an inspiring movie or read an inspiring book.  You hit the bottom of the barrel and decided, in a disgusted fit, that it was time to take things in hand.  You got inspired by a friend's tale of nutritional transformation.  Whatever the catalyst, something sent you onto the warpath.  You're all fired up!  You start reading blogs, magazines and internet articles about healthy eating.  You tell all your friends about which nutritional approach you have decided on.  You hit the health food stores and stock up on all your organic, healthy fare.  What an exciting time!

Then you get your first craving.  Or you go to your first dinner party.  Or you head into the Christmas party season.  Things get awkward.  You feel weird explaining why you don't want a glass of eggnog.  You feel derailed if you do have a glass of eggnog.  Now that the realities of daily life are muddying the waters of your perfect nutritional plan, you aren't sure how this is all going to work.  You start to know enough to worry about whether you can pull it off.

Then you hit the "dip."  This is the make it or break it point.  It is when you start to ask yourself, Oh dear, am I really going to be able to sustain this?  Am I willing to eat like this for the rest of my life.  Is it worth the trouble?  Am I really getting any benefit?

This guy is in the Dip...

I love the way Seth Godin explains the dip in some of his interviews.  He reminds us how the toughest year in a prestigious university degree is often the first.  This is done purposefully in order to weed out those who aren't cut out for the program.  So, the first year is the dip.  If you push through and succeed in that first year, you've made it past the point of resistance.  If you press through that membrane, you are home-free on the other side.

This guy is definitely through the Dip!!

As we see when we look around, most people don't make it past the wellness dip.  It's tough.  It's complicated.  It's confounded by our popular culture, media messages and social pressures.  But if you break through the other side, you find that you have momentum.  You know what you need to do.  You develop strategies to fit what you need to do into the realities of life.  You adapt to your new habits so that it becomes easier to "be you" while doing those things then while not doing those things.  Old habits begin to feel weird.  You've punched through the membrane.

Easy to say.  Obviously hard to do (or we would all be held up as models of health and fitness).  What are some things you can do to help you through the dip?

5 Things To Help You Through the Dip

• Surround yourself with like-minded people.  If none of your immediate circle share your goals, consider joining an online community like the RMAX tribe or some other forum or group which supports your new lifestyle objectives.
• Make very small promises and keep them.  When you are in the dip, seeing through to the other side is almost impossible.  Imagining that you are going to succeed is very difficult.  But making small promises to yourself, one at a time, and sticking to them is a great way to see you through the dip one inch at a time.  For example, you may promise yourself that "tomorrow, I will not eat any refined sugar."  That's one day and one goal.  That is doable.  It is very different than, "refined sugar is no longer part of my diet."  When you're in the dip, the latter just isn't believable.
• Write everything down.  The worst time to "slip" is while you are in the dip.  This is because one slip turns into one more "exception" which turns into the rule which leads you right back to where you started.  By writing everything down, you keep yourself honest.
• Get a coach.  I can't stress this enough.  If you are going it alone, it is tough to have the perspective, will and staying power to make it through the dip.  Seeing a coach even once a week can help you through that difficult period.  When you are riding high on the other side of the dip, you may only need your coach periodically.  While in the dip, I would suggest using your coach liberally.  And these days your coach does not have to live close by.  I have several people I am proud to call coach, and they all live hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers away.
• Plan, plan and plan.  Write down in detail the actions you are going to take in the next 4-6 days to stay on track.  This could be writing out your meal plans.  It could be creating a detailed exercise schedule.  Whatever you are trying to achieve, map it out in great detail for at least a few days in advance.  Obviously, this type of meticulousness is not feasible long-term, but you'll need it to break through the dip.

I'm sure there are many more.  What dips have you made it through?  Have you pierced through the membrane of resistance in your profession, your relationship, your health, your mental outlook or some other area of your life?  What helped you make it through your dip?  Please leave your tips in the comments.  It'll help us all...

Comments

[John Sifferman - Real World Strength Training]

My most recent major dip was last year, shortly after I got married. We were in a time of financial crisis - and I mean CRISIS. Living week to week, giving up so many things (even food), making minimum payments on our two credit cards. It was a mess, and this situation did everything it could to wreak havoc on the first year of our marriage.

I was almost completely out of work for several months, taking small jobs when I got them - but I did not have a steady income source. I remember a time when our rent payment was due in a week, and we had less than $5 in our bank account.

Part of the reason we were struggling was because I had decided not to take any job that would lead me nowhere - not to settle for "just a paycheck." Somewhere, deep inside myself, I knew that there was a better way to secure wealth than by taking the first 9-5 job I could find. I knew that there was a path I was meant to take - supposed to take. Reinforcing that fact was the daily temptation to crumble and apply for any honest job I could find. It was constantly on my mind, and an easy way out - I could just give up on the idea of having a great job.

To the onlooker, it sounds selfish, but I know we made the right decision to press on through this dip in our lives. After encountering much resistance, having many arguments, and digging ourselves into financial loss - I accepted a dream job position - managing a tremendously successful online fitness business.

Believe it or not, it actually took almost six months to get this job from my interview and internship process until signing the contract - talk about going out on a limb! It was worth the wait, and I wouldn't trade my job for any other. We are steadily paying down our debt, living in a much nicer home, just placed a down payment on a puppy, and I even have time to write blog posts and share my knowledge of fitness and health with the world.

Where there is resistance, there is reward.

John Sifferman NSCA-CPT
http://www.JohnSifferman.com

[Adam]

John - Wow, now that is a dip. Thanks for sharing that story man! And I must say that you really have landed on your feet (and then some). I very much like your site and blog. Looks like you are doing really well for yourself.

[Jeffry Larson]

When the going gets tough I try to remember the words of Winston Churchill, "Never, Never, never give up". It seems simple but it works for me as a mantra that I repeat back to myself.

Have faith in the goal. Write it down. Know that small failures and setbacks will happen. When they do immediately pick yourself up and get back on track.

Thanks for sharing the article. I'm a Tim Ferris fan myself.

[Rob]

This really hit a chord with me - especially the tips about planning and writing things down. Personally I have trouble with fitness if I don't plan down to the last meal. I try to do a comprehensive meal plan once per week. My exercise plan is more or less constant when I am only maintaining fitness, but when I am trying to improve, again, I have to plan down to the last minute.

[Adam]

Jeffry - It's great to have a "go-to" phrase that helps you through tough times! By-the-way, congrats on Airborne School my friend! I bet Churchill helped you through that one too...

Rob - That's pretty common. I'm quite cyclical in my planning. Sometimes I plan right down to the last detail and other times I am totally free wheeling. I find that approach keeps me sane but on track...

[Damien]

I fall off the wagon all the time.

Getting my nutrition right is probably one of the most challenging things for me.... I have tried so many styles of eating but never yet found one that works.

I have a new twist in the works and after another big fall, due largely to a road trip and no access to decent food.... I'm ready to sort it out again.

For me it needs to be simple, easily repeatable and enjoyable. I'm not a fussy eater.

There were some very good tips in this article though, thanks.

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[ClubPenguinCheats]

It was worth the wait, and I wouldn't trade my job for any other. We are steadily paying down our debt, living in a much nicer home, just placed a down payment on a puppy, and I even have time to write blog posts and share my knowledge of fitness and health with the world.