Routine Flexibility

Have you heard of a concept called routine flexibility?

Me neither, until recently.

I've come to realise that routine flexibility is perhaps the most powerful skill in order to achieve pretty much anything.

In a nutshell routine flexibility means you can be adaptable. Not fixed to a certain way of being.

If you have a high level of routine flexibility it will significantly increase your ability to lose weight because you're not tied to bad habits or new ones that do not go to plan.

Instead you pick up new habits or adapt old ones to live a better way.

How do you respond when things do not go well?

If something goes wrong do you feel frustrated, antsy or angry and find it hard to get out of a negative funk? If so you may have low routine flexibility.

To upgrade your level of routine flexibility learn to get good at dealing with the unknown.

The next time something does not go as planned learn to respond with positive rational clarity.

When one habit is no longer working or is no longer possible try to remain calm and with a clear mind how you could make a 1 degree mindset shift to adopt a new habit.

Recently I had to apply this principle when an old calf injury flared up preventing me from achieving my goal of running a sub 20 minute 5km this spring.

I had the habit of training 6-8x per week locked in but I no longer could run. So the 1 degree mindset shift I made was to replace running with cycling and met cons in the gym.

Someone in my situation with low routine flexibility would have allowed their emotional brain to take over triggering a quitting mindset.

Whereas someone with high routine flexibility would engage their rational brain, view the situation with their eyes wide open and maintain the clarity of mind to adapt.

For me I told myself that I’m not an elite athlete so running a fast 5km would be nice but it's not the end of the world. Instead it’s more important to maintain the fitness I’ve developed over the last 4/5 months so all I need to do is change the exercise type.

This subtle shift in mindset will allow you to maintain good habits so no matter what, you will achieve your goal; a healthy, fit body and mind for example.

Developing a high level of routine flexibility is a really good skill to learn because you will be able to succeed no matter what happens.

Give it a go next time something does not quite go as planned.

Good luck,

Matt