How to Challenge the "What's the Point?" Mindset

Imagine you planned to do an hour-long workout today.

But then an appointment ran late, or something unexpected came up, and now you only have 15 minutes.

You could still get in a quick workout, but almost immediately, a familiar thought pops into your head.

"What's the point?"

Fifteen minutes isn't going to make much difference in your strength or fitness. It won't burn that many calories. So, you might as well skip it and try again tomorrow when you have more time.

Sound familiar?

Here's something I want you to notice about that little conversation you're having with yourself.

When you say, "What's the point?" you're not actually asking a question.

You've already decided there IS no point.

And now you're coming up with all the reasons to support that conclusion.

(There's actually a name for this. It's called confirmation bias. And it's our brain's tendency to look for evidence that supports what we've already decided is true.)

Which reminds me of something I learned back in college...

I participated in a little bit of competitive debate (#nerdalert), and one of the things I found most valuable about the experience was that we didn't get to choose which side of an argument we defended.

We were assigned a position ahead of time and had to research and prepare a case for it, whether we personally agreed with it or not.

And something interesting happened when I had to argue for a position I didn't initially agree with.

I was forced to consider evidence and perspectives I might otherwise have dismissed.

Sometimes, I even found myself questioning my original opinion.

Not necessarily because I'd changed my mind completely, but because I could now see that the issue wasn't quite as simple as I'd thought.

And I think there's a valuable lesson here for anyone who struggles to follow through on their intentions.

Because when it comes to our own behavior, we can be pretty skilled debaters.

The problem is that we keep choosing the same side.

We argue against the 15-minute workout when the original plan was 60.

We argue against making a healthy dinner after we already "ruined" things this week.

We argue against going for a walk because we won't have enough time to reach our step goal anyway.

And we build a pretty convincing case for why taking that small action isn't worth the effort.

But what if you didn't get to choose which side you defended?

What if, the next time you caught yourself thinking, "What's the point?", you imagined you were on a debate team?

And your assigned position was:

Taking this small action IS worth it.

Your job is to build the strongest possible case for that position.

You don't have to believe it yet. You just have to come up with the arguments.

So let's go back to that 15-minute workout.

What could you say in favor of doing it?

Well, 15 minutes of movement still contributes to your overall physical activity.

It's an opportunity to practice adjusting your plans instead of abandoning them when life gets in the way.

Even a short workout can help improve your mood and give you a little more energy.

And perhaps most importantly, it's a chance to show yourself that following through doesn't have to mean doing everything exactly as planned.

Suddenly, that 15-minute workout has value you weren't considering before.

The goal of this mental exercise isn't to convince yourself that you must always take the small action.

Sometimes resting or starting fresh the next day really is the better choice.

The goal is to make sure you're considering more than one perspective before deciding what to do.

Because when we repeatedly dismiss small actions as pointless, we miss opportunities to make progress simply because that progress doesn't look the way we originally imagined.

So here's something I'd love for you to try this week.

The next time you hear yourself say, "What's the point?", take that question seriously.

Instead of immediately deciding, "There isn't one," pretend you've been assigned to argue the other side.

Ask yourself:

"If I HAD to make a case for doing this, what would I say?"

See how many reasons you can come up with.

You might still decide not to do the thing.

But at least you'll be making that decision after considering both sides, rather than letting an old, familiar belief make it for you.

P.S. If you want 2027 to be different from the years before it, you can't keep letting the same old beliefs make your decisions for you.

Learning to challenge those beliefs and think differently is a big part of what we work on in coaching.

I'm currently welcoming new 1:1 coaching clients, and there's still plenty of time to start building those skills before the new year.

Book a free call here to learn how we can work together to make 2027 a year of real, lasting change.