At some point in my lifting journey, I was reading a lot of Paul Carter's material. There was something in one of his books that I remembered recently, and it's been providing me with some guidance as to how to deal with my recent "funk" I've been in.
In talking about training days, he discussed the importance of trying to shoot for most training days to be at about an "8" (scale from 1-10). Clearly you will have some days that are a 10, and hopefully, you won't have too many days that are a 5 or below, but he said consistent "8's" are the way to consistent progress.
With this framework in mind, I reflected on not only how I approach training-- but how I approach life generally (work, personal life, etc.). I have a problem with perfectionism, and wanting to have control over all aspects of my life and the world around me (though I realize it's unhealthy, unrealistic, annoying, and it's something I continue to work on balancing out). With this in mind, I noticed that I come into each day shooting for a "10"-- trying to make each day a 10.
But this... is incredibly stressful. It's a lot of pressure to try and make each day an incredible, amazing, perfect day. It's just not realistic, and I found myself living in eternal disappointment with myself and the world around me....then I remembered this concept: "shoot for consistent 8's".
Now, I'll say-- I don't think "settling" is healthy either (honestly, "settling" is probably my biggest fear). But I don't think this mentality is the same as settling, instead, I think it just allows us to cut ourselves some slack and relax into whatever the world brings us. We're not looking for perfect days, just good days. A lot of good days, lead to a lot of good things--and a lot of good things/experiences, seem like they would lead to a good life. So rather than killing myself to get consistent 10's-- I'm trying to relax a bit, and appreciate the 8's.
Maybe this sounds like nonsense-- maybe it sounds like the solution to all life's problems (I'm hoping it's more the latter). Regardless of how it sits with you, it's just another framing tool that may be beneficial.