What Are You Hungry For?

A friend and I were talking the other day about diet and exercise. I had recently finished a 10-day challenge, and I had also taken the suggestion of holistic nutritionist Paula Owens to remove dairy, sugar, and wheat products from my diet for a short time period. 

My friend was asking things like, “Why would you do that?” “How hard was it?” “What were you able to eat?”

She also stated to me, “It was easy for you. You’re so disciplined.”

That one caught me off-guard. Yes, I do think I can be disciplined, but no, it doesn’t mean it’s easy. (And there are lots of times that I’m NOT so disciplined.)

I believe self-discipline, like attitude, is a choice. When a person realizes that they have control over this and can choose to be disciplined, it can change the world for him or her.

When I was a personal trainer, people would tell me that they didn’t have time to work out. I would challenge them… “Do you have time to brush your teeth? Do you have time to shower each day?” Those were easy questions to answer. Did they brush their teeth each day because they were disciplined? Did they shower each day because they were disciplined? It reminds me of a quote by Nora Roberts: “You don’t find time to write. You make time.”

source

I think of discipline as two-fold. In one analogy, our choices are about importance. Imagine a scale that measures things that are important to you. I’ll give you a personal example. If I put “quality time with my husband and kids” on one side and “time required at my job” on the other, the quality time with family will win out every time. I made an intentional decision to live a life where the scale was tipped in the favor of what is important to me by the choices I make each day as well as working on building a business that will provide more time with my family in the future.

When our internal balance is tipped, we feel the discomfort and unease within us. We will seek to ease the discomfort inside us, even if it means doing things that are harmful to us or things that we know tip the scales even more. Think about the person who really wants to lose weight but eats poorly. With our scale analogy, put “look fit” or “lose weight” or “fit into jeans” on one side of the scale and put “candy bar” or “fast food” on the other side…. When the “lose weight” side of the scale tips for that person and it becomes more important than the fast food, then the first step of being disciplined has been taken.

What if, for that same person, I said, “You are very disciplined. You eat three meals a day.”

That person would say, “It’s not about discipline, it’s because I’m hungry.”

When we are hungry for something, we usually can’t be stopped.

Years ago I went to a coaching clinic where I heard Jeff Janssen speak about the personal development and team-building work he was doing with the softball team at the University of Arizona. He gave everyone a copy of his “Commitment Continuum,” a document I had laminated and have used since I got it those years ago. I have used it with my students, athletes, teachers, and myself. It is a guiding chart for teams to determine where team members are with their commitment to the team goals. With some tweaking, it can also be used to self-check levels of commitment to individual goals. At one end of the spectrum, you will find Resistant. At the other end, you will find Compelled.

Using the term from above… what if we substitute Satisfied for Resistant, and Hungry for Compelled. When we are no longer satisfied with something, and we are Hungry for change, we will do what is necessary to satisfy the hunger.

Which way does the scale tip for you? What are you hungry for?

Love,