Sunday Something: 10% Better
For my perfectionists out there, here is a little something that helps you improve your state of being by focusing on only a 10% shift.
Perfectionists, UNITE!
When I was in the height of my eating disorder (read more about my recovery in my memoir, “Where the River Flows”) I did this thing where I would try and “turn my day around.”
If I’d binge-ate the night before or woke up “feeling fat” (first of all I want to name that fatness is not bad, and this is how my mind worked when I was in the height of my eating disorder. My eating disorder liked to trick me into thinking that the physical feeling of anxiety was actually a change in my shape or size. (I used to call panic attacks “fat attacks” because a) I didn’t know what a panic attack was and b) the physical sensations of having a panic attack felt like a balloon blowing up inside my stomach which I mistook for instant weight gain. (Oh wow this parenthese moment has lasted forever.)))
Ok, since that tangent has tangented, let’s come back.
If I woke up “feeling fat” I’d tell myself “I’m going to turn this day around,” meaning participate in EXTREME activities in order to perform a miraculous, 180 flip and go from my state of 0% to 100% in less than 24 hours.
Superhuman! Magical feat! If I run for hours and don’t eat surely my body will magically transform, and in turn, I will feel, 100% better about myself and my life!
Not true. Not healthy. Not wise.
This set me up for continued patterns of all-or-nothing extremes and perpetuated a perfectionistic mindset where I believed the only way to feel better was to maximize an emotional and physical shift at a 100% change.
The truth is, 100% shifts set us up for disappointment, unachievable expectations, and cycles of constant striving. The bar is never reachable, and as a result, no amount of shift ever feels like relief.
Today’s Sunday Something is to focus on 10% shifts.
This is a practice I have implemented in order to “do something” when I feel I need a reset or to improve my current state of being without the pressure of perfecting or making a radical, 180-turnaround.
Here’s how to practice “10% Better”
Pick ONE thing that you know helps shift your mood ONCE IT'S DONE. Maybe it’s tidying the kitchen. Maybe going for a walk. Maybe reading a book that’s teaching you something. Maybe practicing a new hobby.
Whatever it is, make your goal to DO THE THING, but at 10% effort.
Some examples:
Tidy your home so it’s 10% tidier than it is. Maybe you don’t dust or wipe the floorboards or make the bed perfectly—you tidy with the goal of a 10% improvement.
Go for a walk without the need to wear a nice outfit or do your hair. Or go for a walk without the goal of a certain amount of time or distance. You walk with the goal of 10% of your “normal walk-aroony.”
Practice your new hobby without the need to improve your skills or do anything impressive. The goal is just to sit down and do the thing, even if it’s just for 10 minutes and you suck at it.
Read about something you’re learning, but make the goal to read like, 10% of the pages you normally do or for 10% of the time you normally do.
Whatever you choose, think about improving whatever it is by only 10%, OR, doing whatever it is at only 10% of your normal one-hundo.
Aka no marathons, no extreme deep cleans, no cooking meals we’ve never cooked before, just the basics, just 10%.
What is your 10% going to be?
Mine is usually a “10% tidy,” and it’s become my absolute FAVE. (If you’re on the gram I made a video of my 10% tidy here).
Let us know in the comments what you plan to do and we’ll cheer you on!
Thanks for tagging along on these Sunday Somethings. Hope to see you here next week :)