Most people are under the impression that if they find the perfect workout program, THAT’S what will make all the difference.

They’ll finally stick to it and see the results they’ve been hoping for.

But boy have we been misled into thinking this!?

There’s no such thing as the ultimate health program, or a magic pill or any other marketing gimmick about our health.

The Long Game

Our monkey brains want instant results, but the truth of the matter is, when we’re talking about our health, we’re talking the long game.

And the only way to succeed at the long game is one day at a time.

Enter my notion of having 1-0 days.

Think back to when you were playing sports and you were told to forget about your past games/performances, and not to worry about your next opponent.

How you went into the game with the intention of coming out 1-0. The only thing that mattered was THAT game. THAT performance. THAT opponent.

And if you focused on the present, and won THAT game, you’d be 1-0.

It can be the same for your health each and every day.

Go into each new day forgetting about what you ate or didn’t eat yesterday; forgetting about how great (or nonexistent) your workout was yesterday.

And don’t even think about the rest of the week or month or year.

Just be in it today, aiming for a 1-0 day.

What Gets the ‘W’?

What that 1-0 day looks like depends on what you want.

Maybe your measure of success that day is eating at least one vegetable; or perhaps it’s moving your body for no less than 30 minutes; or even going to bed by 10pm.

The key isn’t necessarily what your measure is, just that you have a specific one.

For example, eating better is hard to measure on a 1-0 scale. Whereas eating a vegetable with each meal or having at least one salad per day or cooking dinner at home are all specific, measurable things to which you can determine if you went 1-0 or 0-1 for that day.

So now that you’re here, pick what gets you a W each day.

And then, grab a calendar, journal, or habit tracker – whatever you can mark the days on – and begin tracking your 1-0 days versus your 0-1 days. 

You can write W for the 1-0s and L for the 0-1s, you can X out each 1-0 day, however you want to track it, the important part is that you do track it.

Our monkey brains need to feel successful and need to see the progress – so this simple way of tracking can do the trick.

Why It Works

The idea of having a 1-0 day isn’t to be perfect every day – in fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Measuring your progress in 1-0 days alleviates the pressure to be strict and on point 100% of the time.

Instead, it doesn’t matter what you did yesterday, or if you have a week-long streak of 0-1 days, you can start today with a 1-0 day.

It really is that simple.

And when you remove the pressure to be perfect, you won’t beat yourself up over the occasional ‘L’ and instead just get right back up the next day aiming for a 1-0 day.

It’s essentially a form of immediate self-forgiveness because you know you’re trying (but you’re also human) and today’s an opportunity to try again.