Before I get to losing weight or making more money I must first discuss blinds spots. A blind spot is usually a limiting belief, an excuse or a line of reasoning that’s ingrained deeply into a person’s belief system. As you might assume, since it’s a “blind” spot, usually the person isn’t conscious of it’s existence.
While each person has a unique set of blind spots, there are still many common ones. A very common one that I’ve discovered and started working on myself is associating happiness with a higher income. Many people have this blind spot. A really easy and quick way to destroy this blind spot was for me to simply start spending more time with wealthier individuals. I found out quickly that they aren’t any happier with their lives than your average Joe. It goes back to that saying “once you own something it loses it’s value”. I think there is so much truth to that saying. The saying obviously applies to materialistic wealth including a nice house, a blazing fast sports car, and even stylish clothing. Usually a new toy or gadget looks nice and shiny in the store, however after you have it for a little while, it becomes just another possession. So how does one go about creating a happier life? Well one factor is lifestyle improvement. If your life experience isn’t improving, whether your financially rich or poor, you will quickly start getting bored. Life will seem very routine like and mundane. You will not be very excited about a new day when you wake up in the morning. Lifestyle improvement means different things to different people, for some it might mean traveling more, interacting with different kinds of people, or doing new exciting activities. For others it might mean getting out of their comfort zone. It’s easy to see how associating financial wealth with happiness can be an excuse to avoid building a happier lifestyle starting today. A lot of people, myself included, make the mistake of focusing all their energy on building a financially successful future and never stop to enjoy the present. Focusing all your energy on the future leaves you blind to your level of life satisfaction in the present, in other words it’s a blind spot. Sometimes when a person achieves financial success they realize that on the inside they still feel the same, they are still the same person just have more money now. There is a great book titled “The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It“, it’s a short quick read full of ways to build and develop a happier life starting today. I highly recommend it.
Another common blind spot that I’ve also had to work on is associating weight loss or having a great body shape with happiness. I realized this was a blind spot when I started spending more time with very fitness conscious individuals. I found out that even being in great body shape comes with it’s own set of problems. This is especially true for those with exceptional body shape. One of my friends really takes care of himself and is in great shape. When I started hanging out with him more, I realized that most strangers make all kinds of negative assumptions about him. They usually assume he’s conceited, or a jerk, or a player and the list goes on. Many women even feel self conscious around him, and become very insecure about their looks. This is very obvious because often times those same strangers will act friendlier towards me. I used to think that losing a few pounds or being in exception body shape will make me happy, and solve all my problems. Since this was always a futuristic goal, it left me blind to my unhappy present at the time. Now I realize that happiness is only possible in the present moment. I also realize that happiness has nothing to do with being in a great body shape or any other other external factors.
Does this mean you should not try to achieve financial wealth or a great body shape? Absolutely NOT. Making more money or being in a great body shape will certainly increase the quality of your life. It will certainly give you more options and possibilities. However don’t make the mistake of thinking that either one or even both will solve most of your problems. Even if a genie was to pop out right now and give you both instantly, you’ll still be the same person on the inside. You must start developing an exciting happy lifestyle today. Of course work on future goals but at the same time make sure your enjoying the present moment.
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