We are a lot smarter than we think we are.
Seriously.
We already know what we need to do.
We know what foods we should and shouldn’t eat to maintain a healthy weight.
We know how much exercise we should do to maintain our fitness.
We know what we should and shouldn’t be reading, watching on TV, or paying attention to on social media. We know the kinds of people we should and shouldn’t be hanging out with.
So, if we are so smart and know all these things, then why-oh-why don’t we do them?
It’s because we are too comfortable with the way things are. Or, putting it another way, we are not UNcomfortable enough to launch us into action.
Let me share a story with you of a phone conversation I had with someone I work with recently.
My colleague had been struggling with his weight and was seeing a personal trainer in an attempt to get really focused on his exercise so that he could get his weight down. His trainer had told him that, even with the rigorous training he was doing every week, if he really wanted to bring his weight down, he would need to change his diet. He needed to cut out the processed foods and the junk food, eat more fresh fruit and vegetables and cut down on the alcohol. Exercise alone would not be enough. The trainer even gave him the eating plan to follow that would guarantee weight loss. But no, my colleague wanted to just exercise and not change his eating habits. The trainer even went as far as recommending a nutritionist which my colleague did in fact go and visit. The really interesting thing to me is that when my colleague shared this story with me, he said that what the nutritionist advised him was the same information the trainer had given him, and he was annoyed and sounded quite indignant about the whole experience. He said: “It was all stuff I already know!”
So I asked him: “Yes, but are you doing those things?”
Silence.
Now – don’t go and poo-poo my colleague. His story is my story. And it’s your story.
We already know what we need to do in order to make a change in whatever domain in life that’s calling for change. Or, if we don’t know – well, we’ve got Google.
The information is there – right at our fingertips.
But even if we know or find guidance on what action we can take, we simply don’t take it. We even go searching for even more information from even more different sources as though there is someone who will come up with the new and magical way the change we need can take place – but without us having to do anything differently.
We still look for things outside of us to change rather than stepping up and taking responsibility to make the change happen ourselves.
It seems that despite our vast knowledge, for most of us, it all comes down to waiting for things to get uncomfortable enough before we move into action.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
One woman who I follow on social media, Mel Robbins, talks about the need to parent ourselves. And I think she nails it.
Think about it. Parents are always getting their kids to do things that they don’t feel like doing. Get up. Clean your room. Do the dishes. Take the garbage out. Do your homework. It’s all stuff the kid does not want to do. And unless pushed, they will not do it.
As adults, no-one else is going to push us to do the things we don’t feel like doing.
It’s up to us to parent ourselves.
Get up early. Exercise. Choose the salad instead of the hamburger. Go to bed early instead of binge watching the latest series. Go to work. Take the garbage out. Stop eating those sweets. Save up for the holiday instead of putting it onto your credit card.
It’s all stuff we don’t feel like doing. But it has to be done. And we are the only ones who can make it happen.
And the good news?
We are the ones who can make it happen.
We have absolute dominion over our own lives and we can make it as great as we would love it to be.
We just have to get off the couch first.
