Every day I answer tons of listener emails. My responses and the conversations that happen in my inbox cover thousands of important topics from motivation to hormones & everything in between.
The other night I was wishing you guys could see & hear those conversations so today I’m taking you inside my inbox!
We’re tackling questions about topics like:
How to handle “backsliding” after seeing some progress
How to stop a downward spiral
What benefits you can expect from adding more fat to your diet
Unseen ways you’re holding yourself back
If you’ve got questions you’d like me to tackle on the show, be sure to comment below!
In October 2019, our relationship with Thrive Market changed. They decided to put their marketing dollars in avenues outside of podcasting but we still think they’re a good choice if you’re looking to save money on health & personal care products.
This week I’ve had a bunch of one-on-one calls with folks who attended ASCEND, the Primal Potential weekend workshop in early November. Today, those calls had a powerful theme:
The circumstances we use to justify our choices and our commitment & attachment to those stories.
There are a couple aspects of a choice: the setup for the choice & the choice itself.
When we desire change, we often focus on changing the choice itself – we want to eat less, move more, reduce sugar, etc.
However, a more effective approach might be to change the setup. More specifically, it is likely more effective to stop committing to the story you use to justify the choice.
Not sure what this looks like? Tune in to today’s episode for examples & strategies!
In October 2019, our relationship with Thrive Market changed. They decided to put their marketing dollars in avenues outside of podcasting but we still think they’re a good choice if you’re looking to save money on health & personal care products.
You can have ambitious goals and pure intentions but if you’re eating mindlessly, without paying attention, you’re going to struggle to achieve them.
How do we transition from randomly grabbing a handful of crackers or a piece of candy without thinking to intentionally fueling our body by conscious choice?
If you can break the habit (and you can) of eating in front of the tv, while you’re driving or from random bags & boxes, your physical progress will increase dramatically.
Today we are talking about tactical strategies to eliminate mindless eating & overcoming the obstacles to executing these strategies on a daily basis.
In October 2019, our relationship with Thrive Market changed. They decided to put their marketing dollars in avenues outside of podcasting but we still think they’re a good choice if you’re looking to save money on health & personal care products.
When I walked into the gym at 5:36am today, I grabbed a Sharpie and gave myself a large, temporary tattoo. Across my forearm in capital letters I wrote: RWH.
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, please click here.
It’s Thanksgiving here in the US and my alarm was set for 3:50am. My coffee pot was set for the same time.
I didn’t hit snooze. I stopped by the bathroom and grabbed my new Daily Stoic Journal. I drank a few cups of coffee, returned emails and got some important work done.
At 5:20am I left for the gym, a couple hours earlier than normal. There’s only 1 workout today, offered at 6am and 8am: Murph, the classic CrossFit hero wod in honor of Lt Michael Murphy.
I was nervous about it. No matter how many times you’ve done it, it tests mental & physical limits.
That’s why I wrote RWH on my arm.
It stands for “return with honor“. A couple weeks ago I heard that “RWH” is what the American POWs in the Vietnam War would say to each other as they were individually dragged away to be tortured for intel.
American pilots, including Senator John McCain, shot down & captured during the Vietname War were held in solitary confinement for years.
They would communicate to each other by making tapping and sweeping sounds with brooms. One of their signals was “RWH” – return with honor – a reminder to hold true to their highest values and stay strong no matter the circumstances.
When I heard that story, it floored me. It inspired me beyond measure and I’ve carried with me ever since. As soon as I heard it I recorded a voice note to some of my FLFT & Masters Club groups which you can listen to here.
So, as I went into this hero workout, honoring a fallen American soldier, I wanted to stay mindful of RWH.
When I thought my arms would fail me on the push-ups, I’d stare at those bold, black letters on my arm: RWH.
When I took off on the second run, wanted to quit and could barely pick up my feet, I stared at the message of strength on my arm: RWH.
And though I’m now fresh & showered and headed to celebrate Thanksgiving, those letters didn’t scrub off. In every word I speak today, in every choice I make, I’ll be visibly reminded of this message of honor, pride and strength.
I’m going to find a metal-worker in my area to fashion these letters to go over my doorway.
Return with honor. Make myself proud. Live up to my highest values in every choice. Be brave. Don’t back down.
I recently started reading The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist and was so moved when she talked about “the lie of scarcity”.
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, please click here.
She talks about how “not enough” is such a habitual pattern of thought that most of us don’t even notice it.
We wake up thinking that we didn’t get enough sleep. We don’t have enough time. We don’t have enough energy. “Not enough” is our perspective on nearly everything…
We see the world through the lens of scarcity: not enough. The alternative, of course, is a perspective of abundance. Gratitude.
When I read her perspective on “not enough”, I did something I do often. I closed the book, grabbed my journal and started to write about what this looks like in my own life and how I can begin to change it today.
See, I read and hear things that move or challenge me all the time. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is what I do with it. How I practice it. How I implement it.
For months I’ve been thinking about doing some “Inside EB’s Journal” posts and I guess this will be a bit of that.
Here’s what I wrote in my own journal:
Where am I most commonly thinking or feeling that something is not enough?
What do I feel like I don’t have enough of? More accurately, where am I choosing that perspective?
How does this show up in my romantic relationship? Not enough time? Not enough affection? Not enough communication? What’s an alternative perspective? What does it look like to think about this from the perspective of abundance? Where can I practice that?
How does this show up with food? Have I gone my whole life with a perspective of scarcity about food? Is that a huge part of binging or overeating?
What would it look like to choose a perspective of abundance re: food today? I will fuel myself exceptionally well today. I will choose the best I can give my body.
What about money? How can I practice an abundance mindset today?
Going through this exercise was huge. In fact, I’ve asked and answered these questions each day since and I will continue to.
When I catch myself thinking there’s “not enough time” I immediately reframe it. How can I see my day or my tasks from a perspective of abundance today? Right now?
So I want to challenge you to ask and answer some of these questions:
Where are you in the habit of thinking in terms of “not enough”?
What’s an alternative perspective? How can you choose an attitude of abundance?
Is the scarcity you focus on even true?
Where is fear of loss influencing your perspective?
Where do you most need to practice an abundance mindset?
How will you practice today?
How does “not enough” thinking influence your food choices?
How can you leverage an abundance mindset to improve your food choices?
What other ways can you implement this shift from “not enough” to abundance?
Thanksgiving week is the perfect week to put this into practice!
