Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015 - 30

BE BETTER
Phil Kaplan | www.philkaplan.com

Mind speak
Few of us tolerate excuses. We've heard
them all. No time. No money. No motivation.
Too busy. Too fat. Too old. We've all learned
to handle these, and unless we're otherwise
trained, we tend to attempt excuse dismissal
through the process of rational thought.
Rational thought lines things up, creates
an order that can be converted into a list of
pros and cons.
Does that work? I'll allow you to answer
that question by considering the following: Did you ever make a stupid decision?
I'm going to guess most people being honest would answer with a
definitive YES. As you review the process of making the decision, you'll
realize you didn't operate by responding to a list. You quite simply
made the decision because, in the moment, despite what might have
made sense, "it felt right."
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
When a prospective client tells you they're "trying to decide," they're
really telling you they're compiling a mental list, trying to reason
whether they should act. If you're facing a negative mindset - a mindset with those perilous excuses serving as its roots - you're tugging at
the vine that just doesn't want to break.
Plato said, "The human mind is like a chariot drawn by two horses.
One is the horse named Rational Thought. It's little, weak, but very linear. It knows that the shortest distance between two points is a straight
line. The other horse, however, isn't as focused. We can call it Impulse,
and Impulse is a big, strong horse that ultimately pulls the chariot."
Here's the point: People do not make lifestyle decisions and achieve
dramatic self-improvement outcomes rationally. The decisions and actions that lead to radical change are always emotional in the moment
of shift. As long as we try to impact people with Rational Thought,
we're speaking to the wrong horse.
TWO BRAINS?
For simplicity, let's refer to Rational Thought as the Thinking Brain,
Impulse as the Emotional Brain. There is a language that is received
only by the Thinking Brain and as long as we stay grounded in that
language, we have little power to affect true change.
"You know you have to make time for exercise. It's the most important thing you can do in staying healthy."
True? Yes. Compelling? Not to the Emotional Brain.
"You just told me you tried four different diets and they didn't work.
It's time to try something else."
Rational? Yes. Compelling? Nope.
The Emotional Brain is where desire lives, and those irksome excuses serve to bury possibility. They quell desire as water to a fire.
Excuses live in the Emotional Brain and they run cyclically, ready
to jump out any time a spark of desire is met with a need to change.

| WWW.FIT-PRO.COM | MARCH-APRIL 2015

The seat of desire in the human brain resides in the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC). In excuse-ridden folks who find the exercise habit elusive,
activity in the PFC is reduced. The trick to creating, igniting and building upon the spark of true change lies in reigniting the brain's desire
center, the driver of the Emotional Brain.
We will not defeat excuses by combating them. If someone told you
the sky was green, you'd immediately reject the thought, even if you
weren't looking at the sky. Your belief system "knows" otherwise. When
the thoughts, "I don't have time," and "I'm too far gone" cycle through
the Emotional Brain any thought that contradicts them will be rejected.
A NEW LANGUAGE
Learning to speak the language of the Emotional Brain takes a bit of
practice. It requires that you speak in terms of possibility. It taps into
the emotions of fear, regret and most of all, desire.
A phrase you'll find valuable in raising questions that speak to Emotion is one that begins with the words, 'what would happen if . . .'
Rather than confronting a belief, such a phrase prepares the Prefrontal
Cortex to summon up possibility. In fact, it's simply impossible for a
human being to consider a contrived or imagined outcome without
stirring up that vital part of the brain/mind.
KNOWING WHEN TO SPEAK THE LANGUAGE
The cues that should summon up a "what would happen if" question
are the words "but" and "can't." Both words are evidence of resistance
thinking or limiting beliefs. By its definition, "can't prohibits possibility,"
thus its utterance fails to create any PFC spark. "I can't eat the way you
want me to," is not only a statement, it's one of those cyclical beliefs.
Trying to combat can't with "yes you can" creates a tug-of-war you're not
likely to win. A more subtle and powerful way to facilitate a shift responds
with that possibility question. "What would happen if you didn't have to
be as stringent as you think and you didn't have to give up your favorite
foods?" Electric current activates the PFC, and an inner voice and mental
imagery run toward an alternate outcome. You've rattled the "can't."
A single retort isn't likely to be the hammer that initiates change, but
it's a step, and a series of well crafted steps lead even the most resistant
to the word "yes." "But" is a bit more subtle than "can't," although in
essence it rests upon the same type of limiting belief. "I'd love to do my
routine every morning, but..." It doesn't matter what follows the "but."
Whatever it is, it disavows the first half of the statement. "I would love to
but . . . ." in the Thinking Brain means . . . "I can't."
Get past the typical "wants" (get in shape, lose weight, more energy)
and get deep into true desire (how will your life be different if you achieve
all that you really want) and practice this new language often. You'll realize
the power you've always had but simply hadn't learned to unleash.

Phil Kaplan offers programs, seminars and webinars on Betterment Solutions
addressing exercise, mindset, nutrition and lifestyle. For more information go
to phil@philkaplan.com and send him an email requesting further information.

Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015