2-3-4 Friday

1 THOUGHT 

I confess. Every night, at about 10pm, I tiptoe to my fridge, open it, feel the gust of cold air, and … start searching for a good night snack. I tell myself that I’m eating something healthy. Its not chocolate! Nor cake! 

It’s just a banana. Then it becomes a handful of nuts. Then later another plum. 

But as a result of these late night suppers, I’ve seen my weight slowly inch up. 

Here’s the truth. I don’t want to do this. But why do I keep going to the fridge, falling down the same rabbit hole, and doing the things I’ve no desire to do?! 

 

Why doesn’t the intent to LOSE weight translate to the tangible outcome of losing weight? 

 

Good question, eh? 

You may face this. You start out your day with great intent. You brew your cup of coffee, open your computer, and tell yourself, “Today is going to be a productive day! YAY!” 

 

But somehow, 6 minutes later, you see yourself entangled in email, surfing the latest iPhone, reading the newsfeed… and your productive day becomes steadily UNproductive.

 

Because your environment fails you. And because willpower is never enough. 

 

If you’re being pinged by your phone, your email, and the internet is making its siren call, you’re going to find it hard to say no to the temptation. Do you see how you and I are setting ourselves up for failure? How can you be more productive working from home?

 

It’s like me standing in front of the fridge, seeing the gorgeous chocolate, smelling the lovely cakes, and feeling the delicate cookie in my hand. How is willpower going to save me then? 

 

It’s like you sitting in front of your computer, having notifications hit you left, right and centre, and before long, realising that your day has been spent putting out fires rather than addressing the work that needs to be done. 

 

What’s a better way?

Change your mental environment. If you don’t want to fail, don’t set yourself up to fail. If you don’t want to fail, clear your environment so that there’s no way you’re going to fall into the rabbit hole. 

It starts with two principles. Firstly, awareness. Know where you’re failing. Observe where you’re always tripping. What leads up to that fall?

 

For me, I saw how walking to the kitchen was always the trigger. I would walk to the kitchen, and no matter what I told myself (I’m here just for WATER!) it would then end up with food. 

 

Secondly, abstinence. Don’t depend on willpower. It’s not enough. Remove those points of failure. If you see yourself constantly tripping over your newsfeed, switch off the WIFI, put your phone out of the room, and block yourself out of those sites. 

 

Awareness. Abstinence. Action. Let’s go. 

 

1 QUOTE 

In that space lies your power to choose, and your power for change. 

 

1 TIP 

Urges come, but urges also go. Whenever you feel the urge to do something, take a deep breath. Remind yourself - you won’t die if you don’t do XYZ. Build space between your urge and your eventual action. 

 

In that space lies your power to choose, and your power for change. 

 

John

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