Paper or Plastic? Conclusion by Steve R. Robbins

I've established already that a life based on preferences is one where the intentions are good, the cost is calculated (not necessarily consciously) and the behavior is then determined. Whereas a life based on conviction is one filled with determination, knows no limits and stays true to the goal. The question is how to move from the former to the latter.

Generally this happens in one of two ways. The first is the realization that you have nowhere to go but up. When something is so bad that it becomes obvious that a change has to be made. When the doctor says if you don't begin living a healthier life style or you die, conviction to something different comes easier. My father smoked his whole life. Toyed with quitting a 1000 times. Always said the nicotine addiction was just too strong. Then he was diagnosed with an incurable lung disease. My father smoked a cigarette walking into the office to hear this news. Keep smoking, die in less than 3 years, quit live up to 7. Never smoked another cigarette. Quit INSTANTLY, and lived 10 more years. Developed a quick conviction for a healthier lifestyle.

I think we would all prefer the second method. Unfortunately, this way is easier on the surface, harder on the inside. There are 3 steps to this method.

Step 1: Determine the single worst contributor to your unhealthy life style and eliminate it. Immediately. NOW. Don't change everything, just the WORST thing. One thing.

Step 2: Remove yourself from the environment that contributes to this worst activity, and replace it by placing yourself into an environment that either discourages the worst activity, and/or encourages your better ones.

Step 3: Have a mentor. This mentor doesn't have to know that they are mentoring, though if they do it's even better. Do as they do, act as they act. Soon you will think as they think.

So a practical example of this would be you want to lose 30 lbs. You don't eat horribly, but you tend to eat too much at a sitting and you eat pizza twice a week. Okay, pick one. Stop eating pizza. Period. No more pizza. You still eat too much but it won't be pizza. Now if instead you eat Big Mac's, I can't help you. An unstated assumption when you are developing a conviction towards something is that you are wanting to improve, be better, do generally accepted good things with your life. So pick something that is HEALTHIER than pizza (doesn't have to be 300 calorie salads, just better than pizza). Obviously, don't go to Pappa John's for dinner. Stay out of places that serve pizza. Why make it harder for yourself? Lastly, and I mean this literally, DON"T hang out with people who want pizza in your presence, and DO hang out with people that hate pizza, in a manner of speaking. Do these three things until not having pizza is second nature. Whether that's a month or six. You'll know when that time comes. When it does? Then you repeat the process, only now you'll have a new worst habit. Keep doing this until you have lost the 30 lbs. By the time this happens, you won't be the person who over eats and lives on pizza anymore.

You'll wonder then how you were ever the person you are now. Exactly the same way you are wondering now how you will ever be that person then.

Think about it.

About the Author

Steve R. Robbins is a life long fitness enthusiast. He has the distinction of being a member of a select club of people who can say they ran a mrathon and bench pressed twice his weight on the same day. At 50 years old. He is a regular contributor to www.MuscleandHealth.org