I have a joke for you.

It's a very tenuous way into another point.

What's the difference between a giraffe and a JCB?

A JCB has hydraulics, a giraffe has ......

I'll let you work out the rest ;)

##################

There's a famous experiment, imaginatively called the The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.

In it they left a load of children alone with a marshmallow.

With the promise that if they didn't eat it while they were alone with it they could have a second one.

They then monitored the life's of both groups - those that waited and those that didn't.

The group that were able to wait and get the second marshmallow went on the perform better (on average) across all measures.

They were slimmer, happier and earned more than those that didn't wait.

Because they had (on average) a greater ability to defer short term gratification for greater long term pleasure.

Doing this is something that a lot of us struggle with.

We know that NOT having the cake / biscuit / extra bottle would make us happier long term.

But the "farther away a reward is in the future, the smaller the immediate motivation to achieve it."

This is what's known as 'Hyperbolic Discounting'.

See what I did there ;)

The good news is that you're not forever stuck with the same level of Hyperbolic Discounting you had a child.

The same ability to defer short term gratification for longer term pleasure.

It can be trained into you.

Easy?

No!

But doable.

The first, and biggest, step is to accept that .....

You CAN'T have your cake and eat it.

If you see what I mean?

People often go through life thinking that they should be able to eat XYZ and get the body they desire.

Some people can.

Bastards!

Not me - if I eat rubbish I gain weight very quickly.

And not most of the people who come to us.

I came to the realisation years ago that it was one or the other.

Cake, sweets, crisps, biscuits, etc.

Or being slim, full of energy and less offensive to the ladies than I was ;)

When I came to that realisation, it was a no-brainer.

When I turn down the above things, people often comment "Don't be so boring - you can have one and it wouldn't make any difference"

True.

But I find it much easier to not bother than to try and stick to the occasional one.

So, if you've been able to eat all the stuff you want and have the body, etc you desire......

Then fair play - crack on!

If you haven't, then maybe it's time to make the choice?

Your call - not my business to say what's more important to you.

But the call needs to be made.

Truly accepted.

And when it has and you're faced with the decision.....

Short term vs. Long term .....

Remind yourself which one is more important.

Stop and take those two seconds to consider.

Rather than just eating on autopilot.

It'll be somewhat 'forced' to start with.

But it becomes easier and easier!

Promise!

As always - you won't know unless you try.


Much love,

Jon 'Getting married tomorrow' Hall and Matt 'Looking forward to a good do' Nicholson

P.S. On Monday we'll have a look at the whole 'being boring' thing.

P.P.S. Remember - it's the find-out-more briefing meeting in a couple of weeks if you want to see what we do and find out about the free 20lbs weight loss challenge - myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting

Jon Hall
Jon Hall

When not helping people to transform their lives and bodies, Jon can usually be found either playing with his kids or taxi-ing them around. If you'd like to find out more about what we do at RISE then enter your details in the box to the right or bottom of this page or at myrise.co.uk - this is the same way every single one of the hundreds who've described this as "one of the best decisions I've ever made" took their first step.