Eleven months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 362. Yesterday, I talked about genius being something we can work toward. Today is a new day.
It's super easy to become overweight in a first-world country. You have access to cheap processed foods, there's an abundance of resources everywhere, it's fairly easy to get around, and it's no longer necessary to be in extremely good shape in order to survive. Compared to 10-20 years ago when I'd visit Japan as a kid there has been a HUGE increase in obesity. I remember almost never seeing overweight people when I'd visit as a kid. Now, I see overweight people wherever I go. This illustrates how small life changes, like adopting Western food and living in a prosperous area, can hugely influence our condition.
It's not just physical health either. Adopting any sort of habit or lifestyle change carries long-term effects that we may never realize until the damage is already done. We all have an ideal for what we want to be, but in a world where there are so many options and possibilities it can be easy, like becoming overweight, to stray from the path.
Maybe you want to lose weight but keep eating junk food and rarely exercise so you hardly see any results (or in some cases gain weight). Maybe you want to be a doctor but you let video games consume your life and so you fail all of your exams and can't get into medical school. Maybe you want to be a good husband/wife but keep giving into your temptations and end up cheating on them left and right. Whatever it is, if you want something, don't do things that will be counterproductive in you reaching that goal. Practice what you preach.
We all know this, yet we still do it anyway. Nobody wants to become these things, it just happens. So what's a person to do? Like any sort of behavior, it's about creating the right habits. It's said that it takes about 21 days to form a habit. That's 3 weeks of working toward something every day before it starts to feel more natural and routine. In order to get rid of bad habits like overindulging in junk food, alcohol, or whatever, you first have to make abstaining from them a normal part of your life. It's the same as building any strong foundation for mastery, you have to start with baby steps. You might relapse and repeat your old bad habits from time-to-time, but those failures can be used as reminders of what you're working toward - who you're trying to become.
If you really want something, you'll go after it no matter what. Giving in to your temptations is a sign that you don't want it bad enough yet. You're not driven enough. The next time you're about to put that cookie in your mouth, take a good look at it and ask yourself if it's worth it. Is the small rush of dopamine you'll get from eating this cookie better than losing weight and achieving your goals? Do your goals mean that little to you? This applies with any behavior we commit to. The caterpillar doesn't simply become a butterfly. It goes through a transformation. Transform YOUR life.
Don't practice what you don't want to become, do the things that will elevate you toward your dreams.
Peace
"Don't practice what you don't want to become." - Jordan PetersonMy coworker showed me a picture of how he used to look a year ago and I was shocked. Right now he's in good shape, but a year ago he was really overweight and he looked like a completely different person. It was like something out of a TV drama. To be honest, I was both impressed and inspired by the hard work and dedication he put into achieving his fitness goals. This reminded me a lot about habits.
It's super easy to become overweight in a first-world country. You have access to cheap processed foods, there's an abundance of resources everywhere, it's fairly easy to get around, and it's no longer necessary to be in extremely good shape in order to survive. Compared to 10-20 years ago when I'd visit Japan as a kid there has been a HUGE increase in obesity. I remember almost never seeing overweight people when I'd visit as a kid. Now, I see overweight people wherever I go. This illustrates how small life changes, like adopting Western food and living in a prosperous area, can hugely influence our condition.
It's not just physical health either. Adopting any sort of habit or lifestyle change carries long-term effects that we may never realize until the damage is already done. We all have an ideal for what we want to be, but in a world where there are so many options and possibilities it can be easy, like becoming overweight, to stray from the path.
Maybe you want to lose weight but keep eating junk food and rarely exercise so you hardly see any results (or in some cases gain weight). Maybe you want to be a doctor but you let video games consume your life and so you fail all of your exams and can't get into medical school. Maybe you want to be a good husband/wife but keep giving into your temptations and end up cheating on them left and right. Whatever it is, if you want something, don't do things that will be counterproductive in you reaching that goal. Practice what you preach.
We all know this, yet we still do it anyway. Nobody wants to become these things, it just happens. So what's a person to do? Like any sort of behavior, it's about creating the right habits. It's said that it takes about 21 days to form a habit. That's 3 weeks of working toward something every day before it starts to feel more natural and routine. In order to get rid of bad habits like overindulging in junk food, alcohol, or whatever, you first have to make abstaining from them a normal part of your life. It's the same as building any strong foundation for mastery, you have to start with baby steps. You might relapse and repeat your old bad habits from time-to-time, but those failures can be used as reminders of what you're working toward - who you're trying to become.
If you really want something, you'll go after it no matter what. Giving in to your temptations is a sign that you don't want it bad enough yet. You're not driven enough. The next time you're about to put that cookie in your mouth, take a good look at it and ask yourself if it's worth it. Is the small rush of dopamine you'll get from eating this cookie better than losing weight and achieving your goals? Do your goals mean that little to you? This applies with any behavior we commit to. The caterpillar doesn't simply become a butterfly. It goes through a transformation. Transform YOUR life.
Don't practice what you don't want to become, do the things that will elevate you toward your dreams.
Who do you want to be?
Peace
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| Mastery cannot be gained without first practicing it. |
What are you practicing in order to achieve your self-realization? Leave a comment below!
ReplyDeleteHave a great day~