Living through a lens of binary decisions, is one of the biggest factors for why we have become polarized in so many ways.
You all have heard me preach the importance of staying open minded in every of our lives. It is hard to stay open minded when we choose a perspective of..
Good vs Bad
Yes vs No
Right vs Wrong
This binary lens makes it extremely difficult to stay open minded.
When working with clients on nutrition, I would always get the famous question of "Which foods are good, and which foods are bad for me?" This train of thought puts food into 2 camps, vs trying to think about foods being something we should have "Less" of vs "More" of.
Which is how I landed on this continuum based thinking strategy.
Continuum based thinking is a great way to take all situations and allow for a more open minded decision to be made. When thinking about all goals that you have set out for yourself, picture where you want to be, where you are and where it could go if things got worse. This continuum is dynamic, it can change by the min. Sometimes it moves forward, sometimes it moves backwards, and sometimes it idles, but over time the goal is to continue to make progress moving forward!
What I love about this approach, is that it removes a close minded approach to all decision making. When we tell ourselves that something is bad, wrong, we then close the door on the ability to see the good and the right. The entire idea of staying open minded is seeing every possible angle of every situation and using critical thinking to evaluate the answer for yourself, but with the understanding that there is no "right" answer for everybody.
The human body is so dynamic and individualized, so the one size fits all model can't possibly work for everybody. Different body types, goals, training styles, lifting form, nutritional habits, stress management techniques, sleep schedules, communities, environment, etc.
Even better is the reality that even us as individuals, constantly are changing our style and approach.
Life is dynamic and so should your approach. Having a continuum based thinking strategy allows for us to make these changes, without ever feeling like I was "wrong" or "right" with my decision.
What makes us a beautiful species is our ability to adapt to situations and evolve over time.
When we choose to make decisions in a closed minded way, we begin to stunt our progress and ability to adapt to make these changes.
All progress starts with your mindset, incorporate this continuum based thinking strategy with as many different things as you can and watch how your mindset will change over time.
-Functional Lifestyles
