Unsustainability vs Sustainability
Are you actually doing unsustainable things, or are you just being told you are?
It’s around this time of year where you’ll be getting inundated with 1 of 2 extremes of advice;
Do it all now and get overnight results. Don’t waste your time with moderation.
Sustainability is the key. Short term goals are bad and you’ll fail in the long run.
Well surprise sur-fucking-prise, it isn’t that simple.
Coaches tout general sustainability because they know potential clients have, in the past, tried to make certain methods last longer than was feasible.
And that’s all sustainability is. Modifying the dose of an action to match the situation/circumstance. If you don’t then that method that was once perfectly fine now becomes, you guessed it…unsustainable.
It’s not binary
Touting certain methods and actions as “sustainable” across the board is as daft as touting other “unsustainable” methods to the masses.
Some people can afford to turn up the heat on certain methods and tasks right now, and in doing so, they can get great results right off the bat and maximize their initial motivation and desire to change.
We run into issues when we don’t modify our approach when the situation or circumstance changes.
Scenario; 2 weeks off work
If you had 2 weeks off work, you could afford to prep all your meals, sleep 9 hours per night, take a 2 hour daily walk, get a weekly massage, and train for 2 hours per day. Awesome! You’ll have the time, energy, and resources to do these things, and in doing so, you will get closer to your health and fitness goals. Again. Awesome! You would be leaving valuable progress on the table, and actively holding yourself back for little to no reward if you decided not to do more during your time off from work.
When you go back to work after a fortnight of maxing and relaxing, you’ll almost certainly have to modify your approach and expectations. If you don’t only then do your actions become unsustainable.
What makes something unsustainable is the circumstance/situation we deploy it in. There is no single right answer for everyone because we all have different demands and circumstances to navigate.
Start by being flexible
It is important to be flexible with your approach, modify your expectations based on your own circumstances, and do the best you can do on that given day to get as much out of your efforts as possible.
There is no single sustainable or unsustainable way to do things, so be wary of those telling you that there is.
If you aren’t sure where to start, whether what you’re doing is sustainable or not, and you would like to get some free guidance and support, then my virtual door is always open. Click the button below to book a free coaching call and we can figure it out together.
Cheers!