Arrival Fallacy
The belief that attaining a particular goal will lead to long-term happiness - Spoiler Alert: It probably won’t…
Before I became a PT (or a mum) I competed as an Olympic weightlifter
I trained incredibly hard (15-20 hours a week), tracked every macro and calorie and lived my life like an athlete.
Weightlifting is a weight class based sport and the pressure to weigh a certain number on competition days for me …. Was not good.
Huge sacrifices were made and in hindsight aside from building resilience, discipline and maybe a bit of character it was absolutely not worth it.
For one big competition in particular I lost 14kg
I went from 83kg down to 69kg. It took me 4 months to cut. Getting as strong as possible and as lean as possible. I needed to hold onto the muscle to lift and needed to cut the fat to make weight. Not easy but an incredible learning curve for me.
I did it.
I lifted really well and as all my team mates geared up to go out and celebrate the win, I went home.
I was exhausted and so deflated that despite reaching all my goals …. I felt so empty. I put my life on hold to reach a goal. I got there and well…. Everything was the same. I was deeply unsatisfied and had to make a choice. Aim higher and fill the void, or get off this hamster wheel.
The arrival fallacy is the term used for this, the belief that attaining a particular goal will lead to long-term happiness
That was the last time I cut. I competed one last time after this in Spain, I refused to cut for the comp. If they wanted me to lift.... I would show up on the day and lift as I was, after that I was done.
No more comps and time for a drastically new mindset.
What would it feel like to just train a few hours per week AND enjoy my life?
What would it feel like to not be a slave to the number on the scale?
What would it feel like to listen to my body and not constantly push it and fight it?
What would it feel like to just enjoy training?
The answer for me was 'it would feel GREAT'
This is why I try to preach balance to my clients, why I try to eliminate the all of nothing mindset and focus on non scale victories as well as body composition goals.
I don't want any of my getting that feeling of emptiness and sadness when they do reach their goal.
Life is too short and you deserve better, just like I did.
