What if, What if, yeah but what if?

Have you ever seen the movie “The Princess Bride”?

Comedian Billy Crystal plays “Miracle Max”; the local magic man.

At one point Miracle Max, frustrated to the max, says, “While your at it, why don’t you give me a nice paper cut and pour some lemon juice on it!”

What does that have to do with weight loss?

Here’s the thing…

If you find yourself obsessing over imagined failures in the future.  Or if you constantly think “what if this goes wrong”…or “what if I blow it?”

If you think about the future like this…

You are creating moving pictures of failure or disaster in your mind.  Horror films in your mind.

Literally.

To imagine these negative experiences you have to think in moving pictures.  Which is a big problem.  Because your nervous system cannot tell the difference between a real and vividly imagined event.

Think about the last time you were deeply absorbed in a movie.  If it was a tear jerker, you may have cried. But the movie was only a fantasy.  Nothing actually went wrong.  It was just your nervous system responding to those vividly imagined scenarios.  It was as if they were real.

So here’s the kicker…

If you habitually imagine failure scenarios or obsess over “what if” in a negative way…

Then you are causing unnecessary emotional responses to little “mental movies” of non-existent events.  You are adding stress, worry, and anxiety where none needs to exist at all.

It’s the epitome of pouring lemon juice on a paper cut.

So, instead…

Why not imagine the future the way you want it to be?

Einstein said, “Imagination is everything.  It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”

Spend some time previewing life’s coming attractions for yourself.

And put away the lemon juice.

Cheers,

D

Vacation Planning vs. Weight Loss

Do you spend more time planning your vacations, where and when to get your haircut, your shopping list, and what you are going to watch on television…. than you do planning your action steps to your new body?

If so, perhaps it’s time to examine your priorities.

Now, all those things listed above are important. Yes.

But nothing comes before your health. Right?

So perhaps spend a little time planning your action steps right now. It will make your vacations more fun, your haircuts look better on your trim physique, your shopping easier, and television…well that’s up to you.

Think about it.

Cheers,

D