Your Emotions are a Titan, Your Mind a Flea

Tomorrow I will have been a vegan for 20 days, a third of my 60-day cholesterol experiment. There have been a few minor temptations so far, but it has been surprisingly easy.

That’s the power of emotional, visceral drive and intent versus intellectual intent alone. As important as our humanity (cerebral cortex) is, we must understand and befriend our animal nature if we hope to change deeply-ingrained habits. Attempting to change using only your mind usually creates a fight against yourself (intellect versus emotion) and ends in failure. (Hint: your emotions are a titan, your mind a flea.)

So get “everyone” onboard with your intentions. Agree on your goals with your mind, spirit, and body, and watch yourself kick some serious ass.

Setting and Achieving Goals

Do you fail to set goals or fail to see them through?

Three reasons people don't set and achieve goals come to mind:

1. Fear of failure.

2. Fear of change.
 
3. Fear of what others think.

See the common component? FEAR. The cure?

1. Build your confidence through a long series of many small successes. Don't try to jump from the bottom of the ladder to the top. Climb the rungs. Take each step. And remember, the definition of failure is not failing. It's giving up.

2. Although staying the same feels safe and it's easy, it's also the death of dreams, hope, and accomplishment. The human body and mind were created to MOVE. Life is action. Change is the caterpillar giving up everything and gaining the ability to fly.

3. Validate yourself first. When you really believe in what you're doing, the need for external validation and the effect of external negativity is reduced. Some people are threatened by success in others and thus criticize or insult them in an attempt to make themselves feel better about living in their world of forgotten dreams where everything is someone else's fault. Don't listen to them. You have everything you need to be who you want to be, and what you don't have, you can get. (More goals!)

Now set those goals and reach for your dreams. You may not achieve them all, or even many, and that is fine! You're moving, you're investing in yourself, and you're LIVING. (Successful people fail a LOT. That's because they try a lot of things.)

So don't be afraid of failure, change, or the opinions of others. This is your life to live and your shoes to walk in. Your life situation *might* be beyond your control, but your attitude isn't. So go for what you want. It's yours. And there is only one thing that can stop you: fear. (Don't let it.)