Years ago, my wife and I were really into a TV show called The Biggest Loser. If you’ve never heard of it, the general premise was essentially a couple of personal trainers and fitness experts were featured on the show every week helping a group of people struggling with weight loss and body image. Over the course of the season you would see these individuals go through a dramatic multi-month transformation 30 minutes at a time, as they developed better habits and unwound destructive ones. Overall, it was pretty enjoyable to see people improve their lives, many of whom had come from very dark places not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually.
Jillian Michaels was one of the two trainers that were regularly featured on the show. I recently came across this quote of hers:
“Allow yourself a few parties but be mindful the rest of the time.”
This quote caught my eye as I’m very keen to mindfulness and mindful investing. But I’ve struggled a bit thinking and reflecting on these words, because I feel like given where we’re at as a society, we actually can’t allow ourselves a few parties right now. With the Coronavirus pandemic and being somewhat stuck in our houses, there is a risk associated with doing anything socially. For me personally, this quote would have meant something completely different to me years ago. It would have meant indulging with food, or with drinks, or with where I was traveling.
We talk about mindful investing and having an awareness of the now in your surroundings, but there’s not a lot of allowance in there to be imperfect, or to not be mindful sometimes. What about those times when you’re just not into the now? What then?
Missteps don’t always mean falling into a spiral of negativity. They can actually refresh you and help you stay focused on your overall goals.
I suppose when approaching anything there’s a sense that we need to be perfect about it. I’m going through a process right now of attempting to upgrade my eating habits. I’m eating a lot of salads and a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, which is a bit of a change from my beginning-of-the-Coronavirus-pandemic-nightly-gelato indulgences. I’m just trying to just clean things up and get into a better fitness routine and hopefully come out of this feeling better and doing better overall.
One of the things I’ve learned is that I’m not going to hit 100% with eating salads all the time. We had pizza last night and it tasted amazing. We were not scheduled to have pizza in our carefully curated weekly calendar of meals, but it just hit me, and I told my wife, “I think it’s pizza night. Can we please get pizza?” She very lovingly agreed. I’m finding that even with occasional missteps like random Tuesday pizza nights, overall I’m still feeling healthier. Why? Because my average experience is better. My main standard fallback meal is something relatively healthy, even with little cheats along the way.
Surround yourself with tools and resources to help you stay mindful.
In today’s world, I think this quote might suggest allowing yourself a few parties in more of a mental sense. If your goal is to lose weight dramatically, allow yourself the freedom to eat pizza sometimes. It’s not only acceptable to do this, but it will also allow you to stay true the rest of the time. It’s sort of counterintuitive because you feel like if you take a misstep then you’ll fall into a downward spiral of negativity. I don’t think so. I think it actually refreshes you. And I think you’ll find that over time you need those cheat days less and less.
Aside from these few “mental parties”, be mindful the rest of the time. Think about how your average day includes mindfulness. Think about how you’re having a healthy conversation with yourself, not just as an investor, but as a human being. How are you tracking your progress as you try to improve routines and improve decision-making? How are you improving what you put inside your head and put inside your body?
I’ve enjoyed reflecting on this quote the last couple of days. I think allowing yourself a few parties mentally, especially given the situation we’re in, can be very helpful. But also set yourself up with things that will help you be mindful the rest of time. Over the long-term, even with the ups and downs of short-term decision-making, as long as you surround yourself with the tools, resources, and support system to get you to a better place, you’re going to end up just fine.
RR#6,
Dave
Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. Please see the Disclaimer page for full details.