Getting Sticky With It

How I Learned to Lean Into Fear & Escape the Curse of Mediocrity

When it comes to hitting goals — like reducing our risk for Alzheimer’s — perseverance is key! While it would be lovely for everything to fall right into place right away, that’s usually not the way things go. If you are anything like me, reaching goals is usually preceded by fits and starts, unexpected obstacles, shifting strategies, and revamped timelines. The journey starts out so well-mapped and the path seems straight and clear…then bang! Out of nowhere, it gets complicated. It gets uncomfortable. It gets hard.

I call this the sticky place. It’s the hole we find ourselves in again and again where old habits rear their ugly head and new habits go to die. It’s where we come face to face with ourselves and don’t like what we see. It’s the pit of relapse and regret, of failure, of self-recrimination, doubt, and — most of all — fear. Fear that we’re not good enough, that we will never be successful, that we might as well give up our goals, lay down our dreams, and settle for something less than the best.

Personally, I am super familiar with the sticky place. I visited it two times just this week!

The first started with a string of text messages I got from a friend/business collaborator who was apparently (and…