Emotions & Behavior
Maintaining New & Existing Habits
. Self-awareness is the key to success in all areas of our lives; in our personal and professional relationships. It can enrich our lives immeasurably. Discovering our weaknesses as well as our strengths means discovering our own potential and inner power. Your test results have shown that the above-mentioned area is one you might like to work on, so we have provided you with the following inspirational email to help you to improve in this area.

I’ll Show Them
People who meet me today don’t believe me when I tell them that I used to have no self-discipline. "It’s true," I tell them, "In fact, I’ll even go so as to say that my life used to be characterized by utter chaos and some very bad habits – from overeating to overspending and the inability to stick to my budget." "You? Really?" they exclaim. "Tell us more." So I begin my story.
My doctor had been warning me for years that my excess weight and high cholesterol were "a disaster waiting to happen." My friends warned me of financial ruin if I didn’t get my finances in better shape.
Thus, when I suddenly decided to adopt a strict new regimen of healthy eating and daily exercise, my friends and colleagues were all duly impressed. Every morning I would carefully plan the day’s meals, boxing a lunch of wholesome grains and leafy roughage. In addition, I would pack a bag of sweats and sneakers for my scheduled hour at the gym after work. As the weeks went by, I became the envy of all. "How do you keep it up?" my colleagues would persist, "How do you maintain such a demanding diet and exercise program?" But I wouldn’t reveal my secret to anyone.
Between you and me, the secret was to allow for an exception here and there. You know - a little treat now and then. Of course, I enjoyed these little treats when no one was looking. Why ruin the stoic image of self-control I was projecting? Why disappoint them when they thought I was so concerned about my health and well-being? I was a shining example to others. So I was extra careful not to expose my secret. I would sneakily remove the packaging from the snack bar before placing it in my lunchbox so as not to reveal that my non-sugar, low-fat health bar was in fact a regular chocolate bar with all the calories that entailed. I also began to stuff a few magazines into my gym bag so I that could enjoy them while relaxing in between intensive spurts of exercise. Well, to be accurate, so that I could exercise a little in between enjoying the interesting articles and exposes!
I was so convinced of my loyalty to my health program that I honestly wondered, together with my doctor, why on earth I wasn’t losing weight or strengthening any muscular tissue. This was a quandary to my perplexed doctor, who decided that further tests were necessary in order to determine the cause of the unsatisfactory results. One glance at his furrowed brow set the alarm bells ringing in my head too, consistent with my ongoing denial of what was really transpiring. "I have some bad news for you," the doc announced gloomily. What could it be? Did I have some fatal disease? Did I only have a few months left to live?
"I’m afraid you’re going to have to stop your diet and exercise program immediately," he stated firmly. "In fact, I don’t just recommend it. I demand that you stop right away!" I wasn’t expecting this. His shocking prescription had thrown me completely off guard. What…? Why…? There were a million questions forming in my head, yet I was unable to come up with a coherent one. I left the doctor’s office in silence, accepting his orders like a dutiful pupil. If the doctor said I should stop, then I would stop. I headed straight for the gym where I cancelled my annual subscription, then raced home where I began eating whatever I could lay my hands on. Freedom! I was going to make up for all the weeks of deprivation. What an eating spree!
By the end of that month, I had gained so much weight that I began to feel weak and exhausted. I didn’t like the way I felt. I felt uncomfortable and heavy and began experiencing shooting pains in my chest. "Hold on a minute," I thought, "This is all that doctor’s doing. He was the one who told me to stop dieting and exercising. I was feeling much better when I was on the diet. Does he have the right to make me stop?" No, was the emphatic answer. He can’t force me to give up. It’s not his choice. So, when no one was looking, I prepared myself a healthy lunch and snuck out of the gym to exercise intensely in secret. "I’ll show that doctor," I repeated like a mantra, as I pushed weights and pounded away on the treadmill.
At my next routine visit to the doctor, I weighed in as he waited for the results of my latest blood tests. He read them quietly for a few minutes, his eyebrows raised in surprise, then, with a small enigmatic smile, he turned to me and said, "Can I give you a piece of advice?" What is it this time? I wondered. Well, at least he’s offering advice rather than demanding that I do something. "Of course," I replied pleasantly.
"Invest heavily in the stock market, especially those high-risk stocks for getting rich quick," was his reply, then he left the room to attend to his next patient, leaving me sitting there in confusion. Strange! Why would he recommend something like that? Well, he must think I’m stupid enough to take his poor advice a second time. I’ll do just the opposite. So instead of taking the risk of investing my money in the stock market, I put all my finances in order and consolidated all my holdings and mutual funds. I gave the bank orders to transfer some money into conservative savings accounts so that I wouldn’t be tempted to spend more than I earned. "Hah ha!" I rejoiced gleefully, as I balanced my home expense budget and saw for the first time that I was in the black, "He’s not as smart as he thinks. I’ll continue to show that doctor!" Relishing the thought, I headed off happily in the direction of the gym, salad lunch in tow.
So that’s my story. As you can see, I have changed a great deal since then. For the past eight years I have managed to maintain my newfound good habits and am a far happier, healthier person as a result. Today my doctor – yes, the same one – and I have a good laugh about how he used "reverse psychology" to turn me around and get me to stick to my healthy habits. Back then I did it just to show him. But slowly I began to realize that I was doing it for myself as well. And if there is an important lesson to be learnt in all this, it is this: The only way you can stick with something is when you truly believe in it. My doctor gave me a jumpstart; a push in the right direction, and I will be eternally grateful to him for that. But that was just the beginning. The rest was up to me!
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