We make hundreds of choices each day. Without a clear paradigm for decision making, these choices can exhaust & overwhelm us. Worse, they can hold us back, keep us from our best life and anchor us to a life that is less than what we want.
When you have a framework for decision making or a simple filter through which you see your choices, you can eliminate a lot of the frustration, inconsistency & feelings of overwhelm.
Anything you can do to make choices easier & faster will not only ease your mind, but it will likely accelerate your progress.
I have a few such frameworks, but I’ll share one of the simplest ones with you:
Which choice makes me feel free?
At first glance, eating the cookie makes me feel free and depriving myself of the cookie makes me feel restricted. That’s first level thinking. That’s looking at the immediate choice & not the consequences of the choice.
Think beyond the pleasure of the moment. Looking at the consequences, which choice makes me feel free?
Eating whatever I want whenever I want it makes me feel trapped. Trapped in a life without progress. Trapped by habits I want to break. I did not feel free when I was obese. Not even a little bit.
Other choices, like minimizing the amount of indulgences I choose, working out regularly & getting as much rest & relaxation as my schedule allows – those things make me feel free.
Do what makes you feel free – free to live your best life, free to create your best health, free to enjoy all that life has to offer.
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I wasn’t really in the mood to workout this morning. I ripped the side of my hand during yesterday’s workout, I didn’t sleep well last night, my knee hurts, it’s raining & I’m buried in work.
But, I asked myself this question: which choice makes me feel the most free? Without question, working out makes me feel stronger & more capable.
I happily modified today’s workout to make sure I don’t further aggravate my knee. I swapped running for biking.
“Play Dead”
AMRAP 5:
42 cal bike buy in
12 Deadlifts (155/105)
12 Barbell Burpees
Rest 5:00
AMRAP 5:
28 cal bike buy in
9 Deadlifts (185/135)
9 Barbell Burpees
Rest 5:00
AMRAP 5:
14 cal bike buy in
6 Deadlifts (225/155)
6 Barbell Burpees
Needless to say, this got intense but I feel so great now that it’s over!
On the food front:
I wasn’t very hungry yesterday but I am today! I’m sure all those deadlifts contributed to that! After my workout I had steak & brussels sprouts.
Around 12:30pm I had chicken & broccoli over cauliflower rice. I had to eat dinner before 6p because I had a video conference from 6p until long after my bedtime and I didn’t want to be eating on it! Around 5:30 I had a cobb salad with added grilled chicken.
I hope you choose thoughts & things that make you feel free today!
PS: If you’re new to these posts, listen to this podcast episode to get the scoop on what changes I’m making in my life and you can start back at my first daily post here.