Finding Your *Just Right* (a.k.a. The Goldilocks Approach)

I know that Goldilocks kind of has a reputation—as an entitled, breaking and entering, little brat—but I can't help but like her.

Goldilocks is a rule breaker and she knows what works for her. She is definitely willing to try a thing or two or three until she finds her perfect fit…smart sister, Goldilocks.

If you try something and it almost works, but not quite…

TWEAK IT.

Make it your own.

This is how you build sustainable habits.

Give yourself permission not to follow someone else’s protocol exactly. Here’s an example:

My client, Lissa* (ha, that's not her name), started Whole 30 a few weeks ago. She likes the program and does well with it BUT at first she really, really struggled with not having cream in her coffee. Lissa doesn’t like *plain* coffee. So she started skipping coffee altogether and dragging her way through the morning missing her coffee all the while. No fun. Not sustainable.

Lissa made a decision to allow herself to have coffee with cream. What?!? I know, outrageous.

We talked about this and I asked her how she felt about giving herself permission to modify Whole 30 to fit her life. Lissa felt great! All of the sudden--with this one small change--Lissa felt a huge sense of relief as there was enough flexibility for the program to work for her.

Lissa just needed to give herself permission to break the rules and once she did the program was her own. Yep, with that one wee-little change, the program became her own.

Finding your *just right* often involves shifting your thinking from an all-or-nothing, 100% compliance mindset to an 80/20 mindset.

It’s going from “that won’t work for me” to “how can I make this work for me?”

That’s the million dollar question: HOW CAN I MAKE THIS WORK FOR ME?

When you get stuck, or feel deprived, or know that you're about to fall off the wagon...ask yourself, "how can I make this work for me?"

Then listen to what your oh-so-wise self comes up with...allow that wisdom to come through.

When you ask this question, you are in charge. You set the rules. You make things work for you tuning into your own needs and being clear about what you are willing to do and what you are not willing to do.