I ate a gas station donut today.
I’m not proud of it, but it’s true.
I don’t normally eat gas station donuts. However, with the steaming hot coffee that I got, I thought that it would be perfect. So, I grabbed that cinnamon sugar covered donut and set off on my hour long drive.
It took me less than a minute to eat it, but I was regretting it for it the rest of the way.
As I was driving, my stomach began to turn. I knew that it was that donut. I just didn’t feel right… I just felt… blah!
And I knew it was the donuts fault! Or was it?
Was it the donut’s fault? Or, was it my fault? The one that picked up the donut. The one who bought the donut. The one who inhaled the donut in less than a minute. The one who was now feeling the effects of the donut.
In your life, there are things that you know you shouldn’t do. Things that you know aren’t going to end well. Things that aren’t going to be used for your benefit. Things that will make you sick… physically, spiritually or mentally. However, we still eat the donut. We still DO those things… and suffer the consequences.
Today, I want to challenge you to identify the donuts in your life. What is that thing that you continue to do that you know is no good for you? What is that thing that you continue to do that makes you sick? What is that thing that is affecting you in a negative way? Now that you have identified it, I want you to do something about it.
Put the donut down. Walk the other way. Don’t put the money on the counter. Don’t buy it. Don’t eat it.
Identifying those negative behaviors in your life is the first step. But, at this crossroads it can easily go one way or the other.
You can say:“I don’t get to eat the donut”.“I’m depriving myself of that donut pleasure”.“I’m so disappointed that cinnamon sugar can’t rest on my lips”.(OK. I better stop here. Some of you are getting hungry.)
Or, I can say: “I don’t want to feel sick again”.“I want to feel healthy again”.“I want to fit back into that speedo from 1982”.
Your perspective on NOT eating donuts becomes positive. (Except for the speedo) 😉
I have worked with clients who kept using the word “deprivation”. In their minds, life change was a negative. It was “less”.It deprived them.
Their problem was not the goal. It was how they viewed the goal.
So, they would set a goal and “fail” again and again suffering terrible consequences. However, the consequences weren’t enough to overthrow the “deprivation” idea in their mind.
So, they continued. Two steps forward. Three steps back.
My job was to help them change perspective. To link enough positive effects with the desired change that it was no longer a “chore of deprivation”, but a “joy of becoming their best”.
Today… focus on the effects that your donut causes. The sickness in your belly. The unease in your stomach. Not feeling like yourself or not feeling right. Focus on the effect and the consequences of the action and not the action in itself.
This simple shift will allow you the opportunity to change your perspective and that change in perspective will allow you the opportunity to change that “donut” behavior.
Perspective is key. Don’t view your change through the lens of “deprivation”. View it through the lens of “becoming your best self”.
If you’d like to start creating your BEST life, let’s begin a coaching relationship. Learn more here.
A Gas Station Donut and a Lesson about Life Change
