Waiting to be motivated
This week, I wanted to bring you some PREMIUM FEUL to put into your neural pathways. That's right-premium fuel is needed to get premium results. I know that we all think it's just some people that have all the luck, or some people that never seem to get down, or some people that are blessed to live a charmed life- and I want to tell you, and teach you, that you can be some people.
You too can get different results than what you have now, but you will need to switch your fuel. No longer will the regular unleaded due the trick. No sir. You must switch to premium. And let me tell you, just like I don't feel like putting in premium at the gas station, you won't feel like putting in premium either. It literally took, I'm actually quite embarrassed to say, my car stalling while trying to start it, to get me to switch to premium. Total yikes!!
Before we get to the juice- neural pathways are the connections between neurons that light up when you think of something for the first time, and the connections form a pattern in your brain. Your brain has now attached meaning to that specific pattern. This is important because when you sleep until noon, watch Netflix all day, complain about your job, and eat Cheetos, your brain develops these pathways and converts them into, “This is what I do. This is who I am.”
And guess what happens to pathways that don't get used? You lose them. That's right, due to the amazing neuroplasticity of our brains, what we no longer use, we lose. Evolutionarily speaking, that's tremendously helpful. However, now that we're not fighting saber-toothed tigers, it's a huge bummer. And it's a huge bummer because this means in order for us to create new results for ourselves, WE HAVE TO DO SHIT BEFORE WE FEEL LIKE IT.
That's right. If you're someone that wants to run a marathon, but are currently lounging on the couch eating Cheetos, you have non-existent neural pathways for running every day. You're not going to feel like it, because it's not who you are. It's not engrained in your brain. Your whole being is going to fight you, because it wants to keep you safe. Your current brain only knows who you are today, and who you are today says, “I'm the person that lays on the couch and eats Cheetos in my comfy sweats.” (I prefer the crunchy ones to the original, btw)
So how can you ever be someone different than you are today?!
Simple. You need to ACT IN A DIFFERENT WAY. When you act in a different way, your brain sees you behaving like a different person. When your brain sees you behaving like a different person, it gets on the bus like your best ride-or-die. It says, “Oh, ok, this is who we are, ok. Let's f*$king go!!!"
And you'll be off. But, if you are waiting to feel like it, or worse- you're waiting to be motivated to do it, in 20 years you'll still be reading my weekly emails in your sweats, from your couch, eating Cheetos.
I won't say, “I told you so,” but, I will say, I offered you a seat on the bus, and you said, “No.” So, let's change that!!!
Here are two challenges for you this week:
No complaining for 24 hours. No complaining in speech OR thoughts. Let me know how it goes, if anything, you'll become aware of how much you look for things to complain about.
Say you'll do small things AND DO THEM. Make your bed. Go for a 10 minute walk. Do the dishes. Start training your brain to believe you.
I'll leave you with this powerful quote from Marsha Linehan, PhD, "You can't think yourself into new ways of acting; you can only act yourself into new ways of thinking."