{"id":3384,"date":"2010-09-23T22:16:42","date_gmt":"2010-09-24T06:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=3384"},"modified":"2013-09-30T09:01:50","modified_gmt":"2013-09-30T17:01:50","slug":"re-defining-your-path-to-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/re-defining-your-path-to-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Re-Defining Your Path to Success"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/a><\/p>\n

Why do so many people fall short of their goals, even when they actively prepare and plot out a course of action?\u00a0 The answer is surprisingly simple.<\/p>\n

Our motivations are flawed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, we formulate our plans well enough.\u00a0 We envision the end results.\u00a0 We plan our steps out carefully.\u00a0 But there is one crucial element that we often forget.\u00a0 And that is our motivation.\u00a0 Or, more importantly, the fact that our individual motivations are based on words<\/strong>, and that these words have meanings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This probably doesn\u2019t surprise you.\u00a0 Of course words have meanings.\u00a0 There are entire dictionaries that prove that fact.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m not talking about meanings in the literal sense.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking about meanings in the personal sense.\u00a0 For many of us, words carry several layers of contextual meaning and association in addition to their literal meanings.\u00a0 And this little fact, hidden in plain sight, is often the thread that unravels many of our best-laid plans.<\/p>\n

Still a bit confused?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Okay, let me use myself as an example.\u00a0 I have been grossly overweight for most of my adult life.\u00a0 I\u2019m 6\u20191\u201d, and at one point, I weighed close to 300 pounds.\u00a0 I was so disappointed in myself.\u00a0 But every time I formed a plan to lose weight, I would lose a few pounds\u2026and then motivation would drop, and I would swell back up twice as fast.<\/p>\n

It took me a few years to figure out what the problem was.\u00a0 I took a good look at my motivators, and realized that I was associating dieting and weight loss with willpower and self-discipline, so those were my sole sources of motivation.\u00a0 \u201cIf I really want it,\u201d I told myself, \u201cI\u2019ll be disciplined.\u00a0 I\u2019ll exercise my willpower and stay true to my diet.\u201d\u00a0 The problem wasn\u2019t that I had no willpower or discipline.\u00a0 The problem was the meanings that I associated with those words.<\/p>\n

But aren\u2019t willpower and discipline good things?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes and no.\u00a0 To me, \u2018willpower\u2019 implied a regimen of punishment and brutal self-denial.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t eat what I wanted.\u00a0 I had to exercise regularly, even when I didn\u2019t want to.\u00a0 And \u2018discipline\u2019 wasn\u2019t much better.\u00a0 On one level, yes, it means immaculate self-control.\u00a0 But it also means punishment.\u00a0 So in using these thoughts of willpower and discipline to fuel my weight loss, I was unknowingly turning my weight loss into an oppressive act that my mind naturally felt the urge to rebel against.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t stick with a diet or exercise regimen for more than a few weeks.<\/p>\n

My mind would subconsciously fight back.\u00a0 I would start stressing.\u00a0 I would give in to the stress and eat.\u00a0 And then I would grow depressed over my failure.<\/p>\n

This cycle did nothing but solidify the reputations of \u2018willpower\u2019 and \u2018discipline\u2019 as evil entities in my mind.\u00a0 And as long as that was happening, I couldn\u2019t make any headway in my weight loss at all.<\/p>\n

It all finally came to a head when I was trying to run laps around a local high school track one day.\u00a0 I just stopped, plopped down on the track, and buried my head in my hands.\u00a0 I just couldn\u2019t do it anymore.\u00a0 I hated exercise.\u00a0 I hated eating right.\u00a0 What little intrinsic value that weight loss had held for me had been completely obliterated by a lack of hope.<\/p>\n

So is there a light at the end of the tunnel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, luckily for me, a friend of mine convinced me to give Parkour* a try a couple of weeks later.\u00a0 Strangely enough, I found that the more I studied the art, the more I enjoyed it.\u00a0 I loved the movements, and the philosophy behind them.\u00a0 I found myself getting excited to get out and practice every day.\u00a0 And as a result, I was sweating off two or three times as many calories as when I was actively trying to exercise.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t associating my workouts with willpower.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t controlling my diet out of discipline.\u00a0 I was watching what I ate because I wanted to get stronger and better at what I did.\u00a0 In pursuing my passion, I had unknowingly changed the way that my mind interpreted my weight loss and exercise.\u00a0 I was no longer forcing myself to work.\u00a0 I was letting myself have fun.<\/p>\n

The happy ending<\/strong><\/p>\n

After starting Parkour, I lost 90 pounds in a year, and I\u2019ve stayed below 190 pounds for over two years now.<\/p>\n

And all it took was a simple change in association.<\/p>\n

Thank you for reading, my friends.\u00a0 Please enjoy and share, and may your lives be perpetually enriched.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to read more of Tom Johnson\u2019s work, please visit him at Playing to Lose<\/a>, his motivational blog.<\/em><\/p>\n

*Parkour is a movement philosophy<\/a> which was developed in twentieth century France. It is a bit difficult to define parkour, since it integrates several disciplines; it could be said to be a sport, a hobby, and a philosophy. Essentially, parkour is about learning to navigate obstacles, and rethinking the use of one’s body and the use of public spaces.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do so many people fall short of their goals, even when they actively prepare and plot out a course of action? The answer is surprisingly simple.<\/p>\n

Our motivations are flawed. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":686,"featured_media":12989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[6,31],"tags":[701,318,703,4631,702,66,700],"yoast_head":"\nRe-Defining Your Path to Success - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Oh, we formulate our plans well enough. We envision the end results. We plan our steps out carefully. But there is one crucial element that we often forget. And that is our motivation. 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