A lot of people have a very unpopular opinion about what I’m going to share here today, and that’s OK. One of the biggest differences between those that succeed in their weight reduction and those that succeed in business and in life, is something that we call “Radical Integrity.” Radical Integrity means when you say you’re going to do something, you always do it. No excuses, nothing. When you give your word, you fulfill it.
I was listening to an interview by Chris and Heidi Powell, who used to be the hosts of the show Extreme Weight Loss, and they actually shared one of the first things they did when they were on the verge of starting a new season of Extreme Weight Loss. They would be sit down with these people that they were going to help transform over the next year. Now, these were people that were 400, 500, 600 lbs, or sometimes even heavier than that. They had several hundred pounds of extra body fat to release and get rid of.
During this sit-down Chris and Heidi would say, “What I am about to tell you is going to be very, very triggering for you. That is all of you are here because you lack integrity.” And a lot of times the participants would go, “Wait a second, what are you talking about?” Of course Chris would say, “Hold on, let me explain what I mean. Of course you have integrity with other people. If you say you are going to pick up your friend at 12 noon tomorrow, what time do you get there?” The participants would answer, “11:55 am of course.” Chris would then say, “Yes, but the reason why you are here is because you lack integrity with yourself.”
One of the biggest keys to weight reduction, of course, is setting commitments for yourself and keeping them. A big mistake that a lot of people make is they will set commitments for themselves, and then they would break it, then that would allow them to kind of spiral downwards because they would then feel shamed. And then they would say, “well what’s the point? I already failed, why still try?”
We do this in business too. How many people want to quit their jobs and start a brand new business, be their own bosses, set their own hours? So they’ll make this commitment, “OK, my business starts Monday,” or, “The diet starts Monday.” Right? How many times have you said that to yourself? And then Monday comes and goes, and they haven’t done anything with it.
Radical integrity, as I mentioned, can mean all the difference between success and either mediocrity or downright failure. When you say you are going to do something, always, always, always do it.
Now, a lot of times people say, “Well Eric, what if something happens? What if xyz happens?” Then yes, definitely that would be out of integrity. If you make a commitment to someone else, and some emergency comes up, always ask for permission in order to change that commitment.
For example, let’s say you commit to picking someone up at 4pm on Tuesday. Let’s say you then find out that something else is going to happen. You would always want to ask permission from that person that you made that commitment to before you change it. What you would NOT say is, “Hey, I’m so sorry. I can’t pick you up on Tuesday at 4pm.” Don’t do that, because that would be out of integrity. That would be downright breaking your commitment. I can hear someone thinking, “Well Eric, I’m giving that person notice.” I get it, but what you’re doing is giving that person notice that you’re going to be out of integrity. Does that make sense?
Instead, you would send that person a text message and say something to the effect of, “I apologize. I just found out this is happening. Would it be OK with you if I picked you up at 4:30 instead?” Once they give that permission, then you are still in integrity. Once you are able to work out a win-win situation with that other person, then you are still in integrity. And then you would, of course, go pick that person up by 4:30pm.
It’s the same thing when it comes to yourself. The brain actually rewards you with bursts of, I believe it’s dopamine which is the motivation chemical. It’s part of what we call the Happiness Quartet. Every time you set and keep a commitment to yourself, your brain actually rewards you. Did you know that? The brain is full of surprises, right? And it gives you that burst of energy, and it actually reinforces that fact that you kept a commitment.
Now, this could be the tiniest thing. This could be as simple as, “I am going to brush my teeth within 5 minutes of waking up.” I know, this seems tiny, and maybe it is, but the brain will reward that. Any time that you set and keep a commitment to yourself, or to anyone else, your brain rewards you. And it develops a good pattern of keeping commitments. What this can do is lead to is increased confidence.
My invitation to you, is whether it comes to business, weight reduction, or your relationships, is to implement Radical Integrity. Meaning, any time you give your word, any time you say you are going to do something, your word is your bond, you always, always, always do it. That is the definition of integrity. Integrity means you do what you say you will do when you say you’ll do it.
Unfortunately, few people actually follow that. They say that they are honest people, but they don’t actually follow that. Not you. You have radical integrity. Anytime you say you’ll do something, you do it. Because this then sends out a message to the universe that when you say you’re gonna do something, you always do it. People then can trust you, and it leads to a heightened desire to want to work with you. Whether that’s doing business, being your accountability partner, or being your workout partner or whatever it is.
One more time, my invitation to you is to have radical integrity. Whenever you say you’re gonna do something, you do it. Start with yourself. Start by setting small commitments that you know you can keep, and keep them. This will begin to build up that confidence, and it will begin to snowball. So your smaller commitments will then lead to bigger and bigger commitments, and pretty soon, you are experiencing radical integrity.
Remember, if you’re not already part of our Enjoy Yourself Thin Facebook group, it’s totally free to join. There are amazing perks and benefits in addition to all the support, tips and strategies that we offer. Simply look up Enjoy Yourself Thin on Facebook and get started. Join this amazing, amazing community that continues to grow, and begin to demonstrate your radical integrity today. Love you!
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