Last week I briefly discussed the all-or-nothing pattern and two related mindsets.
To summarize, the all-or-nothing pattern refers to the common human tendency to attempt to improve by changing a large number of habits and then reverting back to baseline after recognizing that maintaining all of the changes is unsustainable.
The all-or-nothing mindset occurs when we think that we have to do “everything” in order to see progress and that we might as well do nothing if we can’t, in fact, do everything. Conversely, the continuum mindset occurs when we realize that minor habit improvements are more sustainable and lead to long-term progress when implemented consistently.
Obviously, adopting the continuum mindset is a better strategy for implementing meaningful changes in our lives. But as we all know, falling into the all-or-nothing mindset is really, really easy to do in the moment when we’re confronted with a challenge (e.g. fatigue, hunger, screaming children, frustrating co-workers).
I’ve found the following practice to be helpful in keeping continuum thinking my primary mode of operation and, subsequently, improving my consistency of action.
Developing protocols for three distinct times
In a tip from about a year ago, I discussed the idea of having floors and ceilings to promote consistency in our habits.
Floors, in this context, are minimum acceptable actions related to our goals. These actions are probably too small to produce meaningful progress but serve to keep us consistent. Alternatively, ceilings are maximal “crushing it” actions that we think are ideal habits for making progress.
Both are great examples of the extremes along a continuum, and I’ve used them in a variety of contexts to help me stay consistent.
But I’ve also always felt that something was missing because, like the fact that life occurs mostly between extremes, most of my daily habits occurred between my floors and ceilings. The idea was helpful, but it still felt theoretical… which occasionally let me do some mental gymnastics to wiggle my way out of commitments I had made to myself.
Recently I was exposed to an idea that expanded upon the floor & ceiling concept and made it more concrete: developing three specific protocols that cover every possible situation.
- Bubble Wrap protocol: This is what you do when everything in life feels completely under control and you have the time, energy, and ability to do whatever needs to be done in service of achieving your goal or implementing your process.
- In the Wild protocol: This is what you do on a relatively typical basis. It’s when “normal” challenges occur and when you may have slightly less time, energy, or ability but still plenty to get the job done.
- Paying the Price protocol: This is what you do when the proverbial sh*t hits the fan. You’re probably tired or stressed, so the absolute priorities are what receive most of your attention. However, you’ve committed to a certain habit or action, so you still make sure to do it. It just looks a bit different than in either of the other two protocols.
If this seems fairly similar to the floor & ceiling idea, you’re not mistaken. The Bubble Wrap protocol is similar to the ceiling part of the equation, and the Paying the Price protocol is the floor.
The difference lies in the specificity of the In the Wild protocol.
In the floor & ceiling idea, the floor and ceiling were specifically defined, but everything in between was fuzzy. Since most of life occurs between the extremes, that’s a lot of time spent feeling caught between “doing something to promote consistency” and “wanting to do more but not having the capacity”. In other words, it’s not very inspiring.
But with the three-protocols idea, the habits or actions that exist in the middle ground are specifically defined. Yes, they still fall between the two extremes, but specifically defining the habits or actions makes it feel different. Like you’re doing something intentional to move toward your goal as opposed to living in Limbo Land.
And when you’re working toward a goal, especially one that requires significant change to your daily actions and habits, intention and inspiration make a world of difference in the willingness to show up consistently.
Putting it into practice
At the end of last week’s tip, I asked two questions:
- In which situations do you find yourself doing more all-or-nothing thinking?
- In one of those situations, how many actions can you think of that fall between two extremes for the given situation?
This week consider your answers to the second question, and answer three more questions:
- What’s the tiniest action that you’d be willing to commit to doing on your most challenging day? That’s your Paying the Price protocol.
- What’s the most significant action that you feel confident you would do on a day when all your stars align? That’s your Bubble Wrap protocol.
- What one or two actions can you commit to doing on whatever you’d consider a typical day? That’s your In the Wild protocol.
Now all that’s left to do is to recognize, each and every day, what type of day you’re experiencing and take action on exactly what you’ve committed to doing.
That type of consistency will breed positive results before too long.