The Man With Two Brains?

OK so you’ve done your goal-setting exercise, signed up at the gym and have cleared your kitchen of every last piece of nutrient-deficient junk. Everything is going great for a while but then, you start slacking off with your exercise and mysteriously, junk food creeps its way back into your kitchen…what’s going on here?

Well it’s obviously self-sabotage, and it happens a lot, but why- and can it be prevented?

Yes!

But first we need to understand about the two brains. We have the conscious and the subconscious. The conscious side is what we normally think of when we refer to our brains as that’s the part that rationalises and uses logic. But, there’s another part that is also working hard making decisions and guiding your actions.

I have found that the best way to influence this incredibly powerful force is twofold:

1. Stop saying negative things to yourself! The subconscious mind is always listening and when you repeat over and over again “I’ll never do it” or “I’m just big-boned, it’s in my DNA” then guess what? Your subconscious mind will sabotage you every time because you have just programmed it that way!

Try monitoring your internal chatter for a while, and be a lot more encouraging with yourself. Believe you can change and it will happen.

2. Visualisations or what I call day dreaming. I like to day dream about the kind of body I want, how it will look in certain clothes, on the beach, at the next class reunion- you get the picture? Well your subconscious mind will!

Picturing this kind of stuff in your head gives your subconscious a destination to take you towards.