The REAL Challenge
I used to think that the real challenge when it came to health was “knowledge.” After all, knowledge is power! In other words, I thought that if I knew what to do, then I would be healthy! And if I could share this knowledge with my patients, then they would be healthy, too! (Can you guess that I’m a 5 on the Enneagram? 5s think that the answer to everything is simply more knowledge. Sigh.)
I have come to the conclusion that knowledge is not the problem. If we’re honest, most of us know (in general) what to do to be healthy. We may not know the minute details down to the nitty gritty molecular biochemistry or neurology, but we know by broad strokes.
Case in point. Last week, I was shopping for some lunch. I was right near my local Korean store, Woori Market, on Fillmore, and I went in to see what they had. I got a couple of packs of gimbap for myself and my son, and some Korean melon. If you’ve been to Woori Market, you know that the line to the checkout counter cuts down the center of the candy / cookies / crackers aisle. It’s hard to stand in this aisle for very long without grabbing some cute garbage off the shelf! I’m weak for the cute stuff. Often, I can resist. Not last week! No, there was an alluring new kid in town. A box I had never seen on the shelf before. Chocolately Tree Stumps. Just one look and I was powerless. “Yes, please!” I thought, as I grabbed 2 boxes and put them in my basket.
Without even looking at the label, I knew, with 100% certainty, that Chocolately Tree Stumps were not a healthy choice. They would add neither years to my life nor life to my years. But I bought them anyway. And I ate them. (And gave a box to my son.) And sure enough, I developed a mild headache about 15 minutes later. My blood sugar spiked, and my mood dropped.
Why the hell did I do it? I have a freakin’ degree in Nutrition! I know better! I must hate myself. Boohoo.
No, I’m just an average human being.
Humans do almost everything unconsciously.
The big challenge is not how to “know better.” The big challenge is how to DO better.
Treatments like NET can go a long way to helping shift and alter unconscious impulses! At first, this seems like magic! People want to come back again and again - “Do that trick again! More magic, please!” Sometimes the magic happens again, but eventually, you have to just buck up and take the actions that lead to the results that you desire.
It’s always going to be something of a struggle to do, eat, say, etc. the “right” thing because, hello, human condition! We almost have to trick ourselves into it! And what’s the simplest way to get a human to act against their impulses? For better or worse, it’s peer pressure. So if you want to establish healthy habits that are going against your unhealthy impulses, then you need to find a healthy peer group.
Easier said than done?
Maybe not!
The digital world has altered our social wiring. “Peer group” no longer means the people who you hang out with physically on a day-to-day basis. It can be be any group - even a virtual group - that you come into contact with regularly. And so, guess what? I’ve created just such a tool. An effective introvert-friendly digital positive peer pressure tool to help encourage healthy actions! At this time, it is still free to join and use, because I’m still fine-tuning it.
It is my Nuggets of Health “daily” e-mail with special secret sauce. Sign-up box below. You will have to try it out to see if it works! 😬 And that is all I have to say about that.! -DK