What if I mess up?

This is not what happens if you mess up

This is a common question I hear from clients or even friends when embarking on their vegan journey.

First, I'm actually going to turn the question back to you...ask yourself "what if I mess up?" What is driving you to ask this question? Is it fear of judgement from others? Is it the expectation that the less than supportive friend will say " I told you so"? Is it because you have tried to go vegan in the past or tried to make some other big change and the first time you made a mistake or missed a goal you let go of it?

Now that you have an idea of why you're asking the question, I will share my response. You keep going. You can learn from it and come up with a plan for next time.

Let's say you bought a new sweater and didn't realize until you got home that it is partly wool. You're not yet in the habit of reading labels on your clothing and the sweater seemed like it was okay. You can take immediate action and also prepare for the future. The immediate action is to return the sweater and buy one that is wool free. The long-term action is to begin building the habit of reading labels pretty much everywhere in your life. It is meaningful to be an informed consumer and once you've made it a point to do this a few times it does become second nature.

There is also a difference between a slip up (ex. you ordered a vegan pizza and only realized after the first bite that they used cow's cheese) and purposefully choosing to buy or consume something that is going against the new life you are building (like intentionally order a pizza with cow's cheese.) The first one was simply a mistake, move on without beating yourself up. The second one requires you ask yourself some questions (but don't beat yourself up here either.) Why did you make that choice where everywhere else in your life you are on a vegan journey? Were you tired? Missing cheese? Felt bored? Wanting to sabotage yourself because you're actually doing the thing you said you would?

You can use these questions in other areas of your life too, but, if you're here on this Veganuary journey with me, really sit with those intentional choices you make that are going against what you want, how do you feel? How can you make a different choice next time? Why will you make a different choice next time?

The key takeaway here is really to simply be curious and keep going. Dig into why you're feeling a certain way or why you chose to take a certain action. The more you ask yourself these questions the better you'll understand yourself and the more easily you can stick to plans and goals that mean something to you.

Tell me in the comments how Veganuary is going for you so far. What questions do you have?

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Check out episode 116 of Did You Bring the Hummus Podcast with my guest, nutritionist Callum Weir. One of the things Callum talks about in this episode is how to identify "wellness trends" and how to see the red flags from a mile away. You can listen here or find the episode on your favorite podcast app.