Your brain is very efficient.
It creates habits to keep you headed in THE SAME direction. It is a fabulous thing that our brains do for us AND when we want to make change, we have to acknowledge it or we’ll be stuck, and likely frustrated.
I had an Ah-Ha! moment this week where I caught onto some wording I was using that was not serving me.
What came up or me is just the basic difference in definition between RATIONAL and RATIONALIZING.
Check this out:
- Rational: based on or in accordance with reason or logic.
- Rationalizing: attempt to explain or justify (one’s own or another’s behavior or attitude) with logical, plausible reasons, even if these are not true or appropriate.
Did you catch that?! Rational means it is in line with reason or logic. Rationalizing means we are trying to justify what we’re up to! That felt like an Ah Ha! to me because I have a very, very, very rational brain – I always have – it works well for me. It helps me out! I am cool under pressure, the number one word people use to describe me is “calm” – so I get “rational” in my bones!
What I have to watch out for is when that same sounding voice in my head starts RATIONALIZING.
So, in weight loss this could look like your perfectly laid out plan for today, that you made yesterday that took into account your schedule, your leftovers, your time, etc. It’s a beautiful plan, thoughtfully made, that gets you closer to the results you want…
Then – today – you hear the thought:
- It’s just one.
- Or… If I would have known they were bringing that, I would have planned for it.
- Or… I never get to have these.
- Or… I have been doing so well.
- Or… I just won’t eat _____ later…
I know you’ve had at least one – maybe all – of those thoughts before! I know I sure have! So, when you go into changing your habit around eating, when you start planning for the first time (or the 50th time), when you try to do anything in the pursuit of “different,” your brain will try and get you to stay the same. Not because it doesn’t love you, because it does!
Just because it’s trying to save you energy so you can survive.
That lizard part of your brain just wants to keep you alive. Nothing has gone wrong!
So, next time you notice that you’re rationalizing over being just plain rational, I want you to remember that it is completely normal. AND STICK TO YOUR PLAN! Normalizing this will change everything. It takes the sting out of it. Sometimes these things crop up in our minds and we make it mean we’re bad people, or we’ll never make it work, or that it’s too hard.
None of that is true – the only that is true is that IT WILL HAPPEN. Your choice, is what do you do with it? You want to develop this habit, the habit of seeing your brain try to rationalize and just chuckling at it. Not in the mean point and laugh kind of way, but in the “Oh, bless your heart.” kind of way! Of course you want me to eat the cookie!
You poor dear, you think the cookie will save me – it won’t.