There’s a concept I share with my clients I like to call the “shit test”. Basically, when someone decides to make a huge leap/change in their life, a challenge to that new way presents itself to see whether they go back to their old way or if they are actually ready/resolute in making a change.

Imagine an emotional eater finally decides they are DONE with being held hostage by that behavior and decide to keep a food journal, hire a personal trainer, and nutritionist. Then, seemingly from “out of nowhere”, their mother ends up in the hospital, sending that person straight into the depths of emotion that would normally cause them to gorge themselves. If they are aware of the “shit test”, they can see this occurrence is simply an extra test of their resolve to change their habits and so with even more resolve than before, they launch headlong into this new way of being feeling unflappable. If they do not know about the “Shit test”, they may choose to see their mom’s illness as some terrible stroke of luck which they have no control over, leaving them feeling even more helpless than before. Before they know it, they’re knee deep in junk food and have long forgotten about the decision to change.

Have you experienced a shit test? How did you respond?