Okay, tell me if you've ever done this: It's Monday late afternoon. You decided yesterday that starting today you were going to 1) eat right, and 2) start to get regular exercise, and 3) give up all your bad habits. So, you're picking things up around house and starting to notice all little bits and pieces of leftovers from past weekend. Namely, cookies here, and small bits of candy there. In my house today I noticed I had three large shortbread cookies (I'm overly fond of shortbread cookies with icing), several bags of candy that resemble real rocks which I keep saying I want to put in a jar, but I haven't found just right jar (for display, you know), and leftovers from latest summer picnic, which in my case is about five pounds of fruit salad - not bad in itself, but I can only eat so much fruit salad.

And Then There's Wine

Of course, I had to buy some wine at a tasting on Saturday (I always buy it, don't know why I think those wine tasting's are such a great deal - they always entice me to buy), and now there's an open bottle waiting.

So, my thoughts are, "Do I eat this, or not?" "Do I throw it away and WASTE it?" "Oh, my, dear no. That's not a good idea," I think. Oh, I just remembered there is also an entire plate of large cinnamon rolls (Cinnabon style) I made Friday night. They'll be stale soon. That's not good. It'd be such a shame to throw them all away, and I only ate one.

And so it goes. Do I talk myself into eating up last remnants of weekend, thus going into Tuesday and possibly Wednesday with taste of weekend indulgence still on my lips, or do I decide, really decide, I've had enough? It's time to eat better, like I just said, last night. Remember last night? It seems so long ago now ...

What if We Just Start Tomorrow?

It's interesting how easily we talk ourselves right out of what we had decided yesterday was such a good idea. So what's wrong with just starting tomorrow? What's wrong is that tomorrow never comes. It's always today, right now. You'll never reach that elusive tomorrow. Yes, date on calendar changes, but you, standing where you are, right here, right now, are still here, in present. You can't live in past, nor can you live in future. You can only live in moment.

Decide Right Now: What Do you Want?

So if you want to decide, then decide right now. What do you want, really want for yourself? Do you want to continue to indulge yourself at every turn, or do you want to exercise just a bit more discipline and see if you can get into better shape? It's not about what you'll miss out on, it's about what you will gain. Better health, more energy, endurance. You'll feel better, you'll look better. It's all about what you'll gain, but in immediate moment, it's so easy to think only of right now. Yes, but right now this would taste so good, wouldn't it, and there's always tomorrow.

I've found that when I make a mental shift, a real shift, not just a decision but a true change in my thinking, then I follow through, and not until then. All times I try to talk myself into doing things that I don't really want to do, are not successful. Probably they're not successful because I don't really want to do them.

You have to first want

You must want to change your habits, want to lose some weight, want to give up your evening snacking before your will comes into play. Once you want a thing badly enough, you will do whatever it takes.

If you think you want something (to make a change in your eating habits perhaps), but then find it difficult to follow-through with your plans, most likely you simply want your current reality (your current habits and patterns) more than you want your goals (less weight, better health, etc.)

I can hear you all way over here, telling me I'm wrong: "No, that's not right! I want this more than anything, I just don't have any willpower!" Round and round you go, but truth is, you will get what you really want. Think back, has there ever been a time when you really wanted something? A certain piece of clothing, a certain house, car, job, spouse? Hum... Yes, we go after what we want, if we really want to acquire or achieve it we do. Nothings going to fall in your lap, you've got to go get what you want.

What's Going on?

Put another way, you may want to avoid pain (breaking old habits, avoiding some favorite foods, simply not overeating...) more than you want to gain pleasure (losing some weight, gaining new habits, eating favorite foods in moderation ...)

Since losing weight takes time, from weeks to months to years, it's easy to fall off path. It's always easier to get back into our old habits of eating, eating, and more eating. There's always more food. Unless you are too poor to purchase it, there's plenty food in America - in fact, too much food, and so it becomes even more necessary to keep longer-term goals in mind.

How do you keep longer-term goals in mind, when short-term food is staring you in face? What about all treats offered, what about commercials, billboards, signs everywhere that say EAT?

Wanting, in fact, is "W", first step in W.H.A.C.K approach. See it in free e-book, Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss.

Think back to when you last really wanted something. Wanted it more than anything, had to have it, would do just about anything to get it. To want is a mighty powerful motivator, but surprisingly we aren't all motivated by what we want. Some of us are motivated by avoiding what we don't want.

What is your Motivation Strategy?