Wow, I can’t believe it’s January.

The month of January is a very busy month for many of us – as many people are trying to hit the ground running.

Lots of meetings to meet at, people to see, meals to share, work to get done, dinners to dine, things to take care of and the list goes on.

You know how in the movies the volume gets louder and louder as the actor is thinking through her list of what needs to get done faster and faster, until finally, the persons head explodes because they’re so overwhelmed?

Well, it seems as though many of us feel like that because we just have so many things to do.

And we’ll wind up doing a majority, if not all, of the things we commit to do. WHY?

Well, because we’re very good at keeping our promises to OTHER people.

But when it comes to ourselves? Forget about it.

We all have great hopes for the day. For the week. And for the month. We start each day with promises that we intend on following through with.

Yet, statistically many of us aren’t going to.

So what can we do?

Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz in their book, The Power of Full Engagement, describe a study in which a group of women agreed to do a breast self-exam for a period of 30 days.

100% (yes, 100%!) who said when and where they were going to do it completed the 30 day exam. Only 53% of the others did.

In another study, drug addicts in withdrawal (can you find a more stressed out population? I also think some of us are food addicts so we can relate) agreed to write an essay before 5PM on a certain day.

80% of those who said when and where they’d write the essay completed it! In this case, NONE of the others did.

That’s pretty amazing.

If we want to get something done, decide when and where we’re going to do it. Otherwise, don’t expect to do it.

Tip: On your Daily Feedback tell us what time you intend on exercising and where (be as specific as possible). In fact, for any task that makes the outcome list write when and where you’ll do it.

Let’s go! (Right now, wherever you are)

##

Want to GUARANTEE the chances you’ll get the body you want?

Arm yourself with daily and personal accountability, daily support along with a PROVEN system to monitor and track your progress. I’m so sure MBT will work for you (no matter your age, size or shape), we’re willing to put our money where our words are!

I hate resolutions!

Simply because resolutions are words. And more than 95% of people never actually follow through on their words. After all, it’s easy to talk and talk. It’s not so easy to take the right actions day after day.

Let’s take a closer look at the word ‘resolution’ anyway.

Resolution is derived from the word “re-solve”. (Oh man! My mom who is a former English teacher is loving this right now!)

And what does that mean? It means to solve again. And that’s exactly what happens – we try to solve the same problem again and again, year after year.

You know what I’m talking about. These are the people who lose and gain and lose and again instead of pushing through…

Here is why:

By nature, change is uncomfortable. Simply because it’s different from what we’re used to doing.

Of course, if change were so easy, we’d all do it.

And our natural tendency is to remove the discomfort. So we never push through it.

The temptation to quit is greatest right before the breakthroughs happen.

And that’s when the rationalizations start happening. Because we’re looking for a way to remove that discomfort.

(Yes, discomfort is the dirty, dirty word people avoid. It drives me crazy! I once saw an infomercial for an exercise thingy – and the person who, of course, has a model type body is selling us (the viewer) by shouting all excitedly, “It doesn’t evennnn feellll like I’m exercisinggggg!!!!”)

(Umm, that’s because you’re NOT!!!!!)

I know my work isn’t done on this planet until things like that don’t sell. Not because I don’t want the seller to succeed but because I want the buyer to. And what they’re selling is horse secretion.

Here is a post I wrote a while back about why I’ll probably never write a bestselling diet book — > click here.

ANYTHING IN LIFE WORTH HAVING TAKES EFFORT. AND FOR MANY EFFORT = DISCOMFORT

The discomfort of change. But because we want to remove that discomfort, we can’t blame it on ourselves. So instead, we blame it on our circumstances…

Maybe next year…

-I’ll have more free time

-My life will be more stable

-My kids will be more independent

-My boss won’t be such a jerk

-I’ll have more money

-The stars will align

We all know this is pure bull-secretion. There is always another reason to wait. The excuses will always be there. We gotta rationalize not pushing through the discomfort one way or another. We can rationalize about rationalizing!

Here is another way to look at it — > if we’re doing the same things we used to do, we’re not changing. And therefore, we won’t feel any discomfort.

Discomfort means we’re doing things DIFFERENTLY, and therefore we’re on the right track.

For example…

Typically, if there is a whole spread of cookies and all kinds of junk food in front of us, we’d dig right in.

The more comfortable thing to do in the moment would be to take a plate, and load up.

The more uncomfortable thing to do in the moment would be to laugh at it like Dr. Evil (click here to see what I mean), and walk away thinking, “Na, that’s not a part of my plan. It’s not going to help me to look OR feel better!”

In other words, discomfort IS our compass.

We can’t escape the discomfort we have to endure. I’m sorry, we can’t. Nor can we escape the day to day consistency we have to stick to – which isn’t sexy whatsoever – even though – it’s ridiculously effective!

And because it’s so easy to avoid the inevitable! (Yes, eventually, you’re going to have to be consistent and stick with something if you want lasting results…might as well make it a sensible eating and exercise plan, yes?)

THE MOST BIASED PERSON ON THE PLANET?

Probably not me. BUT, because I’ve seen how daily and personal accountability, along with daily support combined with a system to monitor and track our progress has worked for so many people of all ages, sizes and shapes throughout the world – I KNOW it makes all of the difference.

It makes the discomfort way more tolerable and dare I say — comfortable.

HOW TO ACHIEVE ANY GOAL IN 2012

So, whatever goal you decide to pursue in ‘12, make sure you have some sort of system of accountability, support and a way to monitor and track your progress.

Otherwise, you’re just hoping and wishing.

There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth. Not starting, and not going all the way.

And if we don’t have any accountability, support and a way to monitor and track our progress, for whatever goal we’re after, we’ll never be able to go all the way!

To a happy, healthy and fun New Year!

All my best to you, and the people you care about.

**
Why not join MyBodyTutor.com – it’s a proven program that has helped 100’s and 100’s of people get AND keep the body they’ve always wanted. The best part? Because we believe so strongly in what we do – we offer a 100% money back guarantee.

I gotta say – although I love the summer, and the warm weather, I also love this time of year because everyone is in such a good mood.

But with that comes a lot of events and gatherings with family and friends and coworkers.

And as I’ve been hearing from some of you – with that comes peer pressure eating.

I’d like to dive into this…

Peer pressure (in the sense that I’m used to it) is when we feel that if we don’t do what everyone else is doing we’ll be the outcast. Usually, it’s with our friends, which is sort of ironic.

In this case, though, I think the peer pressure we might be facing is from our self. We don’t want to stand out, and we really don’t want to make a big deal out of our healthy eating habits.

Here’s the thing: no one really cares about our habits, unless we do.

When we start saying things like, “Ugh! I wish I could have this slice of pizza!” or, “I wish I could have what you’re having!” or “I want dessert so badly but I can’t!” that’s when people care.

That’s when people get involved.

It’s like everything else. If we’re cool with it, and if we’re comfortable with our self, other people will be comfortable with us.

If we’re uneasy about something, other people will be uneasy about it.

And let’s just say our friends do make some comments. For basically my entire life my friends have made “jokes” when they are out to eat with me. Sometimes I choose to indulge, and sometimes I don’t.

But I think there’s some truth to every ‘joke’ we make about someone. Whether it’s good hearted or not, here’s what I’ll say: Deep down, everyone respects a healthy and fit and disciplined person. (Of course, they could be a complete jerk. I’m just talking about being respected for solely being fit, etc.)

Let’s look at it another way…

Unfortunately, sometimes people are very rude.

And no one makes fun of a fit person for being fit. BUT sometimes people make fun of overweight people for being overweight. It’s just the way it is.

Many of us hate in other people what we hate about ourselves. And if your friend wished they were as focused, and disciplined as you are, they might feel the need to make “jokes” to make themselves feel better.

To me, eating unhealthy and junk usually isn’t worth it. I don’t like how I feel after. And time after time, when I’m with my friends and they choose to eat unhealthy, they always regret it afterward. “Ugh, my stomach is killing me! “I’m so tired now!” “I should’ve had what you ate!”

I wish my friends/coworkers/family ate the way I did

Why not be a leader? In college, especially, (because I lived with my friends) and in high school too – none of my friends were into health and fitness the way I was. Not even close. Why not become a positive influence? Or better yet – lead by example.

How to get people to think you’re annoying

I never, ever, offer advice unless people ask for it – however, leading by example is the most powerful thing you can do. And many of my friends in college starting eating the way I did. And this was in college! I became the go to guy.

It’s been that way for most of my life. Why not be that person with your friends? It’s fun.

When food is love…

For many, food IS love. Not eating something, in the moment, doesn’t seem like an option when Grandma is practically forcing us to eat her “famous” dish.

Here’s the thing: we feel bad, and then we start to waver. Once we start wavering, it’s game over. Grandma (or our friend or coworker) isn’t leaving us alone!

BUT, if you immediately say something like, “Grandma, no thank you! I’m going to pass.” it’s hard to argue with that.

And then the key is to add in something like, “I know how hard you worked, and I know you love me, and I love you too! But I’m going to pass on this. I do appreciate your efforts though, a lot!” that usually helps. (Grandma just wants to be recognized for her efforts, which is completely understandable. So it’s possible to give her what she wants without actually eating it.)

It’s OKAY to say “No, I’m going to pass,” and not second guess our selves. Remember: we never regret our healthy choices. Once we answer with the “Well, maybe…” we’re opening ourselves up for peer pressure.

You’ll be satisfied AND empowered after the meal when you order/eat/get what our body (not our mind) really craves.

It’s certainly harder with all sorts of unhealthy foods and junk around and peer pressure. No doubt.

But that’s on us because we don’t want to feel different. That’s not peer pressure.

As always, I’m here to help!

**
Find this helpful? You’ll LOVE my newsletter where I share all sorts of tactics, insights and strategies that I don’t share here. Sign up for it by clicking here.

Here’s my idea of what the purpose of our mind is:

1. I don’t think our mind was designed to make us worry. I think it was designed to make us fear. There’s a huge difference between running for our life because a lion is chasing us and worrying about finishing work on time or worrying about how your kids did on their spelling exam.

2. What is worrying anyway?

Worrying is a killer. If I can be Frank, it’s a motherf@#$@$!!!!

It leads to stress and anxiety, which truly wreaks havoc on our health and well being. (It also makes us want to eat sugar, salt and fat!) Worrying and anxiety is about repeatedly re-experiencing the worst case scenario in advance. What are we worrying about anyway? It didn’t happen yet!

3. I don’t think our mind was designed to think about the same things over and over. At least not thoughts that make us suffer. Or thoughts that impede us from…

4. Thinking of new things! Yes, that’s the purpose of the mind, in my very humble opinion.

For example, say, I think of a topic for an Inspiration (the very thing you’re reading right now). The old me would’ve acknowledged it and then forgotten about it.

Then, I’d try to remember it and struggle. And then it would come back to me at a weird time. Now, when I think of something productive, I write it down. Boom. Done. Out of my head. Onto the next thing…

5. When I keep thinking about things that hinder my ability to be the best I can be – it’s time to inquire within. Why? What can I do about it? Here’s the key: If I don’t deal with it, It’ll keep haunting me.

6. For example, say, I want to mail a thank you card. But I don’t do anything about it. I don’t add it to my to-do list, I don’t buy a card, nothing. It’s just renting space in my head and bothering me. Not good!

So, now, I just write it down. Boom. It’s done. It’s actionable. I don’t need to worry about it anymore. When thoughts like this are floating around in my head it’s very draining.

7. “You worry about thank you cards?” you wonder. I do. I’m weird. What can I say?

But what about ‘real things’ to worry about.

Ask yourself, “What are you afraid of?” Then follow with, “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” These 2 questions can help tremendously!

8. The purpose of the ‘3 outcomes Section’ on the Daily Feedback is so you don’t have to worry about tasks like mailing out a thank you card. Use it. It works like a charm.

Just pick 3 things that are floating around in your head and write them down so you get them out of your head already. And if they’re not actionable – just plain old things you worry about – go back to number 7 but try not to forget number one.

Gosh, I hope you liked this inspiration!

##

Ready to stop worrying about your health and fitness? Learn more about MyBodyTutor.com right now!