Lifestyle change goals are dynamic!
Lifestyle change isn’t a destination, it’s an oscillation between phases, and peace comes from embracing the rhythm, not perfection.
I think one of the problems with setting lifestyle change goals is that we expect it to be some sort of destination which, in my opinion, is the wrong way to look at it. It’s essential to have proper expectations so you don’t guilt-trip yourself.
Say, for example, you want to incorporate a 2-hour deep work session, a 1-hour workout, and 8 hours of quality sleep into your current lifestyle. The first tendency is to do all of them at once, trying to go from 0 to 1. This becomes a problem because you can’t do it consistently. And if you’re someone who sets such goals, you’ll most likely blame yourself when you can’t live up to them. Now, you’ve added another layer of feeling bad for not being able to stick to an overly ambitious goal.
A better way is to pick just one say, the easiest one like getting quality sleep. Do this for a few weeks, and once it feels natural, you can then implement other changes.
The second trap is thinking that once you’ve fixed your sleep, you’ve mastered it, and can move on to, say, incorporating workout sessions. But that’s not true. It’s dynamic. You might start working out, but then fall back on sleep again. So even if you’ve achieved it once, you’ll still need to keep working on it. There may be a phase where you’ve managed all three, but then you might fall back again. My point is: life is just a series of shifting phases it’s dynamic. If you treat it that way, you’ll at least avoid the guilt because you’ll understand, inherently, that it’s a constant effort to maintain balance.
In this pursuit, the most important thing is to try to enjoy the present moment because there is nothing more important than that.