Do you know anyone like this?
“It takes me ages to get up in the morning; I hit the snooze button at least 3 times most mornings. I feel exhausted and dread the day ahead. I am often late for work so I skip breakfast. I usually have a coffee at the office, then at 10am or so, I’ll have another coffee and a few cookies, just two or three. For lunch I’ll have a brown bread sandwich, and an apple. At about 4pm I’ll have another coffee and a couple of cookies. I usually finish at half 5. It takes me about 40 minutes to get home. By the time I arrive I’m so tired I drop my bag on the floor and curl up on the couch. I tell myself I should go out for a walk or something, but instead I’ll have a take away or some pasta and watch TV for the evening”.
That’s one way to kill oneself! Where’s the water, where’s the vegetables, where’s the protein, where’s the movement, where’s the life?
When the above quoted client came to me she was not only overweight, but looked like a zombie, and kind of behaved like one too. The living dead, that’s what I call people who just float about looking lost, with no sense of awareness or a pinch of life emanating from them.
To my surprise, she agreed when I tagged her as one of the living dead. I was disappointed as my aim was to really get to her.
“I do –she said – I feel dead inside. Why do I feel so shit?”
I love it when my clients swear. It means they are starting to get fed up. That’s a good thing!
After a few questions (my magic questions) all excuses exhausted, she finally stopped talking a lot of BS and started making some sense.
See, most people know what they are doing wrong; they’re just too deep in their own proverbial, well… shit, to admit it.
A lot of my clients at some stage or another of a consultation wait for me to come up with the long awaited miracle cure. The magical pill that’ll solve all their problems instantly. I know this by the look I get. It’s the “soooo…, go oooon…?” look.
If I told you what to do as soon as you walk out of my practice’s door everything would stay just the same, or worse. You don’t tell toddlers to just go pee in the toilet bowl and expect them to do it. You have to train them.
In a way, metaphorically speaking, I train adults not to wee their own pants.
See, what you need to do is to train your mind to begin to start to think more often and for longer periods of time; to actually use your brain for a change.
With this particular client, not only did she come up with a detailed plan, a step by step system on how to improve her situation and feel better about her life, but also she felt excited for the first time in years. She even came up with her own quote!
“It’s obvious – she said – if you behave like a slug, you’re gonna feel like a slug”.
This happened on her first session. I almost exploded with pride!
“Slugs actually eat vegetables” I said. We both burst out laughing.
During the following weeks, we worked together on re-training her brain to feel good more of the time so she started to get more stuff done. Things she actually wanted to do. The basics: get up feeling energised, have breakfast, get more done in work, eat healthily, drink water, workout three times a week…
Ten days after our first coaching session she’d lost 7 pounds, which she was shocked and delighted with. Now, she says she hasn’t felt this good in years and you can tell. You can tell by the sparkle in her eyes, the smile on her face, and the spring on her step. Last week she texted me from the fitting room in a clothes shop, where she was looking in the mirror in a fitted dress she had wanted to buy for months. “Thank you sooo much. It fits!!!!”
She’s officially not part of the living dead anymore. How about you?
This is not a zombie
Anna
anna@delite.ie
