So I have been thinking about the things that I wish I had learnt years and years ago. Stuff that would have been great to know when I was at high school, or first leaving home, or even just last year when I was in full-on new baby meltdown. I am going to write a series of Hot Tips that have made things slightly easier, or more relaxed, or simpler, for me. Hopefully you find them helpful too xx
Don't let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of good. (Or something like that).
I can't remember where I first heard this (maybe here? Although I think Voltaire actually said it first), but it was one of those things that must have gotten lodged in my brain because it came back to me as a lightbulb moment the other day.
It is easy to get so caught up in doing everything perfectly, that just doing a good job gets pushed to the wayside. I tend to be a perfectionist, and sometimes if I can't so something perfectly, I don't want to do it at all. Which is kind of ridiculous when I see it written down like that.
For example, I attempted Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation a while ago. I started off well, then fell off the wagon slightly (probably by eating cake) and then gave it up totally because it wasn't going perfectly. When really, just eating well most of the time and exercising when I can is better than doing sweet eff-all, which is what I did once I stopped the diet. This all or nothing attitude isn't doing anybody any favours.
Another example? I really like having green smoothies. They are yum, and healthy, and I can indulge myself in smugly feeling like I've got my shit together. But I read somewhere that it is best to drink them immediately after you blend them up, because the vitamins start magically disappearing as soon as they are exposed to air or something like that. So I started freaking out and trying to make them fresh everyday. And that didn't work, so I ended up hardly ever making them at all. Stupido!
A three-hour old veggie juice is better than no veggie juice at all. So now I just make a big jugful whenever I can and drink a glass whenever I want. Still yum, still healthy, and I can still be smug.
If there is anything you want to, just freaking do it. You don't need to be a profesh dancer to take dance classes, you don't need to be an amazing cook to have a dinner party and you don't need to be Usain Bolt to take up running.
Go. Get shit done.