ABY Weekly 058
Overcoming Present Bias
Happy weekend!
Welcome to this edition of ABY Weekly- a weekly digest for fitness and nutrition minded friends, written this week by Coach Katie of A Balanced You.
Overcoming Present Bias & Taking Action Now
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
It’s a simple line, often attributed to a Chinese proverb, and it lands because it’s true in a slightly uncomfortable way. Most of us can point to something we wish we’d started earlier: taking care of our health, building strength, learning how to eat in a way that serves us best.
One of the hardest mental patterns to overcome is “present bias.”
It’s the tendency to prioritize what feels good or easy in the moment over what actually moves us toward our long-term goals. It’s choosing the couch over the workout, convenience over intention, “I’ll start Monday” over starting today.
Dr. Gabrielle Lyon puts it well in her book Forever Strong:
We have to look at the future cost of our current choices.
If nothing changes, what will this cost you in 2 years?
In 4?
In 20?
Start acting like your future self matters
It’s easy to unintentionally pass the baton to “future” you.
Future you will figure out how to eat enough protein… even though current you didn’t prepare anything.
Future you will make time for workouts… even though current you isn’t building the habit.
Future you will feel motivated… even though current you keeps letting you off the hook.
Lean into planning. Be proactive where you can, so you can be flexible when you need to be.
Schedule your workouts like appointments (when something can be done anytime, it often gets done “no time”)
Decide meals ahead of time (even loosely)
Remove as many decisions as possible in the moment
When you just “don’t wanna”… make the hard thing smaller
Overwhelm usually indicates that a problem or task feels too big. Make it smaller, zoom in, and focus on taking the next small step.
Example: If you don’t want feel you have the energy for a full workout, go for a 5 minute walk. Action is what breeds motivation- more often than not, once you start, you keep going.
In those moments when you’re tempted to not follow through, check in and ask yourself:
Why did I want this in the first place? Come back to your reason, your “why.”
What action would the person I want to be in the future take right now?
Find a way to enjoy the process
Change requires some discomfort, but if you constantly live in dread of healthy behaviors, you won’t be successful long term. Be honest with yourself and the level of effort you have to give:
Is this the right goal for me right now?
What outcome do I actually want?
What is it worth to me?
What am I willing to do to get there?
Not every goal needs to happen immediately, but the things you truly want will happen faster if you take action today. Remember: we all choose our hard.
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