The "Good Enough" Principle - Ambivalence!

Definition of Ambivalence: The coexistence within an individual of positive and negative feelings towards the same action, person or object drawing him or her in opposite directions.

Or as I like to think of it... The "Good Enough" Principle!

"I could change the way I eat...but I'm not as overweight as some people I see, and my health is OK for now."


"I know I should exercise more but I'm in pretty good shape. I never really see any changes when I start doing it anyway, plus I just don't have the time."

Ever have thoughts like that?  Yep, I did too at one point and still do to some degree. Let's be honest, change is hard.  It introduces unknowns into our world and we aren't sure how we will manage them or how exactly they will change our lives.  We know that eating healthier and exercising regularly will improve our health and make us feel better, so why don't more people do it???  I definitely think it's because people are ambivalent or the idea that we are "good enough."  


In the fitness world or at least the blogofitnesssphere, yeah I just made that up, you hear people say all the time: don't compare yourself to the magazine cover models or the actresses you see on TV.  Since I live in the blogofitnesssphere, I completely agree with that statement.  You shouldn't compare your day 1 with someone else's day 365.  What about comparing yourself though on day 1 to someone who is on day negative 365?  What I mean by negative 365 is the person that is obese or maybe morbidly obese or the person that has type II diabetes.  They've been going down the "negative" path a lot longer than you.  That one doesn't get talked about enough but I think people subconsciously do it all the time.  You are ok not having the cover model figure but AT LEAST you aren't as bad as the person you saw at the grocery store today or your overweight uncle Frank.  Sorry to any uncle Franks out there.  


Are you in that place?  Be honest!  Do you catch yourself saying things like "I would never want to be that skinny" or "I never want to have muscles like him/her."  What you are really saying is I'm good enough and what you are likely doing is comparing yourself to the person that is on day negative 365 not the skinny or muscular person.    
I'm not saying you shouldn't love who you are and where you are right now! You should however give yourself an honest assessment of where you are at this particular moment.  The idea of "good enough" is aimed at the thoughts that you have that you shouldn't be trying to improve yourself. If you're not improving yourself and moving forward, you're most likely going backwards.  There are just too many things in our society today that will slowly compound over time to wear down your health and cause you to pack on the pounds.  I'm talking about things like stress, environmental toxins, processed foods, and constant sitting and inactivity.  Those things over the course of a lifetime will cause you to become sick and overweight.  It won't likely happen in a month or even year, but 20 or 30 years from now the choices you are making TODAY will have an impact.  

If you are ready to leave the world of ambivalence and start making decisions that will actively improve your health and mental well-being, we would love to help with that.  Our online accountability groups have been able to help hundreds of people step out of ambivalence and help them take control of their life and health.  For more information on these groups you can go to our Challenge Group Page or Email Us and we would be happy to share some info.