Once upon a time I thought it would be cool to be fit. I didn’t give much thought to what that meant but I knew it would be nice to have a flat stomach like those other guys on the beach. After seeing them, I’d feel a surge of motivation, and would go looking for fitness advice. I had some idea of what to do. I knew that calories mattered. I knew that broccoli was better than potato chips. I knew that cardio was important and I also knew that I’d need some form of weight training. I’d put together my own version of a diet and exercise plan and would follow it strictly… For a maximum of three days!

It was hard! All at once, I attempted to sacrifice all the “bad” foods that I loved. I was doing pushups and crunches and expecting to see big changes immediately. If I didn’t think I looked all that different after a workout, I’d do more, but even then I didn’t see much of a difference. This never lasted longer than three days. I would always get discouraged and distracted. That’s when it would happen. I’d allow myself a slice of cake. After eating half of the cake, I would justify by telling myself that I’d restart my diet tomorrow. When tomorrow came, I’d wind up pushing my diet back further, and eventually I’d just forget about what I set out to do. Some time in the future I’d see some fit looking guy and feel motivated again…

When I think about motivation, I tend to think of it as that thing that we use when there’s something we feel we should do, but don’t really want to do it. Exercise is good for us, but for many reasons, most of us don’t really want to do it. Sure, we think we should do it, but we don’t Enjoy doing it. Since we find it to be important, many of us turn to motivation in hopes that some sense of reward or accountability will keep us doing the thing we dislike. Motivation might work for some time, but can we really expect it to work for a lifetime? In my opinion, it’s fine as a temporary tool, but there is something more effective…

Do you remember the last time you felt inspired to do something. Think about what that felt like. You had a “light bulb moment” and you just knew what you had to do. In this case, you didn’t just have to do it, you wanted to do it. You wanted to show up. You wanted to make the effort. You enjoyed it. When you want to do something, the only thing that stops you from doing it is fear of some consequence. If there is no consequence to your action, you will do it for as long as you want to do it.

Imagine if you wanted to exercise… Imagine if you wanted to eat vegetables and lean meats. Imagine if you wanted to drink water. If this was enjoyable to you, you wouldn’t need motivation, and this would be the rest of your life. This CAN be your life. You CAN enjoy all the foods that make you look and feel healthy. Here’s how!

Step 1: Want To Do This

This works if you want it to work. You have to want to want healthful foods. You can still enjoy less healthful foods, you’ll just have a much stronger desire for the foods that support immune function, cellular repair, heart health, etc.

Step 2: Repeat The Following Often 

“I want to enjoy healthful foods. I want to desire healthful foods. I love knowing how strong I feel after eating vegetables. I love the extra energy I have when I drink more water.” 

Step 3: Visualize

Close your eyes and visualize yourself eating the foods that you know are good for you. Picture yourself enjoying the food. Picture yourself feeling stronger and more energetic.

Step 4: Become What You Visualize

After picturing yourself as the best you can be, change your behavior so that you are more like the you that you pictured. The best version of smiles more. The best version of you has good posture. What kind of clothing do you wear in your visualization? How do you smell? Much of your image can be changed instantly. Make all of the easy changes now. It doesn’t matter if you feel sexier in a suit or in athletic gear; whatever you think is hot, that’s what you wear. You will feel different instantly!

Step 5: Repeat Often

The power of suggestion is so simple and so strong. The human mind is very open to suggestion and if you suggest good things then good things will come.

Suggest that you CAN make this permanent and you will.

Suggest that you CAN crave delicious/empowering vegetables and you will!

Suggest that you WILL have the body, the looks, the health, and the strength that you want… It’s coming!

See You Next Monday!

-Mike Humphreys