Progress Vs Perfection

It's great to have goals. We should all have them. I have loads of them. The more I am exposed to the health and fitness industry, the more I see people striving for perfection when it comes to their bodies; strength, body fat, you get the picture. It made me think - in our pursuit of health and wellness, are we becoming unhealthily obsessed with reaching our goals? And, are our goals always meant to be reached? 

"A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at" - Bruce Lee.

For a while, after losing my 15kg of fat, I was obsessed with the thought of not letting anything "bad" enter my body. I was unhealthily obsessed with being healthy. It was too much. Then I went through my zero carbs phase because, once again, I was trying to eat "perfect". Take it from the guy that ate 500 grams of carbs today, carbs are not the enemy! 

I now feel like I am way more balanced mentally because I am not aiming for perfection, but instead just appreciating my progress and the process. 

Now I live by the 80/20 rule. I eat well 80% of the time but that other 20% of the time I do still love a burger/pizza/chocolate / all of the above at once. This is a far cry from my old way of life, that was an abundance of EVERYTHING. I have learned to embrace my progress rather than dwell on my weekly blowout. Shhh - don't judge me, I know even the healthiest of you reading this do it too! 

The same goes for training. We all have good weeks, we have bad weeks. Weeks we don't train. Weeks we do train, but with the zero to no effort. We just show up. I am not saying to put in less effort. You know as well as I do when you have put in the hard yards when it comes to exercise, but as long as you are moving in the right direction, you should be satisfied with your progress. 

Lately, I have been guilty of getting frustrated by losing size and strength due to my bulging discs in my back. Still, I am training my brain to be happy with the small victories each week with my corrective exercises. It's not easy, and your brain needs training like any other muscle does. 

So go on, celebrate your small wins, enjoy your progress and every inch you move towards your goals. You will know if you deserve it or not...