Outwitting Your Inner Perfectionist (For Better Health)

Hello friends! Welcome to Notes from the Road, where we crack the code on your 50s and beyond. In this issue:

• Outwitting your inner perfectionist.

• One-year newsletter anniversary.

• Do you really want to retire early?

• Why overseas retirees return to the US.

• Upsizing your home in retirement.

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Outwit Your Inner Perfectionist (for Better Health)

As long-time readers know, I’ve been spending lots of time and effort trying to maximize my health. For many of us at this age, this mission—as a good friend and I call it—is our new midlife “science project.”

So far I’ve figured out that learning, commitment, and measurement need to be a core part of my midlife health practices. There’s also planning and being a discerning consumer of health information. And now that I’ve been hacking at this a while, there’s another insight I want to share with you: consistency is king. 👑

I don’t know about you, but when I’m trying to achieve any kind of goal, I throw myself into it. I obsessively learn everything I can, set a ridiculous goal, hold myself to an impossible standard, become filled with self-loathing when I inevitably fail, and then mostly give up. This is called perfectionism, and it’s the opposite—or at least the enemy—of consistency.

The first step is admitting you have a problem!

This health adventure is a high stakes thing. I can’t afford to follow my old pattern. So I’ve been thinking really hard about how to do things differently. Specifically, I’ve been wondering how we can set ourselves up for success and at the same time not be so hard on ourselves.

Here’s the magic answer: we need to understand and leverage the power of consistency. It doesn’t matter if you give meal planning and fitness 150% of your effort every single time. It’s more important that you just show up and do something every single time. I don’t know about you, but if I give 150% of my effort to something every single time, after ten times maybe I’m just kind of burned out and I want to stop. (And spoiler alert: I will).

If you don’t necessarily commit to doing your healthy routines perfectly every single day, but you do commit to showing up every single time, you’re more likely to succeed. Because if you don’t show up one day, you’re more likely to do that the next day, and then the next. And then the inertia of not going takes hold. And then you’ve got nothing rather than just a little something, which could soon thereafter turn into a bigger something.

Some days I don’t sleep well. Some days I’m in a bad mood. Some days I’m coming down with something. But now I always go to the gym. I’ll do half a workout, or use lighter weights, or even just go in the sauna. But I’ve showed up. And I’m keeping my streak. And it makes going the next day easier.

Perfect is the enemy of the good.

Big news! We just celebrated our one-year anniversary here at Notes From the Road. For those of you who have stuck around all this time, I can’t thank you enough. I hope you’ve finished each issue a little wiser, a little more hopeful, and a little more excited and prepared about the possibilities to come. Some updates:

• Looking back, I thought this newsletter would be mostly about traveling at midlife with some life lessons mixed in. It’s turned out to be the opposite. I’m less nomadic than I thought I would be! For those of you who subscribed for travel content, I realize it might be a bit of a letdown. If this is you, you might want to know that Allen from 89 Days Away started the Expats and Slow Travelers Newsletter to complement his video channel. Thought you might want to check it out if you’re not getting enough travel here.

• Long-time readers know that every newsletter includes a poll asking if that issue was great, good, or could be better. Over the last year, 64% of you voted great, 29% voted good, and 7% voted could be better. I’m continuing to learn and understand what topics interest you. You’ll find the poll at the bottom of each newsletter. And drop me a line here anytime with suggestions. For all of you who have sent your ideas, suggestions, and feedback, an extra special thanks to you!

• Speaking of polls, last week we asked: Do you have a good understanding of your expenses? and boy was it a mixed bag! 44% of you said Mostly, but there’s room for improvement. 34% of you said Nope, I’m going with the flow, and 22% of you said Yes, I know where every penny goes. Maybe there’s a budgeting newsletter in our future? 

Looking ahead, you can expect more of the best I can find (and write) on life over 50. Thanks for joining me on this adventure.

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