Episode 328 – Punching Status Quo in the Face
Posted on June 4, 2018
‘I’m not as strong as I used to be. I really need to start exercising, but exercising is so hard’
‘I know I shouldn’t eat this, but it tastes soooooo good’
‘I wish I could get out of bed early, I know I would get more stuff done, but staying in bed is so cozy’
Does any of this sound familiar? Of course it does, it’s that little little voice inside our head that says, ‘Yes, I know doing this thing will help me be more fit, more attractive, healthier, more productive, but then there’s another voice that creeps in on the other side like a sneaky bandit trying to steal away that better version of yourself, that says, “You could change, change is hard and the status quo right over here well that’s pretty comfortable, you should stay here where it’s nice and cozy and safe.’
Then they have a little fisticuff inside your mind, but look out the status quo is a little cheater because this was supposed to be a bare knuckle fight, but he brought brass knuckles, he doesn’t play by the rules, which is why he, the status quo wins most of the time, but now you know he’s sneaky, which is why you have to step up your mental game and out smart him, trick him even, make it so the sneaky status quo isn’t an option.
Let’s back up for a minute, pretend we think this is a fair fight and we ignore the brass knuckles the status quo has, what does that look like:
‘I’m not as strong as I used to be. I really need to start exercising, I will start exercising’
‘I know I shouldn’t eat this, the next time someone puts it in front of me I won’t eat it’
‘I wish I could get out of bed early, I guess I could try getting up earlier’
For the most part this is good language, it’s change talk or dare I say commitment talk, you’re throwing jabs at the status quo, he can’t knock you out directly, but there’s a good chance given enough time he’ll come in with a strong right hook and knock you back a few feet, then you get up again and come in with some more jabs, but you couldn’t see that left uppercut coming in and it knocks you back a few feet again.
It’s when you have the good intentions of exercising, using willpower to not eat something or just trying to get up earlier, that the status quo brings out his brass knuckles and superior, I mean temporarily superior fighting skills to win. Which is why you have to train smarter, practice your duck and move or maybe be more aggressive and try a block, counter punch combination. The status quo isn’t fighting fair, why are you fighting fair, it’s time to bring out the big guns.
You know what, let’s bring the big guns to this scenario,
‘I wish I could get out of bed early, I guess I could try getting up earlier, but my bed is so cozy’
Let’s look at the jabs the status quo could be throwing here:
Just watch one more episode, you don’t need to wake up early tomorrow, jab
Don’t set your alarm, your body will tell you when you’re rested enough to wake up, jab
Leave your ringer, sounds and notifications on, there could be an emergency in the night, jab
Sleep with your alarm clock beside your bed, you might need quick access to your snooze button, jab
Then in the morning status quo comes in with that brass knuckle right hook:
You’re exhausted from staying up late and watching that extra episode, it’s a lot harder to get out of bed now
You slept in you’re well rested, that’s good, but now you have to stay up an extra hour or two before you’re tired enough to fall asleep.
You left your phone on, but there was no emergency, just the Kardashians promoting something on Instagram that doesn’t matter, now you’ve disrupted your sleep for nothing
Your alarm goes off, but you’re still exhausted, so you hit the snooze button.
He has you right where he wants you, jab, jab, right hook, left uppercut, in bed.
But now you know the game status quo is playing, you have a new game plan:
Just one more episode, always gets followed by the question, what’s really important to me? But we all know that’s a straight right that’s likely to be blocked, so we follow it up with the left hook, the bedtime alarm we set to go off every night, but maybe that gets blocked too, but we knew that could happen this bandit is more than just sneaky, it’s a slippery snake, so we break out the right uppercut, we have our t.v on an electrical timer that automatically turns the t.v off at a certain time and it’s a real pain in the ass to get up and reset it, knock out punch! Now we’re throwing combinations.
I’m fired up are you fired up, let’s do one more,
Your alarm goes off, but you’re still exhausted, you hit the snooze button. Your alarm is within arms reach of where you sleep, you might as well knock yourself out, you’re not even jabbing. Let’s get that alarm across the room, that’s a good jab. Now what’s the sound your alarm makes, is it an irritating horn? That will make you jump out of bed, maybe you like some music to get you going, a little Red Hot Chili Peppers – Around the World, that opens with an aggressive slow build that would get a lot of people going, whatever it takes to get you out of that bed, that’s a good straight right, but it might not be enough, maybe status quo blocks it and jabs you back into bed, no worries you brought your friend left hook, aka, alarm number two that goes off 5 minutes later, so you don’t have time to fall back into full slumberland, but you might, status quo is a worthy opponent, which is why you are ready with the right uppercut if required, third alarm, outside the room, the most irritating horn sound you have, set for 10 minutes after your original alarm. Knockout punch combination, no willpower required!
Status quo is a skilled fighter and he has brass knuckles, you don’t have brass knuckles, but you’re smarter, you prepared, you throw better combinations, you practiced for this moment and you continue to practice it everyday, you refine your skills as you go, once you master one combination you move to the next combination, then the next, then the next…you don’t just punch status quo in the face, you dominate the status quo, because it’s the only thing standing between you and the healthiest version of yourself.
