When we’re looking to create, change, alter, or shift anything, whether it be lose weight, save money, stop smoking so much pot or whatever we make commitments to do or not do something. Then the fun begins?!
I happen to want to increase my fitness. I’m committed to it. I started a workout the other day. It had several components and each component had a certain amount of work. I started and two thirds of the way through the bargaining in my mind started… “You’re good here, you can stop.””My back kind of hurts.””I’m tired.”
Another example was with a client who’s looking to regulate the use of tobacco. Two cigarettes a day. He rolls his own so he’d roll really big, fat ones and he’d smoke only part and then smoke the rest later. “It was just two cigarettes.” They were as big as three put together but, hey, that’s how bargaining goes.
Or there was a time I was trying to regulate my alcohol intake. One drink with dinner. It turned into a double and if I could handle having a double then how about two singles. It grew from there.
Are you getting it?
The key here, in my opinion, it to clearly articulate the details of the commitment and stick to it!!! One drink meant one ounce of liquor and two cigarettes means exactly that. If you need to weigh the cigarettes and make sure they’re not over a certain weight then fucking do it.
I’ve always said,”Our unconscious propensities surface anytime there’s grey area or ambiguity.”
By the way, I finished the workout.