Habit building. Mindful living. Lifestyle change. All require a level of commitment. This commitment is what bridges us of today to us of our goals. The easiest way to commit is 100%.
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Committing 99% is difficult, but 100% is a breeze. When striving to achieve lifestyle goals, or any goals for that matter, leaving room to falter causes even more faltering. For example, in terms of sticking to a diet, committing only 99% and bringing home junk food for “cheat” meals allows for those “cheat” meals to occur more frequently. This is known as a snowball effect. Preemptively leaving that 1% of room to falter makes it difficult for us to draw the line of where exactly that 1% ends. Is it after one “cheat” meal? What if it was a really small “cheat” meal? Would that technically count? That 1% can make room for 5% and further progress to even 25%. Once one exception is made, it is much easier to make another one. Soon the 99% conviction dissolves to negligible conviction. Furthermore, the constant internal debate of what is acceptable and not acceptable is mentally exhausting and focuses energy on the wrong task.
Jack Canfield, best-selling author of The Success Principles, points out that when people are 100% committed to any goal they refuse to let anything get in the way of them achieving that goal. Having a "whatever it takes” attitude significantly increases the chances of achieving a goal. And that is what long-term, permanent habit building, mindful living, and lifestyle change require.
Humans are creatures of habit. We want to continue to do what we've been doing. That's why during the first phase of working towards our goals, we have to commit 100% to make the task easier for ourselves and set us on the right path. This is also why during Phase 1 of the Mindful Living Protocol there is a strict adherence to the no carbohydrates or sugars in the diet rule. Moderation can be introduced at a later stage, after the goal is reached because the habit is already built, but starting off with it is not a facilitative setting.
This is not to say that if there are bumps on the road to achieving your goal, you give up. You have to offer yourself the leniency after and get right back on track. This is to say not to plan to go off track at beginning of your journey.
Sources: Canfield, J. (2021, January 27). The power of being committed. Jack Canfield. https://www.jackcanfield.com/blog/being-committed/. Miker, S. (n.d.). 100 percent or 99 percent. Scott Miker. https://www.scottmiker.com/100-percent-or-99-percent. Moore, S. (2016, August 25). The 100 per CENT rule: The simple advice that changed my life. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/the-100-per-cent-rule-the-simple-advice-that-changed-my-life-20160825-gr16da.html.