Hi Friend,
It's that time of year again. That time when the guru types come scurrying out of the woodwork like glassy-eyed cockroaches. Smelling fresh meat, they take this seasonal opportunity to prey on your heartfelt insecurities and fears.
And true to form, they waste no time in promising you the secrets to more money, a more attractive body, and a whole lot more sex.
But here's what these gurus DON'T tell you.
It's all hooey. Nonsense talk.
How come?
Well, people rarely change. Not really. Any self respecting psychologist will tell you how past behaviour is the best indicator of future behaviour.
Forget the gurus with their empty promises. Try as you might, the rule says you will always be a leopard who won't change their spots.
So what can you do? Or are you doomed to forever be at the mercy of gurus selling their latest lotions and protein powders?
One thing's for sure; I am not going to promise you any arcane knowledge that's going to magically make 2015 any better for you. Sorry. Not going to happen.
That said, there are some exceptions to this spotted leopard rule. They take the form of something called "gateway habits" and will make the best of what you've got right now.
Gateway Habits
Some habits are considered gateway habits. These are the patterns that change our lives... and here's the really cool part: once you start changing them, other habits start to change too.
Yet changing these habits isn't easy. When a habit occurs, the brain goes onto auto pilot as it lazily follows its traditional way of doing things. Only by deliberately fighting a habit (and by finding and substituting new routines), can the old patterns be broken.
Here is where gateway habits come rushing to your rescue: create new routines, and the new way of doing things becomes as automatic as your old habits.
This is why sedentary people who catch the exercise bug often become more productive at work. The new habit - as though creating a cascading domino effect - causes widespread changes in other areas too.
Muscle Building Battering Ram
How do these habit changes happen? According to award winning Charles Duhigg who wrote, "The Power of Habit", "Willpower is the single most important keystone habit for individual success."
And what if you weight train? Suddenly, willpower becomes a muscle building battering ram as it smashes through barriers and pushes you onwards to greater gains.
But here's something you might not know. Just like your muscles, willpower is powered by glucose in the bloodstream. And there's one more piece to the jigsaw you might not be aware of: your willpower reserves aren't like some never ending, bottomless well, but are used up as you exert self-control.
This is why diets can be so darned difficult. Because you need willpower to stick with your diet program, your willpower reserves are swiftly siphoned off leaving you at the mercy of binge eating.
Don't believe me? Ask anyone who has ever enjoyed the misfortune to go on a no-carb sugar-free diet for any lengthy period of time. After a day or two, those sweets in the supermarket aisles are singing out your name like The Beach Boys in their heyday. Now tell me: is it any wonder when no-sugar diets fail?
Then what about those people with the best self-control? How do they fend off the urge to overeat and minimise other temptations?
A study led by Wilhelm Hofmann of the University of Chicago, showed that people with the best self-control aren't in possession of some magical secret like the gurus want you to believe. Instead, they do this - they exercise their willpower less often.
So, instead of fighting off temptation as if it were some fire-breathing dragon, they remove themselves from harm's way, thereby avoiding any crisis.
Employing this simple tactic, means they conserve their willpower. This is crucial and can't be underestimated. How so? Since willpower is a limited resource, it quickly gets tired as it works harder.
That's right. Just like your muscles feel fatigue and experience exhaustion from a punishing workout, the same thing happens to your willpower too.
Then what can you do?
Stay tuned, because I will be sharing the 7 steps you need next time.
Until then,
Squat for Glory!
Lee
P.S. Next week's tips are the kinds of game-changers the guru types like to charge big bucks for... but more importantly, they're the sort of stuff that can kick start your New Year making the next 12 months your best ever.
Don't miss out. See you here!
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