What do you do when you are with friends or family and are faced with an alcohol or food decision that does’t support your goals?
3 Ways to Deal with it.
1. Dwell / FOMO (fear of missing out) / Unfair
Convince yourself that It isn’t fair they are able to eat all they want and still look how they do.
– Do you dwell on the unfairness? Do you think you are missing out?
2. Apply logic and truth
Consider that it might in fact not be fair. Is life fair?
– Does food control you, or do you control your decisions?
3. A mixture of the two (IMO the worst choice)
Create your own rules to support what you want now. Ill eat it today because I deserve it and I’ll start fresh on Monday.
– All this does is support your immediate needs. A better question to consider would be, how many times have I started fresh on Monday?
We are all pretty good at telling ourselves what we deserve to have based on what we want at the time.
One important thing I have learned with coaching is that willpower and motivation are pretty useless tools. A better tool is to equip clients with the right mindset in their decision making. Choose to train your cognitive muscles in a way that supports your long term goals.
I know that eating ______ may make me feel better right now, but it is actually unfair to ____, ____, and ________.
Now these sets of circumstances don’t apply to everyone, but it is a good framework to understand how we think about things and how we can convince ourselves we are making the right choice. What is that choice being held up against though? What is the standard?
Count the cost. Move the dirt.