baby steps | aim low

WHAT? Aim low? Isn’t it more important to aim high?

There’s a quote about shooting for the moon—and if you miss, you’ll still land among the stars.

There are all kinds of advice to aim high, push through, just do it, HUSTLE…. And how’s that working out for you so far?

So for this month’s baby step to health, I’d like to dive into the idea of aiming low for a change.

what does your inner coach sound like?

We all have inner voices, and one of them is undoubtedly a coach or parent type of voice.

What does your inner coach sound like?

Is she the type who berates you?

• What is WRONG with you?
• Why are you such a loser?
• Can’t you do this one simple thing?
• Why is everyone else doing it, but you just can’t?
• Come ON. Just DO IT.

Or is she the type who encourages you?

• Come on, I’ve seen you succeed before!
• It’s okay, try again.
• Don’t worry about what others are doing—you’re not them.
• Let’s give it another try.

I like to think about it in terms of energy. And to be clear, we all have both masculine and feminine energies in us—we tend to lead with one or the other depending on the situation.

I’ve read that masculine energy is more direct, its movement more like an arrow while feminine energy is more circular, like flow or like a slinky.

When I think about coaching, I think about the masculine one being all about motivation and aiming high and the feminine one about invitation and aiming low.

We all respond differently to those we perceive as the coaches in our lives: some of us thrive when pushed to our limits; others do better with a gentler approach.

why aim low?

There’s the wonderful quote by Albert Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

So if you’ve been living in the land of JUST DO IT (set that goal, push through to it, grind, hustle—motivate) and it hasn’t been helping you on your health journey, this month, I suggest you aim low and invite yourself on the journey.

Because, once again, those inner voices.

Think about this situation: you have 10 things that must be done today, and you’ve prioritized them. And you’re pretty sure you don’t have time to do all 10 of them.

The aim high way would be to say, “My goal is to get these 10 things done today. Ready, set, GO.”

The aim low way would be to say, “These are the 3–4 things that I want to get through today. Let’s get started.”

At the end of the day, you have accomplished 5 tasks.

The mean coach voice would say, “OMG. Seriously? You only got 5 things done?”

The kind coach would say, “Heyyy! Look at you! You set out to do 3 things, and you got 5 done!”

Now, which one feels better?

how would it look if it were easy?

I have clients who have been stuck in aim high mode so long that they actually don’t know how to aim low. “No, you don’t understand. I have to get all 10 of these done today.”

Well, if you know your to-do list is never going to be to-done, isn’t it better to celebrate what you did achieve than berate yourself for what you didn’t?

My clients are often high (over?) achieving women, and their biggest fear when they are told to aim low is that they will just give themselves a pass and stop achieving anything.

Ha—not a chance. It’s not in their nature.

So whether we’re talking about meal planning or running a business, the question to ask is, “How would it look if it were easy?”

make the connection

This is the seventh challenge in a 12-part series that will run for all of 2022: every month, I’ll share a small, simple, sustainable shift to make on your way to healthier food and lifestyle choices. By the end of the year, you’ll be amazed at the difference in your health!

“A YEAR?!? But that’s so long,” you may be thinking. Remember: a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.

Let me ask you this: how long have you been making poor food and lifestyle choices? I’ll bet it’s been more than a year, maybe even more than a decade….

And those poor choices have resulted in poor health.

The good news is that you can reverse the downward trend by making better choices, and the only way those will stick is if you make them one baby step at a time.

Practice aiming low and asking how it would look if it were easy for the month of July and beyond—then come back for August’s Baby Step to Health! Want to make sure you don’t miss a single challenge? Join my email list.