Why Limitations Are Secretly a Gift
How turning constraints into a game made my workouts, meals, and travel easier - and how you can do the same this week.
Have you ever read something and all of the sudden realized why certain things you’re doing work so well?
I have and I love it haha (not to sound oddly cocky!?)
But it feels so good when something you’ve slightly intuitively figured out actually has a valid reason for being amazing!
And reading something it like it clicks and you feel like you’ve unlocked a secret to replicating that success now in other areas even too?
I had one of those moments this week reading James Clear’s newsletter…
He wrote:
“One of the more effective ways to force yourself to have better ideas is to create an artificial constraint.”
It made me realize why my “game” of giving myself stipulations for meal planning, workouts or travel or what I’d even considered at times to be “planning for the worst” works so well.
It’s honestly helped me see more efficiency in my work balance even!
And it’s made daily meal prep and macros become so much easier so much faster. Not to mention helped me be more consistent on my training through busy times of the year.
I force myself to think creatively by creating constraints.
What if I had X? In 5 minutes how many options can I come up with?!?
That way it oddly feels like more of a GAME vs. an in the moment panic struggle!
The great thing is, this can be applied to basically every area of life.
An injury? Right now consider all the opportunities to train around that this creates!
No equipment? Again what do you have around the house or what other ways to progress moves can you list out? Hey Kiwi really didn’t mind being used as a weight for squats!
Only have a grocery store to get food at and no kitchen or fridge while traveling? How can you hit your macros still with pre-prepped food or non-perishable snacks?
You can play these “games” and ultimately find creative solutions that make other times in your life easier.
The more you plan for hard situations, the easier those hard situations become…even if they aren’t exactly what you’d planned for!
Clear mentioned in his email:
“For many years, I wrote two articles per week and it would often take me over 20 hours to complete each article. Then I said, “If I only had 2 to 4 hours per week to write my newsletter, what would I do?”
That artificial constraint led to the creation of the 3-2-1 newsletter, which has become an incredibly popular format. Sometimes you can improve by cutting your options off.”
Instead of seeing limited options or limitations as a bad thing, they can be the opportunity we need to ultimately learn, grow and improve.
So as you go into this week, what areas or habits are you not fully satisfied with?
How could you create some constraints, or what constraints are naturally there, that right now you could see as opportunities to make those habits feel and work better?!
Comment and share…I’d love to hear your creative solutions or even help you see the opportunity in those obstacles!
- Cori