EP69 Mindset Monday - Take the urgency out of the urge

This is episode 69 of the Empowered Athlete Podcast. This is the Empowered Athlete podcast Mindset Monday 10 minutes with Kari Schneider to learn new mindset tactics and tricks to optimize your performance in sport, business and life.

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For years I'd have those urges to consume all of the candy as soon as possible. That was in the house and I was wondering where that was coming from. It got me thinking to why now do I not even crave certain things that I used to have no self control over? So what's the difference between when you really feel like you have no control over something that you really really want versus when you then have this greater level of control? Like think of someone who has quit smoking and they're at a space where they don't even want a cigarette. Or someone who same with drinking. So a couple examples I can think of One was years and years ago I was a teenager and I was working in a restaurant at the Best Western and I got there and I could always have as much bread or salad or soup as I wanted, but I was craving a chocolate bar and I went down to the vending machine down the hallway and I got myself a chocolate bar and I ate it before my shift started and it was so good. And this was dinner time. Like this is when I would normally eat dinner. It was so good and I decided to go get a second one and I went and ate a second chocolate bar and for whatever reason that just had me wanting more, I was really, really hooked on that sugar and. And I got a third one. But after I had that third one I had a whole shift to work and I felt horrible, horrible, horrible. Like my blood sugar was all off. I felt kind of nauseous. I just had this big sugar bomb going. And now though, it's a completely different thing. I would never I don't even buy chocolate bars in the grocery store anymore and I'm trying to figure out what is the difference between then and now. And it's not an age thing, it's not a maturity thing because I still crave that sweets. I would still want those three chocolate bars. But taking the urgency out of urges, I started to take a look at what are a few of the Things that have completely changed in my mindset and in who I am so that I don't even want that anymore. And that's true now for a lot of alcohol, a lot of different foods I would have eaten, and now I don't even want it. So what is the difference? And one of them that I came up with was a scarcity versus abundance thinking. I remember as a kid when I rarely, rarely was allowed to have candy and I rarely had candy, that when I did and when it was Halloween, I would literally stash and hide a whole bunch of that candy because I was so afraid that I would never be able to have that candy again. So it's the scarcity thinking that I had for so long of not being able to have that thing that I really wanted. And this applies. The only reason I'm using candy as the example is because Halloween just finished. So this applies for anything. So one of the things that I clearly identified is that having that scarcity mindset made me want to hoard the thing. I wanted to have stashes of candy or have it in my house or hide it somewhere just so that it was always there because I was afraid that I wouldn't have that candy. And that's a very, very different way of thinking. If you were thinking that you could have candy whenever ever you wanted, then there's no need to have it stashed away just in case there was this world shortage in candy. So that scarcity and abundance thinking, apply that to something else that maybe you have an urge for. You can have that thing whenever you want it, but you have the power to choose. And that's a different way of thinking. So the second one that I changed drastically years ago was raising the standard. The more I knew about nutrition, the more I knew about health, and the more I knew what was in those candy bars, and the more I knew what happened physiologically and how addictive highly refined sugar is, the less that appealed to me. Now, it doesn't mean I didn't have the cravings or the urges, but I knew that it wasn't aligned with the things I really wanted and I really believed in in terms of health, wellness, performance, clear thinking, all of those things. So then I started to go, okay, well, if I know this about these refined, packaged little things, but I still really like sweets and I still want them in my life, what does that mean? So I raised my standard. And. And raising the standard looks like for me, what it looked like is meant I wanted dark chocolate, or I wanted ethically sourced Chocolate, or I wanted organic chocolate, or I wanted something that I homemade. So instead of buying the packaged things, I raised the standard and still have the sweets. But maybe not as many or as often or, or maybe not even at all throughout the year until Halloween, have the package little treats. So I instead replaced it with something that basically became a chocolate snob. I call my husband the wine connoisseur or the wine snob. I basically became the chocolate snob in that I wouldn't go for the refined milk chocolate and would more go for something that was a little higher quality. So raising the standard made a big difference for what I was going to choose. And then lastly is asking. There's a question that I ask in my gym all of the time, and the question is, ask yourself the question, is this the best I can be? Is this the best I can do? And that question has me go, you know, for some people who are Christian, they might say, what would Jesus do? Some people might think of their inner Oprah, what would the millionaire me choose? You know, different, the higher level of yourself, what would you choose? And if that were the question and that were the case, then what it made me do and look at was that, well, I really, really want, if I was being really discriminating in the highest version of me, I really want that homemade dessert after dinner. And if I knew that, then I really didn't want the donut that came with a meeting because I wanted to kind of save feeling good about eating that homemade dessert after dinner. So those three things, having the abundant versus scarce mindset, raising the standard, and really asking what would the best version do? Those three things have taken the urgency and taken as many of the urges away, really reduce the desire for those things that used to really be consuming for me. So craving all the time, and this again can apply to anything that you're looking for a reduction if it's not working for you or not good for you, and you want to shift that, take a look at these three things now. I'm about to head home, and when I head home, there's probably still Halloween candy in my house. And that's one of the few times of the year that I'll have those packaged kind of little chocolate bars and that kind of thing. So it's finding what works for you. There's no right or wrong or good or bad. It's finding what really works for your best health, your best version, the best version of you that you feel really, really good about. So again, just giving these little tips to take that urgency out of those crazy urges. So have a great week guys. Happy Monday. I haven't seen you for a bit and I look forward to seeing you next week on Mindset Monday. And also, I won't be doing a Truth Bomb tomorrow because I'm traveling. But feel free. You are the people that I trust and know. Feel free to invite friends who you think would benefit in this group. I look forward to connecting with more people and adding more tips and value and really jiving together. So have a wonderful week and I.

Will talk to you soon.

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