Get the shoes on, get out the door!

Sometimes I have to play a little game with myself, repeat a little "mantra" in order to get my mind on board with my will. 

Is there a difference between the mind and the will?  Oh yes.  My will is an entirely different thing than my mind.  My mind is my immediate thoughts, translating into action.  My will is my overall compass, my orientation, my direction.

Sometimes my mind and my will do not agree.  Like, for example, now.

When that happens, I'm a bit paralyzed.  You see, my WILL tells me that in order to participate in the Habit of Health of moving my body, the BEST thing for me to do is to get my little bum outside and go for a little run.  Nothing big, just about 20 minutes, just about 2 miles today.

But my mind?  My thoughts?  They go something like THIS right this moment (*disclaimer, you are about to enter the maze that IS my brain.)

"But Facebook is much more fun than going outside at 9:10 am in ARIZONA in the SUMMER.  And cooler.  And funner.  So just stay here.  Look at all these awesome blogs of people that you can read and comment, wouldn't that be a more valuable use of your time to offer encouragement to people?  It's hot outside.  You're kinda tired.  You haven't had enough water yet to go out in that hot sun.  Drink some more water first.  Then it will be later.  And hotter.  And then it will be too hot to go.  Are you sure you want to go?  You don't really WANT to go."

This is when a handy little mantra comes in to play, to save the moment.

This mantra, for me, is "Get the shoes on, get out the door."

If I repeat this 10 times to my mind, something amazing happens.  I move towards getting my shoes on.  As I'm getting my shoes on, then I'm thinking about getting out the door, instead of what I WAS thinking about which was all the reasons that I didn't WANT to get out the door. 

Five minutes from how, I will be out the door with my shoes on.  I will have over-ridden my cluttered and protesting mind with the simple commands of "get the shoes on, get out the door."

Once I'm out the door, my mind is on board.  It stops protesting, and I'm happy and content in my current action.  So here's to the power of a little simple phrase.

What is your phrase to get you through the times that your mind is getting in the way of carrying out your habits of health?

Here are a few that have helped me:

"Put the cheese down and walk away.  Put the cheese down and walk away."

Don't buy the wine.  Don't buy the wine.

The hunger will pass.  The hunger will pass. 

Drink some water.  Drink some water.

Get up and get yourself your next Medifast meal.  Get up and get yourself your next Medifast meal.

And, the useful one right now, with my shoes on and my ipod loaded, I am IN FACT getting out the door.

Rinse and Repeat!