A Simple Rule for Surviving Holiday Temptations and Thriving in 2015

iStock_000007612906MediumOne of the principles that has allowed me to enjoy the benefits of losing 47 lbs came from my wife’s Weight Watchers group. They ask their participants to write down every thing they eat BEFORE they put it in their mouth. “Write it before you bite it” is the motto.  It is amazing how much we eat without even thinking.  Try to remember what you ate yesterday. I guarantee that unless you wrote it down, your estimate will be way less than you actually ate. When we “write it before we bite it” it allows us to make a judgment call on both the consequences and the benefits of what we are about to consume.

That got me thinking.

This is a practice that leads to success in every phase of life.

1. Write it be for you bike it!

When I started to exercise regularly, I wrote down what physical activity I wanted to do, like biking. It made me acutely aware of the energy that would be expended and the benefits I would enjoy. One of those benefits was the privilege of biting more things. If I exercised more I could eat more. Cool! Write it before you bike it!

2. Write it before you buy it!

My mom taught me a similar principle in regard to being a wise consumer. If I wanted some widget, instead of impulsively buying it she would make me write it down. I had to put that piece of paper away for two weeks. After two weeks, if I still wanted the widget, I could buy it.

Many times after two weeks I didn’t want the item at all. I wanted something else. It would quickly go on the wish list for the two-week cooling off period. Writing it before buying it taught me to evaluate my needs and eliminated impulse buying… except for a 1973 Mustang. Write it before you buy it!

3. Write it before you bite it off!

Writing down your goals is really nothing more then the first step in establishing a Plan. It is the most simple way to evaluate all aspects of your life, physical, mental, social and spiritual. It is all about living proactively, working toward your dreams and goals rather than re-actively feeling trapped by only responding to circumstances around you. This is a powerful process.

I cannot think of a single goal that I have written down, carefully considered and then pursued that I have not achieved.

One of the wisest and most powerful actions you can take is to write down a goal before you bite off the responsibility of seeing it through. Writing down goals before you attack them, weighing the cost and the reward, is imperative to seeing your goals through to success.

SO

Write your goal on paper. If it is honest, if it is good, if it is consistent with what God has called you to do………………. bite it.

Please let me know if this is helpful. Do you have other suggestions? Comment here! [reminder]

After you comment, click here to see what this principle did for me!

 

Comments

  1. Thank you, Ken, for your words of wisdom! Anything worth having is worth the effort to achieve it. I will begin today to put my weight loss goal in front of me and “write it before I bite it”. Now to get myself to that bike!

  2. One thing I write before I bite….is my anger. In the past, I had a tendency to swallow all my anger or suddenly blow up without warning from all that I was keeping inside. By writing my anger out, I get out the initial feelings and then I don’t have the pressure of carrying it around with me all the time.

  3. As always great advice. FYI, when I tried to share the facebook share button didn’t work and said the feed was lost. So, I copied and pasted a share anyway; but thought you would want to know.

  4. I have one more. Write it before you byte it. Decide how much time you are going to spend using technology, particularly social media. It can be a big time sucker that makes us feel productive. Note: I am speaking from experience.

  5. Thank you! It’s a great perspective that we need to make part of our lives.

  6. This is a great step for me to begin my journey back to being me! The joyful follower of Christ that I once was. I have a renewed sense of purpose and encouragement I can’t wait to start!

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