“Just This Once”—The Mindset That Will Sabotage Your Goals
How many times have you made a commitment to yourself—a new nutrition plan, exercise routine, or an earlier bedtime or wake time—only to hear that familiar inner voice say "I'll skip it…just this once"?
You're not alone. This happens far more often than we'd like. It's a common challenge I see as a life coach, and it's something I've experienced many times myself.
Here's what happens and how we can make a shift to avoid this trap.
When we make a commitment to a new habit, we are usually in a peak moment of motivation and desire. We are inspired, energized, and determined—nothing can stop us.
Then reality shows up.
We were so excited and committed yesterday, but today, we really don't feel like it. The motivation and desire we felt yesterday now feel distant, almost irrelevant.
Our brains are incredibly skilled at protecting us and keeping us "safe" in our comfort zone, and they do this by conveniently "forgetting" how committed we were just 24 hours ago.
So now we are put to the test:
Do we follow through, even though it feels uncomfortable and inconvenient?
or
Do we fall into the trap of skipping it “just this once” and hope that we’ll find our forgotten willpower and motivation tomorrow?
Here's the problem with "just this once": it's almost never just this one time. Our motivation rarely stays at that peak when we first make our commitment, especially when it's a commitment to stretch beyond our comfort zone. And if follow through depends on "feeling like it", then chances are we'll come up with endless excuses as to why today is not the day for it.
So let's simplify implementing a new habit with this tool: When making the initial commitment—when motivation and desire are at their strongest—commit 100%.
A 100% commitment means you decide once and remove any future negotiations. It’s an agreement with yourself that you will show up consistently for the habit you’ve chosen.
This type of agreement eliminates unnecessary repeated decision-making. It removes mental exhaustion caused by rumination and self-debate. And it protects your energy—rather than depleting your energy with negotiations and excuses, you can pour your energy into executing the intended action. When the time comes to act, there’s no longer any question of if it’s happening—it’s happening 100%.
One caveat: this does not mean that you will perform at 100% each time you engage in the action, but only that you will show up for it 100% of the time. This is a commitment to show up and do the action, not to do it perfectly.
The quality of performance or engagement will vary each time and this is absolutely ok. This variability is normal and to be expected.
When we’re 100% committed, we no longer need to think and rethink every time we’re confronted by our new habit. As a result, space opens up to increase our ability to perform whatever the desired action is.
It becomes automatic, allowing us to make one less decision in our already busy lives. Instead, we can direct our effort toward performing the action rather than ruminating over whether or not to do it.
If you find yourself struggling with commitment to an action, ask yourself if you’re 100% committed to showing up for it. If it’s anything less than 100%, then there’s room for excuses and it will likely be a constant struggle as you confront the decision to show up every single time.
Kill the decision fatigue.
Shift your energy to performance.
Go all in 100%.
