This is a guest post by Michael Glover.
Michael and I met through mutual friends of ours who are involved in the world of entrepreneurship.
He’s a super great guy who’s also an expert when it comes to transformation, as in transforming your life by mastering your body, mind, and spirit.
Considering “transformation” is the word I chose to live by in 2015, Michael and I instantly connected.
I knew immediately after meeting him I had to get him to come share his story and wisdom with all of us here at The Wellness Bucket.
Being the awesome guy that he is, he agreed to it.
I think you’re going to like Michael’s view on freedom and enjoyment and how these two play a critical role when it comes to transforming ourselves and our lives.
I’m excited and extremely grateful you’re hear Michael, you’re awesome man.
Take it way Michael!
Thanks Mike.
“It just makes me want to tear my hair out.”
This is what a former client of mine said to me when we first met.
Let’s call her Clare (I’ve changed her name for this article).
Clare had been dieting for years.
Following recipe plans.
Reading books.
Watching TV programs.
And she’d had, well, mixed results.
Lost a bit of weight.
Felt a bit better.
And then when things seemed to be progressing…
She’d end up unable to keep willing her way through, fall off the bandwagon, end up back at square one and feeling like a miserable failure yet again.
Maybe you too can relate to Clare.
Transformation vs. Change
Clare tried to follow plans.
Plans that were pretty strict.
Plans that meant she was unable to go out and socialize.
Plans that would lead to her moving towards her goal but hating the process.
Things had changed, but they had not truly transformed.
So, what do I mean by that?
Well, change is easy.
Change something once and you’ve changed, right?
The only problem is that change, by its very definition, is… changeable.
You can change something, hold on for 30, 60, 90 days, get a result and then either change back or into something else.
It’s like holding your breath and hoping you can just will yourself through life without needing to exhale.
Transformation, on the other hand, is permanent.
We don’t go back from transformation.
By its very definition, you have transformed, and going back would require you to transform again.
But I’m not just talking about transformation in terms of diets and weight loss.
Consider what transforming would do for an entrepreneur or business owner as well.
Just as dieters seem to be never be able to stick to a diet, many business owners struggle to stick to the simple plan they have to grow their business.
Consider the following…
A dieter buys diet books. Takes action for a while. Fails. Buys another diet book.
A business owner buys business books. Takes action for a while. Fails. Buys another business book.
What you see happening here is change as opposed to transformation.
So How Do We Transform?
The key is simple.
Perhaps too simple.
You will never get the body or life you want by doing the things you detest doing.
Think about it… if you hate doing something, it will always be an effort and a struggle to keep doing it.
Who wants to live their life in perpetual struggle?
I know I don’t.
This all relates to a portion of the brain called the pre-frontal cortex (PFC).
This is responsible for what makes us human.
It’s the only part of the brain that could really be referred to as “the mind“, with it allowing us to visualize goals and see our dreams and then build a path towards achieving them.
Without this section of the brain, we would essentially be animals walking around in human bodies.
The only problem is that, for various reasons, a lot of the time we are what could be described as “out of our minds.“
To “access” this human PFC portion of the brain we need to first satisfy the two other main areas – the reptile (basic safety and security) and the mammal (social connection and hierarchy).
For various reasons beyond the scope of this blog post, many of us are pulled “out of our minds” and back into one of the other brains.
This leaves us unable to access the PFC to visualize and achieve a goal.
What Does This Have To Do With Transformation?
Fortunately, there’s a kind of back up system in the brain that works for transformation, even if you are “out of your mind“.
It’s to do with another part of the brain called the Basal Ganglia (Ganglia – I love that word 🙂 ).
This is the home of habit.
And if we can make something a habit, a genuine habit, we transform.
So until responsibility for a behavior has been taken up by the Basal Ganglia, you have merely changed and not transformed.
“How do we do that,” I hear you ask.
Well, it’s not about taking 21 days to build a habit or 28 days or whatever it is.
It’s not about reading as many books, attending as many webinars or buying as many courses as possible.
Nor is it about setting rules, getting accountability or having the greatest willpower.
It’s about… freedom and enjoyment.
You only transform if you repeatedly “do” a behavior.
You only repeatedly do what you enjoy.
You only enjoy what you desire.
You only desire what you choose.
Being made to do something (whether it’s by yourself or by others) eliminates desire.
Eliminate desire and you eliminate enjoyment.
Eliminate enjoyment and you eliminate action.
Eliminate action and you eliminate results.
Back to Clare…
I can hear what you’re saying now…
“This all sounds fancy, but what can I actually do about this.”
Well, I’ll tell you what Clare did and hopefully it can give you some insight.
We set her free.
Free from the doing what she didn’t enjoy doing.
If there were exercises she didn’t like to do, we replaced them with exercises she DID like doing.
If there were foods she didn’t like to eat, we replaced them with foods she DID like to eat.
Clare, including many of us, are not going to stick with something we don’t like doing.
And because she’s doing the exercises she does like doing and eating they foods she does like eating, she’s happier and therefore exercising more regularly and eating healthier meals.
Do What Makes You Happy
It also turns out Clare didn’t like going to the gym.
To be honest, Clare hated it.
She much preferred exercising at home, getting outside on a bike, or going for a hike up a mountain.
So she stopped her gym membership.
Now it doesn’t feel like a chore for her to go to the gym to get her exercise done.
(Note from Mike: I’m with Clare – you don’t NEED a gym membership to exercise. Here’s an inexpensive way to create a home gym and exercises you can do anywhere that require no equipment.)
It works in business too!
If content creation is a huge part of your business, yet you hate writing blogs?
Stop blogging!
Start podcasting, making videos, or outsourcing it.
You could even make blogging more enjoyable by putting yourself in an environment you like while doing it.
Instead of cooping yourself up in a horrible office… go out to the beach or the forest and write there if it’s a place you like being.
Go and do what you’re happiest and most comfortable with, because you’ll never make a habit out of anything unless you enjoy it and feel free in your choice in doing it.
So go – and enjoy life.
Isn’t that what it’s all about anyways?
Michael is a Transformation Expert.
He runs UltimateDude.com as well as the Ultimate Dude podcast where he helps inspire entrepreneurial dudes & dudettes to master their body, mind & spirit so they can eradicate fear, self-doubt & overwhelm, experience true freedom & live the epic life of their dreams from anywhere in the world.
Featured Image Credit: Working Mystic
