Cultivate Healthy Habits
Kicking Yourself For Being Weak?
“Just do it” makes a good slogan to sell workout gear, but it’s just not that realistic for most of us.
The Brain is Lazy
First off, the brain is lazy. Willpower works in the short term and early in the day, but when the brain gets low on energy, it’s hard to maintain if you haven’t developed this habit. You need more than this is you want to thrive.
Survival for the Win!
When it comes to a battle between the pre-frontal cortex (the area of the brain where willpower lives) and the limbic system (where impulse and survival live), the limbic systems wins hands down.
This part of us is programmed for survival. It wants to keep us safe. So if we feel threatened by someone abandoning us, it’s hard to be reasonable and calm. If a juicy ice cream cone is calling our name, the immediate pleasure we get beats the promise of a slimmer waistline months from now.
If you don’t neutralize the screaming toddler inside (by addressing your triggers), it’s likely to kick over your progress before you reach the goal post.
It’s About Lifestyle
Discipline is also easier when you have a clean lens to see the world, great skills, and support. Treading the middle path and avoiding extremes is easier when you are surrounded by people who live the way you want to live and support your choices.
If you are surrounded by people who vent their frustration by calling you names, getting drunk, and harming others, that becomes “normal.” If you want something different, cultivate it. Find it. Live it.
The reward you get from belonging will satisfy that limbic system so that it doesn’t feel weak or hungry.
If you’d like help with this, reach out.