Do you find that you fall victim to an all-or-nothing mindset?
Are you all in for a while and then find you come to a hard stop - 100% one day and zero the next?
Does this happen more when you are in a 'high-stakes' situation?
Do you find that this leads you to situations where you get close to burning out and then find you need a period to recover?
It Doesn't Have to Be This Way!
These are learned patterns of behaviour which means if it is not working for you then you can learn to respond differently.
One that has a balanced, sustainable approach. One that allows you to be consistent on a daily basis.
There is definitely magic in the grey area - and you don't want to miss out on the opportunities that sit in the grey! ... all shades of it!
It can be so easy to think that life, leadership and business have to be one or the other, the magic is looking at the options between those two points.
All-or-nothing thinking - All-or-nothing behaviours are very rarely helpful.
They can often limit, and be unrealistic.
Something I encourage with my clients is the gold, silver and bronze approach.
Silver is your average - it is the things that you can do most days without too much trouble. It includes all the things that you want to be consistent with and how you would ideally like to show up for yourself day to day.
Bronze is what you are happy to drop down to on your busier days, or perhaps the days you don't feel 100%, or the days that don't go to plan. These are the actions that you can still take - the bare minimum that keeps the needle moving.
Gold is the other end of the spectrum - it is all the things you love to do when you have extra time, focus, energy and attention - like the 3rd lane of the motorway - a burst of action that helps you to advance. It is not where you are supposed to be all the time.
In summary:
Gold: Actions that reflect high-impact goals or days when you’re "all in." For example, launching a new project or dedicating several hours to deep work.
Silver: Mid-level actions that maintain momentum but are achievable without overextending. This could include smaller tasks or strategic planning sessions.
Bronze: Minimum-effort actions for busy or low-energy days. These actions keep things ticking along even on tough days, like responding to emails, engaging with clients, or refining smaller projects.
Adapting each day’s efforts based on energy, time, and priorities builds resilience, combats burnout, and ensures continuous progress.
Applying Gold-Silver-Bronze in Life, Leadership, and Business:
Life: Identify high, medium, and low-level personal goals, such as health routines or family time, that adapt to each day’s demands.
Leadership: Apply this approach to leading teams, managing projects, and cultivating professional growth, focusing on sustainable output rather than perfection. Lead your team through the ebb and flow of your workflow. Help your team identify what bronze, silver and gold looks like within their own workloads and how they contribute to the team output.
Business Growth: This approach is tried and tested with the business owners in my membership to set realistic daily targets that prevent overwhelm, create consistent client engagement and leads, and develop lasting success without burnout.
The Gold-Silver-Bronze approach reinforces resilience, allowing you to flex and adapt to the unexpected and preventing "overwhelm paralysis."
Replace All-or-Nothing with a Flexible Approach
You will have heard me talk about the benefits of incremental progress and 1% gains and this is a great reminder that patience and consistency are vital for long-term success.
What do your bronze, silver and gold look like?
What might you be missing in the grey areas?
Where can you use this approach to help increase consistency and remove the all-or-nothing thinking and behaviours?
If you need help working it out - or help making it work out then please feel free to pop me a message or use the link below to book in a call, I will be more than happy to help you!
Zoe
NB - The Midweek Musing is an email sent out to the mailing list every Wednesday. If you would like to receive this each week then you can sign up here:
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