Ten Mental Gremlins That Sabotage Your Progress—And How to Combat Them. Part 3
In the final part of our mental gremlin series, we meet the last four mischief-makers who seem to take great pleasure in getting in your way — and what you can do to outsmart them.
We promise ourselves we'll start on Monday. Then somewhere between the intention and the action, a small team of mental gremlins gets to work. They whisper, exaggerate, distract, rationalise and generally make a nuisance of themselves.
In the final part of this series, we meet four more of these troublesome creatures and, more importantly, the science-backed ways to stop them running the show.
So far in this series, we’ve looked at:
1. All-or-nothing thinking
You miss one session and your brain decides the entire week is ruined.
2. Catastrophising
The brain takes a small setback and cranks it up into an apocalyptic event.
3. Present bias
We humans are wired to prefer immediate reward over future benefit.
4. Confirmation bias
Once people form an identity story, the brain starts gathering evidence to support it.
5. The “what’s the point?” effect
You feel so overwhelmed by the problem you conclude it isn’t worth trying – like refusing to save money because you’ll never be a millionaire.
6. Identity locking
Treating habits and behaviour like permanent identity, as though you were born that way.
Unfortunately, we have one final mental drawer full of these critters. There’s always enough to go round when it comes to gremlins…
7. Optimism bias
Time after time, we assume our future self will somehow become:
less busy
more motivated
more organised
infatuated with burpees
So our imperfect present selves do the logical thing and heap all the work onto our unsuspecting future selves. Let them work out the best time to start.
It rarely happens.
What this sounds like
“Things will settle down soon.”
“I’ll start properly next month.”
“I just need to clear these to-dos first.”
How to disrupt it
Build habits for real life, not fantasy life.
If your plan only works when:
you’re fully rested
highly motivated
stress-free
perfectly organised
then it’s not a realistic system.
Design routines that survive setbacks. Those are the ones that last.
In order to do that you’ll need to do some painful self reflection. List all the possible ways you think you could screw up and then write your plan to deal with that scenario when it inevitably happens. For example:
Problem: Not organised enough to exercise first thing in the morning?
Solution: Gym bag packed and ready by the door the night before. Last resort, sleep in your kit!
8. The fresh start fantasy
The brain loves a restart, take your pick:
Monday
New Year
after the holiday
after Easter
after summer
But dramatic reinvention rarely works.
What this sounds like
“I’ll restart next week.”
“I’ll be on it come the first of the month. You’ll see.”
“It’s almost January, it can be my New Year’s resolution.”
How to disrupt it
Practise restarting immediately.
Not Monday. Not January. Not after the holiday.
Now.
A single healthy choice can interrupt a downward spiral surprisingly quickly.
The most successful people often aren’t the most disciplined.
They’re simply the fastest at recovering after a wobble.
And there’s always a wobble.
Simple rule - you can miss one, but can’t miss two in a row. Ever.
9. Emotional Reasoning
This is when feelings get mistaken for evidence that something is true.
“I feel tired.” “I feel stressed.” “I feel unmotivated.”
Therefore: “I shouldn’t go for that walk today.”
But feelings are temporary states, they’re not reliable predictors of what movement will do for you.
What this sounds like
“I don’t feel energetic, so I shouldn’t exercise.”
“I feel old and stiff, so exercise probably isn’t for me.”
“I feel unfit, so I must be unfit.”
How to disrupt it
Use the five-minute rule.
Tell yourself: “I’ll just do five minutes. If I’m not feeling it I’ll jack it in for the day.”
Often the hardest part is starting.
And strangely, movement itself frequently improves:
mood
energy
motivation
stress levels
The brain often needs motivation before action.
The paradox is that motivation often arrives as soon as you take action.
10. Perfectionism disguised as ‘standards’
This one undermines your efforts at consistency.
If people can’t do the “ideal” workout, they do nothing.
Didn’t manage 150 minutes for the week? Then apparently my walks were a waste of time.
What this sounds like
“I don’t have enough time.”
“There’s no point unless I do it properly.”
“I’ve missed my routine.”
How to disrupt it
Create a ‘minimum viable workout.’
Something so manageable you can still do it on bad days.
For example:
ten minutes walking
five minutes mobility
one set of exercises
a short stretch routine
The aim is to protect continuity. Don’t break the chain.
Because physical activity is easier to maintain when you have momentum. Repeatedly starting from scratch is always more difficult.
Create a visible reminder of ‘progress over perfection’ with a large jar and some marbles. Every time you complete the activity, add a marble into the jar. That way you’ll always be able to see how small changes can add up.
The real skill is to focus on progress, not the destination
When it comes to healthspan, most people have a pretty good idea what to do and why. We like to think of ourselves as rational agents with free will, but the reality is different.
The mind is:
emotional
impatient
dramatic
inconsistent
occasionally ridiculous
Especially when physical activity is involved.
The trick is not eliminating these thinking traps completely.
Everyone has them.
The real skill is recognising them earlier and refusing to hand them the steering wheel.
Healthspan is rarely built by people who never wobble.
It’s built by people who notice the wobble… and keep going anyway.
But I’ll leave the last word to Elizabeth Gilbert, author of ‘Eat Pray Love’ fame:
“Each morning the twin gremlins of fear and lethargy sit at the foot of our bed and smirk. Fear of further departure, fear of the unknown, fear of the challenge of largeness intimidates us back into our convenient rituals, conventional thinking, and familiar surroundings.”
One final thing
I’ve changed my mind, I’ll have the last word after all. If you want a ‘too long, didn’t read’ summary of the three articles in the series, here it is…
What’s wrong with me? (Hint: nothing)
Why can’t I do this? (Hint: you can)
Cheers 👋
Stuart
Medical Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and does not constitute medical advice. The needs of every reader are unique; please consult your GP or a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your diet, exercise routine, or medication. Never ignore professional medical advice because of something you read online.