Failure is something we all try to avoid. Putting ourselves in positions with the possibility of not being successful makes us vulnerable, and that can be scary and frustrating. While we usually try to avoid messing up, it’s something we do quite often. I’ll guess that you “messed up” on some part of your health journey in the last seven days, and I’m honestly impressed if you didn’t. 

I often have to remind myself that I am a human, not a robot, and I’m not going to get everything right one hundred percent of the time. I’m sure you can relate in some way. 

Once we realize we’ve made a choice that isn’t getting us closer to our goals, we often get stuck thinking “I messed up” and it takes a while to get back on track toward whatever we are working towards. This time in between the mess-up and the return to our plan is very valuable, yet we often let big chunks of it slip away. 

Author Gretchen Rubin says, “Instead of feeling that you’ve blown the day and thinking, ‘I’ll get back on track tomorrow,’ try thinking of each day as a set of four quarters: morning, midday, afternoon, and evening. If you blow one quarter, you get back on track for the next quarter. Fail small, not big.”

Being able to shorten the time it usually takes for us to get back on track with our healthy habits is one of the most powerful skills we can cultivate. We will never be perfect, so setting the expectation of perfection doesn’t help us. We will make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try and give our best effort. 

This concept of splitting the day into four quarters helps with this because instead of waiting for tomorrow or Monday to get back on track, we can do it in the next quarter. 

The quicker we can calmly begin working towards our goals again, the better we feel. 

Shortening the time it takes to get back on track gives us the opportunity and safety to take risks, try new things, and gives us space for a break when we need one. There is no pressure to get it right all of the time because you know more often than not, you’re taking actions to get you where you want to go. Instead of one mess-up ruining your entire day, maybe it only lingers around for one quarter or half of your day. This leaves so much time for you to turn your day into a win. 

We must change our actions to change ourselves and failure and frustration will come with that. It will take trial and error to build your new habits, so the more opportunities you can give yourself to reset, the faster you will make progress. 

Remember, every single action you take toward your health counts. Every action you take to take care of yourself is like putting a deposit into your bank account. One withdrawal won’t drain your entire savings. It’s up to you to continue moving forward and keep making deposits.