"Born To Win...But Programmed To Fail"
- Part 1 of 2 Parts -
By Dr. Frank B. Smoot, MA, DD
Here's The $64,000 Question: How in the world can we be so clear about our fitness and fat loss goals—and then turn right around and do the very things that keep us from reaching them?
Sure, we have a trim and sexy "image" of who we plan to be...one day. We know we should work out, and we know exactly why. Yet we don't. We also know we should lay off the pasta, chips, and ice cream, and we're totally clear about why. Yet somehow...we don't.
What's up with that??
This three-part article will tell you. It will also reveal the secret key that will help you stop doing the stuff that holds you back, and start doing the things that'll get you where you want to go!!
- Part One -
"Programmed" to fail? Wow, that's pretty strong language, isn't it?
No. Not at all. In fact, most of us don't have a clue how programmed we really are, how much we're "running on automatic," and how a huge percentage of our life today consists of "acting out" what we were programmed to do so many years ago.
Between the beliefs foisted upon us by other people (parents, relatives, teachers, ministers, siblings) literally from day one, and the daily / lifelong barrage of media info-noise. Our worldview, our cultural values, and even our sense of who we are—all are the products of forces that were virtually 100% beyond our control. Sad to say, most of us have never had a truly "original" thought in our lives.
So, even though we were created with a tremendous capacity for success, achievement, and living a truly awesome life, we also were—literally—programmed to fail.
How did we get to be this way? It's just what happens when you are born into "the world." It's your earthly legacy.
If you're like most people, you are living what has been called a "second-hand" life—just plugging along, day to day—and from cradle to grave—believing, thinking, and doing things you have been externally programmed to think, believe, and do.
And all the while convinced it's "your" life you're living.
Why am I hammering on this point? Because, until we grasp how little control we've really had over own lives so far, we'll never understand (a) the damage that's been done to us without our knowledge or permission, (b) the importance of un-doing that damage, and (c) the tremendous power we have to do so.
FACT: You Have God-Given Creative Powers
You've Never Even Dreamed Of!
You just don't know it yet.
Now, I'll be the first to admit that this can be heavy stuff to think about, and maybe scary to look at. But the first step to activating your great powers is to understand why you haven't been able to so do in the past.
Who you are right now—who you have been all your life—is the product of outside forces that may not have had your best interest at heart, and may have caused (accidentally or deliberately) great damage to your budding self-image, self-esteem, and self-confidence when you were too young to fight it or even know about it.
As a result, most of us just don't have a clue who we really are, let alone who we could be. So our own magnificent potential may never be revealed—to ourselves or anyone else. Instead, we're trapped in a needlessly unhealthy body, living a needlessly unhappy life that we don't really love, and may not even like.
We never even understood the problem, let alone how to fix it. And all because of the thoughtless, careless, mindless actions of the people around us—who themselves may have been going cluelessly through life. And so it goes, from generation to generation. No wonder that the world is in the mess it’s in. No wonder our lives are in the mess they’re in!
Yet through it all, we suffer in silence, hoping we can make it through " just one more day." Is that really living? I don't think so.
But What Can We Do About It?
A whole lot more than you may think!
The first thing you need to understand is that you were NOT created to go through life as the victim of your own "worldly" programming. There is a MUCH BETTER way to live -- much happier, much healthier, and filled with much more aliveness.
But you'll never find out what it is until you discover and accept what has been done to you. You can't take off the blinders if you don't know that you're wearing them!
In the second installments of "Born To Win...But Programmed To Fail," you'll learn the secret of improving your life to a level of health, energy, and happiness you may not even be able to imagine right now. So stay tuned for Part 2!
But for now, the important lesson is that you are not free! And if you are going to succeed at weight loss—or at life—this is something you must understand!
America's lovely national anthem notwithstanding, you are not now—and never have been—free. You may believe you are free, but in reality, you are farther from free than you can probably imagine.
You may believe you have freedom of choice, but in reality you have virtually no choice at all—at least, not yet. The truth is that you are running on automatic! Your programming started at birth, and continues to operate to this very day. Just like the computer in your den, you are programmed to respond mechanically and automatically to the world around you, according to the beliefs that were programmed into you so long ago.
As a result, you are literally operating on "auto-pilot." Just like the cat that comes running every time she hears the electric can opener, or the dog who goes nuts when he hears the his owner's car door slam, you are programmed to do. . . whatever it is that you do.
You are, in effect, simply a unique collection of learned, habitual behaviors—some of which are helpful, and some of which may be extremely harmful, or even deadly. The worst part is that you don't have a clue what has been done to you. You live in an illusion so convincing that you can't even see it. (Think Matrix, but without the technology.)
We like to tell ourselves that "ignorance is bliss." But I ask you—is your current programming creating a blissful life experience for you?
This is what you get for being born into "the devil's own back yard." Or as Joni Mitchell put it in her song, Woodstock, you are "…caught in the devil’s bargain." This is your earthly legacy. This is the world's gift to you. You don’t need to like it—but you absolutely need to know it!
Please understand: None of this is your fault. But it is your reality. And if anything is going to change, it's going to be your responsibility.
The good news is that you CAN be free! But there a few things you will need to do to get there. First, you will have to take a proactive role in the process. You will need to actively become the programmer. You will need to accept responsibility for the future direction of your own life.
Either that, or you can keep doing things the world's way, and keep failing and failing as the world inevitably does.
Yours in total health,
