A while back my middle child (Austin) asked if I would teach him to drive his dad’s Mustang. Keep in mind, at this time, he was only about 9. But, like my father did with me, I put him on my lap and told him he could back it out of the driveway (we live on a quiet street). As he sat with the car off, he concentrated as best he could while I explained how to release the parking break, put the car into gear and give it just a little gas. I told him that I would control the brake on the floor. I could tell he was dying to try it.
So I watched as he put the car into gear and began to give the car a little gas and…we barely moved. He gave it a little more gas and the car shifted but stayed in the driveway. Without saying anything, I stepped on the brake pedal and released the parking brake and let off the brake. This time when he gave it gas, it easily slid into the street.
It’s the same way with a healthy lifestyle. People keep asking me where I get my motivation, where my willpower comes from. They ask like they don’t have it themselves. They don’t realized they have it already but their car is stuck in the driveway with the parking brake on.
You see, I can give you the tools to live a healthy life. You can have the nutrition, the workouts, the time, the right shoes…in fact, you can have the full campus and trainers of the Biggest Loser BUT if you don’t believe that you can do it, you won’t. Your mind is your parking brake. It will keep you stuck in the same circumstances, whether or not you have your body (car) in drive or not. But once you release those thoughts and misconceptions that are holding you in a place you don’t want to be in, you can suddenly begin to move. And we know that an object in motion is easier to keep in motion.
Motivation or drive is nothing until you mind becomes your ally instead of your enemy!
