Today, Not Tomorrow

"What you do today can improve all your tomorrows" - Ralph Marston

I once read a book on handling anger.  One of the activities was to remember the event that caused the anger and to re-live it over and over again, each time trying to see the event as an outsider, not a participant.  Each time, the goal of the drill was to alter our feelings a little more by overpowering our memory.  As humans, we have the ability to create memories and use them to our advantage.  We also have the ability to use the memories to create a seemingly insurmountable disadvantage.  Dave Tate, the founder of EliteFTS, talks about how our minds cause a lot of our lifting problems because we condition ourselves to miss at the same point of a lift.  In a similar way, our attempts at changing to healthy eating can be hindered by what we believe about ourselves.

I've talked with family members, friends, and clients that were all looking to change their eating and the vast majority tell me "I've tried eating healthier, but I just keep messing up."  I've worked with athletes that won't even make attempts because "I always miss."  These statements are the ones that drive me crazy; the future action and potential success is controlled by our memory of a passed event.  Our memories don't have to be an angry memory, a failed memory, or a celebratory memory, they just have to be "memories."  And if we can de-personalize the memory with practice, we can put it to work for us, especially in the gym and in the kitchen.

It seems hard, and it will take some practice, but each day, reflect on how your journey went today.  Every time you encounter a bad memory, look at it as an outsider (not Uncle Bill that thinks dieting is crazy or your mom that thinks you lift too much) that knows how to accomplish your goal.  Use those eyes to detach yourself and acknowledge what you can do better.  And then when you wake up the next day, make that action happen.  I do this in about five minutes before bedtime.  It's that fast to walk through a day as it pertains to health and fitness, and really, it could even be done in a commercial break.

We've all heard the sayings about the past, present, and future, but really, none of us "forgets."  With practice, we can take a potentially damaging memory and just make it a memory.  Doing something today to improve tomorrow isn't just forgetting the "bad" things, it is maintaining good memories of things we've done right, correcting the actions we know we can fix using other's eyes, and giving ourselves a clean slate when things go horribly wrong.  We fight enough battles to change our habits; we don't need to fight our memories as well.

Give it a try tonight...better yet, do it right now.  Reflect back to yesterday and if there is something you don't like, push away from it, see it from the outside, visualize the right action, and put it in the game.  It's going to take practice, but trust me, it will be worth it.