The mind and you, or is it you and the mind? Who are you anyway? Perhaps you are the will? Your volition, or maybe even your narrative, you hold true. All in all, it does not matter, but one of the things that you do know is that there is a “You” in there that is different from what you are feeling or thinking. I saw a glimpse of mine this morning when my alarm went off at 4:55! My mind said, “I am tired, go back to bed,” and I said, “You are absolutely correct; let’s stay in this comfy cozy bed.” And off to snooze-land I went. At 5:00 a.m., the alarm went off again. This time I was like, “Man, I gotta pee, but I promise myself that I will go back to sleep once I’m done using the restroom.” During that time, I am thinking about the bed and getting another few hours of sleep. I can’t wait! A few moments later and I’m back to bed, What feels like just minutes later another alarm goes off! “Damn,” I’m thinking. “Who set these alarms? Don’t they know it’s really early in the morning?” It’s the 5:03 alarm.
“Fine,” I say to myself. “I am up, but no way am I going to the gym. I have worked out a lot this week already. I’m tired. Mmm, smell that? Oh, it’s the coffee is brewing.” Like a zombie, I walk toward the coffee pot and spot the gym clothes that I laid out the night before. My mind says, “You don’t want to be traipsing around the house in your underwear. Get dressed.” I put on my gym clothes. They are comfortable. Comfortable enough to sleep on the couch. But the coffee smells so good, so I go and pour one and add some collagen and coconut oil instead of cream. It tastes good, but it’s a lot of calories for 5:05 in the morning. A rooster starts crowing, and I don’t know where that rooster is! “Shit, it’s gonna wake up the family, and if my daughter wakes up, I am never gonna hear the end of it from my wife.”
Ahh-haa! I discover the crowing rooster disguised as my phone all the way across the house in my laundry room, and I squash that annoying bird. Back to my coffee. It’s so tasty, but why so many calories? Oh that’s right, it’s fuel for the gym. But wait a minute. I am too tired for the gym. But what about all these extra calories? “You are tracking your food and workouts, and you will need to check in with Coach.”
Shit, I do not want to go to the gym. I don’t feel like it. I need rest.
“Of course you do. But remember it’s your commitments that set you free, and you do not negotiate with your feelings.” Damn! Did I say that?
“Yes, you did!”
Another alarm erupts from where the dead bird is laying. Who the hell set up these alarms? Who made the coffee brew at 4:55? Who put the fat in the coffee? Who laid out the gym clothes?
The voice in my head says, “I did, so I could outsmart you!”
To achieve what you want, sometimes you need to out-trick yourself. One of our maxims at Getting Results Inc is: “To control thyself, know thyself, and to thyself be true.” You may not believe this, but I prefer sleeping in compared to waking up at 4:55 to get to CrossFit by 6:00 a.m. I have a large, comfy bed with some sort of magic mattress topper that is heavenly and not easy from which to escape. My mind wants to stay in bed, but my will needs help to get in the truck that delivers me to the gym.
We often hear that you need self-discipline and willpower! Just get up and go! Today is the Super Bowl, and it will require 110 percent… just like every day! Be disciplined and go! Have you ever noticed when you really need willpower and self-discipline, they seem to disappear?
It was not my willpower that got me to the gym! I outsmarted myself with the slight edge of structure. Why do I have five different alarms? Because I need them. It’s a probability stack in my favor. Why is the coffee on auto-brew? Because I need it to be because if it was not ready, it would give me an excuse to go back to bed! Why do I lay out my gym clothes the night before? Because I have to. If I don’t, it gives me the excuse of not waking up my wife so I go back to bed instead.
Why do I go to CrossFit and not just the gym? Because with CrossFit, I do not have to figure out what my exercises are. I just show up and get a great workout. Why do I have an additional fitness coach who tracks my nutrition and exercise in addition to CrossFit? Because I am committed to my health and fitness. You may have noticed in your business life: when you have a coach you do better.
We are complex creatures giving up the ground we took yesterday… today! To control thyself know thyself. If you want an amazing life and business, create the structures to keep you on the path when you don’t feel like being on the path. At Getting Results, we specialize in this, especially with financial advisors or others who are in direct control of their income helping them make more money and have more fun! We have plenty of ideas to help you build structure in your own life.
Coach Ken
