In losing weight, you’re doomed to fail if you don’t know your ‘big picture’…
Think this way and you’ll own that bathroom scale!
I heard a story of a grandad who was a chain smoker, and suddenly stopped smoking, cold turkey.
Why?
The better question should be how.
He was in his home office working and smoking when his 5-year-old waddles to the room, stared at his grandpa and started crying, hysterically.
“What’s wrong honey?”, he asked.
His granddaughter said, in between sobbing, “You are going to die grandpa, you are going to die! Please don’t”.
Surprised, grandpa tried to console his sweety and said, “I am not honey, why would you say that?”
“Because you smoke, that’s why…” she said sobbing. “That’s why you are going to die.”
My Big Why
Have you ever found yourself in a situation, or heard someone declare, “That’s it, I’m done”? It could be a chain smoker deciding to quit, someone ending a prolonged unhealthy relationship, or an individual beginning a healthy diet to lose weight.
This occurred due to their ‘why’ — the ‘big picture.’
Allow me to explain.
Previously, I attended a marketing conference where a guru taught students how to start a business and generate income.
To initiate the session, the guru posed a sequence of ‘whys,’ starting with the fundamental question, “Why do you want to start a business and make money?”
(I eventually realized this was an extremely potent exercise).
The initial response might be financial freedom. However, the guru understood that this reason alone wouldn’t sustain the student during tough times in business. He probed deeper, asking, “Why do you seek financial freedom?”
I can’t recall the intermediate responses, but ultimately, around the seventh time of asking ‘why,’ the individual replied, “because in the place I grew up, not many kids had fathers, and I want to earn money to help others.”
Everyone wants to earn money, that’s certain. However, not everyone chooses to persevere when life gets tough. Without understanding their ‘why’ on a profound level, people tend to give up.
Consider the story mentioned earlier, of the grandfather who quit smoking abruptly. What was his ‘big picture’? What was his ‘why’?
His granddaughter.
He quit smoking because of her, his granddaughter. That’s the end of the story.
When you make a decision (and I stress the word ‘decision’), there’s no going back. That was the case for the grandfather; his motivation was his granddaughter.
For me, it was the desire to play basketball with my child. I used to play soccer, but weight gain took a toll on my knees.
Like my own reasons and ultimate goal, some motivations may not be glamorous, but they drive you forward.
What drives you? What’s your why?
