Motivation Part 4

There's a story that goes something like this:

"A guy was telling his personal trainer that he had some new goals this year. The trainer, always looking for new ways to motivate his client, told him not to worry, he had already mapped out a game plan for him. He, with the coaches help, would do something none of his clients had ever done before. He would compete in a marathon race once a month, and train for those races like no one has ever trained before. He would become a star at long distance running.

After eight months of placing high in eight different marathon races, his client suddenly quit. The coach asked him if we was feeling okay. He told the coach he was fine. The coach then gave him the most incredible motivational speech anyone had ever heard. He told his client he had never seen anyone put so much time and effort into training. He told him how good he was. He told him no one else could do what he was accomplishing.

The client just looked a this coach and told him goodbye. The coach was hurt and confused. He finally asked his client why he was quitting. His client told him.

Earlier this year I came to tell you that I had some new goals this year, I did. The main one was to cut back on my training schedule. You see, my life has been on hold ever since I met you. I'm ALWAYS training. My new goal this year was to read a book a week, and to start taking piano lessons again. I really love reading and I want to play keyboard in my friend's band. With all this extra running you had me doing this year, I haven't had time for either. It's time I started working on my goals."



So what is it about low carb diets that work so well? Good question. The simplest explanation that I can possibly give you is that processed sugar and starchy foods (flour, pasta, and potatoes) appeal to the pleasure center of your brain in much the same way that narcotic drugs do. They offer short term pleasure but also cause your body to want even more of them to stay satisfied, in effect, offering no real satisfaction unless you keep eating them all day long. That's why most people crave things like potato chips and cookies after they start eating them. The only thing that stops these people from eating them for awhile is if they simply get too full to consume more. However, as soon as they get more room, even a little bit, they are hungry again.

It truly is a vicious, non-ending cycle for a lot of people who have weight issues. I was that way. My wife was that way. Most of the people I have talked to about diet and weight problems have had that issue.  BUT miraculously, when they tried the low carb diet, their constant cravings, their non-ending hunger vanished just like it did for me.

It doesn't go away permanently however. If you choose to still eat those type of foods on a regular basis, all the cravings and non-ending hunger will return. Knowing this is the simple key to most weight loss.

That doesn't mean you give up cookies, pasta dishes, and chips completely. It just means that you have to plan when you will have them AND you plan to have them less often. If you do that, refining the idea and approach as you go along, you will have weight loss success. If you choose not to continue, you will most likely fail. It really is that simple.

Which finally brings me to why long term motivation is not the answer to things you desire to change about yourself. Motivation works on the emotions. It pumps you up. It makes you FEEL embarrassed. It makes you FEEL good about yourself. It can do a number of things, but it does them all on a lower emotional level. That level is not sustainable over a long period of time. People who rely on it will always ultimately fail. Those who do succeed need much more than that.

And that's why I'm writing this down. This isn't just about what I think. Most of this has come from years of reading, studying, and personal experience. It comes from major sports stars and their biographies. It comes from doctors and the studies they've done. It comes from truly successful coaches, life-coaches, and mentors. It even comes from conservative theologians who use the Bible and its principles as a real guide book to living life. I'm just kind of condensing it all down into a summary of what they are saying. I'm condensing it down into pill form so that everyone can swallow it easier. I haven't got all the answers, but I'm willing to refine these ideas as time goes on. I might even be wrong in some of the ways I've put this together. I'll fix those things with more thought as I go along as well.

Here's the basics. We'll explore each in more depth as this series of blog posts continue. These steps involve higher level responses. They require desire, thinking, planning, reasoning, and daily discipline. And if you haven't guessed it yet, these are the higher level skills that are required to succeed. Discipline trumps motivation every time. It is the key to successful change in every area of life worth changing. We'll talk more on that later as well. But first, here are the steps:

1) Have a defined goal and make sure it's truly important enough to change your life for.

2) Ask yourself tough questions, "SHOULD I be pursuing this goal?" Is it a good goal worth my time and effort to pursue? Is it a moral goal? Will I be bettering not just myself but others by accomplishing it? Will God be glorified in accomplishing it? (I know a lot of people will be taken back with the second step, because they wonder, "What does God have to with this?" That's a fair question and will be dealt with when we get there.)

3) Do you have good detailed plan in mind to accomplish this goal? Do you have a backup plan in mind if you find out your first plan wasn't as good or as detailed as you as you thought it was? Did you write the plan down so that you KNOW EXACTLY what it is? Are you willing to put real time, effort, and money into it?

4) Do you have the means to accomplish the goal? Let me tell you, this requires a lot more work than the current motivational philosophy of "you can do anything if you set your mind to it."

5) Do the needed work for as long as necessary by developing daily discipline.

(more next time)