TGIM: System Overhaul

Welcome back to Thank God It’s Monday!

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tl;dr Attempting to change your actions without changing your systems is as effective as owning a bathing suit and living in the Arctic. If you can’t change the systems you fall back on, your actions will continue to get the same results.

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Another beautiful holiday weekend in the books. Fourth of July is my favorite time of year. Beautiful weather, no obligation to exchange presents, and seeing so many of my favorite people in one place when we gather at the beach. What could be better?
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With the holiday weekend comes the chips and cookies that we wouldn’t normally eat, and a few drinks we wouldn’t otherwise indulge in. The day is often so busy with preparation and celebration, you might not get your usual workout in. And the end of the weekend comes with a bloated, tired, and back-to-reality overwhelm.
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There are two ways to approach the days after a holiday weekend. First is the tried and true (and viscous cycle) guilt trip. You feel bad for overeating, and since the summer is still young, you have to make up for the excess calories and over restrict. You punish yourself with hours of cardio, promise yourself no carbs this week, and make yourself miserable (that is, until you break, because you always inevitably break).
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The second way is to get back to a well-established system. The same routine that helps you feel good during the remainder of the year is the one that will surely get you back to feeling your best to remedy that bloated, tired holiday weekend lull. You go back to your normal workouts, eat your same typical meals, and the best part is you can do it without any remorse for the weekend that just brought you so much joy.

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This distinction may be oversimplified. But the point still stands. You can white-knuckle your way through any actions when you feel you must take extreme measures. But inevitably you tucker out, because we are human, and we only have so much will-power and white-knuckling energy.

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These extreme actions are an uphill battle. You are working against the gradient, exerting a ton of effort to get the job done. On the other hand, when you resort to your systems, it is primarily a downhill cascade that ebbs and flows more naturally because of the operations you have in place. You can conserve energy by falling back on these systems.

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After the holiday weekend, getting back to the routine of eating and movement felt like getting right back on a bicycle the first nice day of the year: falling right into stride. That’s how your systems feel; they are effortless. They’re the habits you’ve created and the life you’ve built. They will develop regardless so be intentional about how you want those systems to look.
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Use your systems to create the life you want to lead. Make it easy to do the things that align with the best version of yourself, and make it more difficult to do the things that keep you from that version of you. That way, when things do get off course, or you have an incredible holiday weekend, you fall right back into stride.
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If you found some value in this, please share it with a friend you think would enjoy it! And let me know if you’d like to be added to get TGIM.​
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This week, my podcast recommendation is new from 10% Happier with Dan Harris, “How Modern Life Makes You Sick – And How to Fix It with Jeff Krasno.”

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With that, let me know what systems you have in place that make your life easier (or what your favorite holiday is and why it’s the Fourth of July).
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Until next time,

Shannon