Find the Friction: Identifying the Drag on Your Vegan Journey.
The late Thomas Leonard, the grandfather of life coaching, developed the idea of “tolerations.” Those everyday annoyances that wear you down or distract you. The drawer that sticks. The tap that drips. The email you’re not answering. The monthly card game you no longer want to be part of. The windshield-washer fluid light that keeps coming on. (Ask me how I know.) None of them is big enough to force your hand, and that’s exactly how they survive. But they aren’t neutral. Each one is running in the background, taking a sliver of your energy, your attention and your confidence.
Most of us assume the fix for a stalled goal is more discipline, more willpower, more grit. Doubling down on the goal. But, very often the real problem is that the runway is cluttered. You can have the best engine in the world and still not take off if there are tolerations littering the path or dragging you down.
In this episode:
Why working through tolerations was the first thing I ever did in coaching, and why I still do a version of it, which I call “find the friction,” with my own clients
How a closet full of clothes that no longer fit became the friction I’d stopped noticing, and how naming it out loud turned it into a decision with a plan.
Why the same thing applies to a plant-based practice.
The “pick one thing” idea from coach Natalie Bacon that stopped me from turning one small goal into twenty.
A note before you listen: this episode touches on weight loss and dieting, a subject some of us find triggering. I don’t go into much detail, and it’s really just my example of a distraction I decided to deal with, but if it’s a topic you’d rather avoid, please skip this one and take good care of yourself.
I’d love to hear the friction or toleration you named while you were listening. You don’t have to tell me what you’re going to do about it. Naming it is the first move. Email me or DM me on Instagram, and we can always have a chat by phone or email.
I want your runway clean and clear, so that you can Vedge YOUR Best.
Mentioned in this episode
Thomas Leonard, coach and founder of the modern coaching profession, and his concept of “tolerations”
Natalie Bacon, coach, and her “pick one thing” approach to goals