Black and White Thinking
A black and white mentality requires perfection. No mistakes. It’s either success or failure. Black and white thinking keeps us stuck. This week on the podcast we’re talking about moving away from this kind of thinking so that you can feel more present, encouraged, and be the woman you want to be TODAY.
Listen to the Full Episode
Have you ever had the thought, “If I can’t do XYZ for XYZ amount of time, it’s not worth doing”?
When we do this, we have entered the Land of Black and White Thinking.
Examples:
“If I don’t have 30 minutes to move my body, it doesn’t count.”
“If I don’t have 1 hour to read, it isn’t worth my time.”
“If I can’t go for a walk every day on my lunch break this week, why bother going at all?”
“If I can’t have the whole evening to rest, I might as well just work the night away.”
All examples of black and white thinking. All rooted in perfection and holding the belief that if you can’t do something in your designated “perfect way”, it’s not worth any time or effort. Nothing good will come from doing some, right?
Actually, doing some, giving yourself a TASTE of what you’d like to do, really does add up over time! Think about it, if you believe that reading isn’t worth doing if you don’t have time to do it for an hour, you will not do it often. BUT if you believe that even 2-3 pages read will still enrich your day and mind, you’ll find yourself doing it more often in the cracks of your day and week. In the long run, you will actually read more books by reading when you can, for how long you can, over only reading when it fits your ideal situation and “perfect” reading time frame of 1 hour. Make sense? Hope so!
I’m curious, in what life areas are you currently experiencing black and white thinking? Another name for it is all or nothing thinking.
We can apply this concept to exercise, too. You can either be a short term exerciser, perfectly following a ridged and intense workout schedule which will lead to exhaustion and mental burn out eventually. Or you can be a long term exerciser, choosing joyful movement and honoring your body cues of when to follow your workout schedule and when to be flexible and do something else. Like rest or a different type of exercise that better suits how your body feels that day. Consistency in habits trumps perfection. Every.Time. Even better is intuitive consistency!
It’s what we do OFTEN that we sees results from. Not what we do perfectly.
So what new habit do you desire to start? When you envision your future self, what is she doing? Wearing? Believing? Speaking?
What can you start doing today to give your present self a TASTE (which still SO counts) of what your future self is doing?
Here’s to dedicating yourself to new goals and habits, but with the mindset of having grace for your imperfection in implementing said goals and habits!
What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
- Tips to stay calm and present
- How to move away from black and white thinking and embrace imperfection
- Why imperfection doesn’t mean you failed
- The power of gratitude
Mentioned in this Episode:
- Snowboarding blog post Paige mentions in the episode: read here
- Sign up for the free lesson: 3-Secrets to Make Prioritizing Yourself Easier
- Connect with Paige on Instagram: @paigeschmidt
- Want to work with Paige? Start Aligned Coaching today.
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