If a Thing’s Worth doing, It’s Worth Doing Badly. 

I heard this quote on the radio the other day and I couldn’t help but listen in. I’ve heard quotes like, “Whatever you are, be a good one,” and, “Excellence is doing ordinary things, extraordinarily well,” but this quote by Chesterton, “If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly,” wasn’t the motivational jargon I was used to.

But maybe this quote is actually the motivation we all need to hear this time of year.

Here’s the premise.

You’re not in a season of giving your nutrition 100% of your effort. Hitting the gym 5 days a week for 90 minutes a day isn’t in the cards right now. Maybe the thought of eating three servings of vegetables a day feels like climbing Mount Everest on crutches.

If the only way for you to be healthy is to execute your plan perfectly, that burden will actually end up hindering your health.

Can’t hit your macros for 7 days a week? Lower your expectations. Shoot for three days. Can’t hit the gym for 90 minutes today? Go for a walk. Three servings of vegetables- impossible… how about 1?

Any effort you can put towards your nutrition and exercise, even if it’s done with less than ideal effort, is still better than zilch. Put one foot in front of the other, and let go of the all or nothing mentality that says, “I can’t do it well, so I might as well not do it at all.”

Don’t wait for the perfect circumstances. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.