Forget Perfection. Just Don’t Disappear.

Let’s get this out of the way: You’re going to screw it up.

You’ll miss a workout.
Forget to journal.
Fall face-first into a bag of Doritos instead of meditating.

Cool. Same here.

The problem isn’t breaking the habit.
It’s what happens after.

Most people don’t fail because they missed one day.

They fail because they disappear for two weeks—and call it a personality flaw.

That’s where the 2-Day Rule comes in.

PRINCIPLE-FIRST: The Anti-Perfectionist Rule

The 2-Day Rule is this:

Why?

Because that second day is where guilt turns into identity.

• Miss one workout? Life happens.

• Miss two? Now you’re “off track.”

• Miss three? You’re spiraling on YouTube asking, “Why can’t I stay consistent?”

The 2-Day Rule is the middle finger to all-or-nothing thinking. It’s how you keep the wheels moving—even when you stall.

REALITY CHECK: How I Lost 40% of My Gains

No, this isn’t a before/after.
It’s a Glow-Down.
Fit → Frail → (Hopefully Fit Again).
Proof that two missed days can cost ten months.

I like to call it: “Fit to Frail… patiently waiting for ‘to Fit again.’”

It’s not shame. It’s data. And the data says:
I broke the 2-Day Rule, and it wrecked my momentum:

You see, a few months ago, I was working out every single day.

• Dialed in.

• Progressive overload.

• Diet on point.

• Momentum was compounding—and it felt good.

Then my shoulder started hurting.

So I took a rest day.
Then another.

Instead of doing legs or mobility or anything else, I paused and waited for it to get better.

But two days turned into three.
Three turned into a week.
A week turned into a month of “I’ll start again next Monday.”

Before I knew it, three months had passed.

Training was gone.
Discipline faded.
Diet slipped.

All of a sudden, I realized I had lost over 40% of the gains I’d built in the previous 10 months.

All because I broke the 2-Day Rule.

Not by failing once—but by disappearing.

To be fair, I wasn’t doing nothing. I was deep in finishing Unfck Your Thinking*—the book I’ve been working on for over a year. And that took everything out of me.

Mental energy? Gone.
Focus? All poured into the manuscript.
Workouts? Replaced by rewrites.

So no, it’s not an excuse—but it is context.

And a reminder: you can’t do it all at once.
Sometimes momentum in one area costs you in another.
But that’s why this rule exists in the first place.

To help you (and me) come back.

SETUP: Apply the Rule in 3 Steps

1. Pick one habit you actually care about.

Not “run 10k every day at 5am.”
Something sustainable, useful, and aligned with your real goals.

Example:

• Write 1 idea

• Do 10 push-ups

• Sit still for 2 minutes

2. Track it visually.

Calendar, sticky note, app, tattoo—I don’t care.

What matters is that you can see your effort.
Progress hidden is progress forgotten.

3. When you miss a day, make the next one sacred.

It’s the bounce-back that builds the identity.

Imperfect Effort Is Still a Win

We think we need to give 100% to “count.” But real life isn’t graded on intensity.

It’s graded on momentum.

That’s consistency. Not showing up perfectly—just showing up at all.

THE COMPOUNDING EFFECT

The 2-Day Rule protects your self-trust.

Not your habit, your streak, or your dopamine—your trust in yourself to return.

That’s what matters. Because no system works without belief.

And no belief survives silence.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’ve lived this letter.
I had abs—and lost ‘em.
All because I missed two days… and disappeared.

You don’t need 100-day streaks.
You need to stop ghosting your future self.

Two missed days cost me 10 months of progress. I didn’t fall off because I was lazy. I fell off because I didn’t decide to get back on.

That’s why I’m writing this. As a reminder to myself. And maybe for you too. Don’t aim for perfection. Just aim to show up before Day 3.

So miss a day.
Just don’t disappear.

Until Next time,

Benoit

You don’t need another system.
You need to stop hiding behind one.

Planning is just socially acceptable procrastination.
"Color-coded" doesn’t make your fear look any prettier.
It’s still fear.

If your Google Calendar needs a Google Calendar, you’re not busy.
You’re stuck.

This book isn’t another productivity cult manual.
It’s a flamethrower for your bullshit excuses.
Read it..only if you’re done playing pretend.

PS: Overthink much?

If your brain has 87 tabs open at all times, I made something for you:
👉 The Overthinker’s Cheat Sheet
It’s the strategic way to stop spiraling and start making decisions like someone who has their life together. (Or at least fakes it well.)

Try it. Your future self will thank you.