There are two definitions of YOLO…
The first definition everyone is well aware of and it’s when you’re deciding whether to do something or not like have a piece of cake, another alcoholic bevie or an additional slice of pizza…
We tend to justify these decisions by saying, ‘oh why not, ya only live once right!?’ Other folks say it to us as well and you probably hear it more than most people simply because your health is a huge priority for you!
This whole YOLO dealio is fascinating because someone could hypothetically use the exact same statement to justify NOT having the piece of cake, another drink or the slice because they could say, ‘YOLO, I only live once and therefore I want to feel, look and perform my absolute best…thriving is a priority and I want to make the most of my one life experience’ and this secondary approach to YOLO is from a sense of wellbeing standpoint as opposed to a ‘if I don’t indulge I’m somehow missing out’ viewpoint.
Meaning, the definition of YOLO totally depends on what YOU view as making the most of your life and it does tend to shift and change as you grow, for example…
I have used the traditional perspective of YOLO to justify having another drink more times than I can count (more times than I remember to be honest) and now that I’m sober I actually use it in the exact opposite way i.e. to justify skipping a drink because I’m getting so much more out of my day to day life sans alcohol…it’s a complete perspective shift!
Occasionally we use the latter definition of YOLO in terms of doing things like traveling or trying new experiences, but it seems as though in regards to food, alcohol and drugs specifically, we tend to restrict the definition to the one that justifies partaking vs. abstaining.
It’s worth acknowledging that this isn’t a one or the other thing…the idea isn’t that you always use one of these perspectives of YOLO, my proposal is that you just keep both in mind, reason being is…
When you use the traditional definition of YOLO to justify indulging quite frequently, you’re probably not going to be all that stoked about how you’re looking, feeling and performing.
On the other hand, you probably don’t want to use the second YOLO perspective 24/7 either because you’re likely going to be living like a bit of a nun!
So there are two questions to ponder…
Are you fully satisfied with how you’re looking, feeling and performing and if the answer is yes, don’t change a thing!
However, if the answer is no, you might want to look into how you’re applying this YOLO concept because you could have a ton of untapped potential at your disposal. Speaking from personal experience, I didn’t know what I didn’t know in regards the role that alcohol was playing in my life because I’d never even really experienced my adult life without it and so I couldn’t expect myself to know right!?
The same thing applies to nutrition, if you’ve never really given yourself the opportunity to feel, look and perform your absolute best due to your nutritional choices, you don’t know just how great you can feel…
Ya don’t know what it’s like to live in a lean healthy body that you love…
You don’t know what’s it like to live without bloating and digestion problems…
Ya don’t know what it’s like to wake up feeling rested, alert and excited as your default state vs. only experiencing it sporadically…
You may not have experienced what it’s like to feel fully comfortable in your own skin when you’re at the beach or super confident going about your day to day life…
Ya don’t know whatcha don’t know.
Also, the thing about the traditional YOLO perspective is that it so often leads to disappointment and guilt because you head into the weekend with amazing intentions of eating healthfully, going for a hikes and hitting the hay early and then things get a little bit out of hand and then one meal out and a drink turns into 4-5 drinks and a late night pizza order. The following day you’re just surviving on the couch and all of sudden it’s Monday and you’re like wtf just happened…?
Hence, the disappointment and guilt and the unfortunate thing about guilt is that eventually if action isn’t taken, guilt turns into regret and man I wouldn’t wish that on anyone…disappointment and guilt are bad enough as it is, but regret is on a whole nother level!
Regret is like walking around with a heavy backpack on all the time or a dark cloud over your head and I’m speaking from personal experience…
I remember when I was really down in the dumps before I moved out of my family home, my Mom would say that it was almost like a dark cloud followed me around the house because there was so much heaviness surrounding me.
Now I know that this lifestyle change stuff is difficult, I get it…but what I can say is that persevering through the pain is SO fucking worth it because what’s on the other side is incredible, it’s so much better than staying stuck!
So, I’m going to toss out a challenge here, go discover one thing that you don’t know that you don’t know about your body…
It could be related to nutrition, exercise, sleep, mindset, there’s so much to discover…I’m still learning about my body every single day and I’ve been doing this professionally for over 10 years…it’s been a decade and there’s still so much more to uncover!
Take action because…action ends suffering :)
