to som INC.
e of the psy-
chological underpinnings of this entire plan. I want to show you how
you can get out of your own way and stop sabotaging your weight loss
efforts. Remember, there’s no magic bullet that will make you thin
in the blink of an eye. But by gaining control over your decisions,
environment, and behaviors, you will shift how you look at food and
exercise to make healthy eating and exercise a lifelong habit.
Even if you haven’t seen your feet without sitting down for 20 years
(yes, you can add that to your 20/20 vi BOOKS,
sion of how your life will change),
I’m going to show you that this is within the realm of possibility, and
that you can achieve your goals if you truly are ready.
STREET
BIRD
A Diet That Defies Your Logic | 39
INC.
BOOKS,
STREET
BIRD
3
GETTING OUT OF
YOUR OWN WAY
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, INC.
but a habit.
— Aristotle
When you look at those people whom you admire—maybe
they’re skinny, glamorous, se BOOKS,
em to have it all—do you say to
yourself, “They are better than me and I will never be able to look that way or feel the way they seem to feel. I guess I’ll never have what they have; I’ve seen myself try and fail too many times.” You may still feign excitement or get temporarily pumped up about some quick-fix fad
diet, but deep down, do you really believe you can do it? If not, you
won’t do it.
If, on the other hand, you look at your role models and think,
“Now it’s my turn,” then this is your chance to make it so. Listen, if
you continue to d STREET
o what you’ve always done, you will continue to have
what you’ve always had. If you do different, you will have different. If you begin to require more of yourself, that in and of itself is different .
It starts by adjusting your thinking. You’ve got to abandon all
your negative beliefs about yourself and replace them with positive
ones. You have to identify and embrace what it is that you are good
at, a BIRD
s well as the qualities, traits, and characteristics that make you a
worthwhile human being.
I’ll give you an example from my life. When I was a kid, my personal
truth was severely damaged. My family was dirt poor, my father was a
bad alcoholic, and there were even times growing up when I was hungry
and homeless. I had to ral y just to feel like a second-class citizen! But 41
eventual y, and with a lot of help from some coaches, I found something
I could be proud of. As it turned out, I was a good athlete.
Now, obviously I was no Michael Jordan or Tom Brady, but on the
football field, I could run pretty darn fast and jump pretty darn high
and seemed to be able to catch and hang onto the ball better than most.
Once that whistle blew, my team didn’t care where I lived or who my
family was; they cared that I could play footbal . And whe INC.
n I looked
around to find that all of my teammates who I held in high esteem
were suddenly deferential to me , they believed I was superior, I thought,
“There must be something good about me because they’re choosing
team captain, and they choose me.” So I focused on that one, isolated
area, and that was enough for my self-worth to begin to grow.
Finding value in that one area gave me enough traction to stop put-
ting myself down for what I wasn’t blessed with and focus instead on what I was blessed with and worked hard doing. I was giving myself a fact-based attribution to my self-image.
You can do the same. There are fou BOOKS,
r steps to get you started:
1. Decide what you are good at or what is good about you.
2. Observe yourself exhibiting those qualities or characteristics
or mastering a given function or activity.
3. Acknowledge that you are, in fact, living to your potential
and having some mastery in your life.
4. Make an attribution to yourself regarding that competency.
Now we need STREET
to apply this approach to how you feel about
e of the psy-
chological underpinnings of this entire plan. I want to show you how
you can get out of your own way and stop sabotaging your weight loss
efforts. Remember, there’s no magic bullet that will make you thin
in the blink of an eye. But by gaining control over your decisions,
environment, and behaviors, you will shift how you look at food and
exercise to make healthy eating and exercise a lifelong habit.
Even if you haven’t seen your feet without sitting down for 20 years
(yes, you can add that to your 20/20 vi BOOKS,
sion of how your life will change),
I’m going to show you that this is within the realm of possibility, and
that you can achieve your goals if you truly are ready.
STREET
BIRD
A Diet That Defies Your Logic | 39
INC.
BOOKS,
STREET
BIRD
3
GETTING OUT OF
YOUR OWN WAY
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, INC.
but a habit.
— Aristotle
When you look at those people whom you admire—maybe
they’re skinny, glamorous, se BOOKS,
em to have it all—do you say to
yourself, “They are better than me and I will never be able to look that way or feel the way they seem to feel. I guess I’ll never have what they have; I’ve seen myself try and fail too many times.” You may still feign excitement or get temporarily pumped up about some quick-fix fad
diet, but deep down, do you really believe you can do it? If not, you
won’t do it.
If, on the other hand, you look at your role models and think,
“Now it’s my turn,” then this is your chance to make it so. Listen, if
you continue to d STREET
o what you’ve always done, you will continue to have
what you’ve always had. If you do different, you will have different. If you begin to require more of yourself, that in and of itself is different .
It starts by adjusting your thinking. You’ve got to abandon all
your negative beliefs about yourself and replace them with positive
ones. You have to identify and embrace what it is that you are good
at, a BIRD
s well as the qualities, traits, and characteristics that make you a
worthwhile human being.
I’ll give you an example from my life. When I was a kid, my personal
truth was severely damaged. My family was dirt poor, my father was a
bad alcoholic, and there were even times growing up when I was hungry
and homeless. I had to ral y just to feel like a second-class citizen! But 41
eventual y, and with a lot of help from some coaches, I found something
I could be proud of. As it turned out, I was a good athlete.
Now, obviously I was no Michael Jordan or Tom Brady, but on the
football field, I could run pretty darn fast and jump pretty darn high
and seemed to be able to catch and hang onto the ball better than most.
Once that whistle blew, my team didn’t care where I lived or who my
family was; they cared that I could play footbal . And whe INC.
n I looked
around to find that all of my teammates who I held in high esteem
were suddenly deferential to me , they believed I was superior, I thought,
“There must be something good about me because they’re choosing
team captain, and they choose me.” So I focused on that one, isolated
area, and that was enough for my self-worth to begin to grow.
Finding value in that one area gave me enough traction to stop put-
ting myself down for what I wasn’t blessed with and focus instead on what I was blessed with and worked hard doing. I was giving myself a fact-based attribution to my self-image.
You can do the same. There are fou BOOKS,
r steps to get you started:
1. Decide what you are good at or what is good about you.
2. Observe yourself exhibiting those qualities or characteristics
or mastering a given function or activity.
3. Acknowledge that you are, in fact, living to your potential
and having some mastery in your life.
4. Make an attribution to yourself regarding that competency.
Now we need STREET
to apply this approach to how you feel about
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