What’s the common link between all those failed diets you’ve been on?

Was it down to not watching your nutrition and counting calories?

Was is it not taking up some form of exercise?

Possibly all of those, but there’s also another big reason lurking behind all of that.  Most people fail because they don’t have a big enough reason to lose weight.

To put it in the words of self help guru Anthony Robbins  “If you have a big enough “WHY” (reason) you can do anything!”

If you think about it why is the reason we do anything in life.

Here’s a couple of examples…

Q: Why do you brush your teeth every day? (Well, I hope you do)

A: Probably because you want to prevent gum disease and all your teeth from rotting and falling out.

Q: Why do you wash yourself?

A: To keep clean and not smell of body odor.

You get the idea by now, but there’s a difference in the power of a WHY.

Now compare these WHY’s with the ones above:

Q: Why do I go to work?

A: Because I need some the money to pay my bills and feed my children or I’ll be living on the street and starving.

Q: Why did you give up smoking?

A: Because my doctor said if I don’t stop smoking I’d probably die in the next 6 months.

As you can see the stronger and emotionally attached we are to the outcome the more power if it gives us to see it right through to the end.

Now at this moment what’s your why, why are you looking to lose weight? Do you really know or is it just a vague reason that isn’t strong enough to keep you going to the finish line.

So what can you do? Here’s a simple exercise (don’t worry it doesn’t involve any sweating!)

Just grab a pen and paper and make up a list of reasons WHY you want to lose weight.

Before you start writing here are some questions you could ask yourself first.

1. Why do I really want to lose weight?

Is it because your spouse or partner is nagging you?
Is it for health reasons?
Is it so you can go out and play with your kids?

2. What’s the bright side in all of this?

If I lost weight how would your life improve?
What would I be able to then that I can’t do now?

3. Did I do enough in the past to lose weight?

Did I really give my weight loss efforts everything in the past or did I enter that last diet half heart fully?

4. Am I happy at where I am today?

Am I happy being overweight?
Is it putting limits on my life and possibly how long I’ll live for?

Got your list of whys done….good!Don’t make the mistake of passing up on this simple exercise, it will make all the difference to weight loss results you’re about to get. Remember the stronger the better, you need some whys that have a lot of emotion attached to them.

Here’s a story of the power of WHY?

There once was a young father who tried everything to stop smoking but just couldn’t seem to do it. Thats until the day his young daughter came up to him one day and asked him to give up smoking cigarettes.

He laughed it off and asked why?

She told him that she wanted him to stop because she wanted him to give her away at her wedding. She believed that if he continued to smoke the way he did, he wasn’t going to be around to do that. He said that he put out his cigarette there and then and he never smoked another one.

All those time in the past he tried giving up he never had a big enough why, until his daughter gave him one.

So spend today to find that reason why you want to lose weight and write in down. What things are you’re going to lose out on if you don’t lose weight, and what things are you going to gain by losing weight.

When have your list done, (keep it to yourself no one else should know about it) keep it on you  at all times. Then when doubts start to come in or you think you’ll never be able to do it, just take out your list and remind yourself WHY you’re going to lose that extra weight.

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I was reading a book today called “Ask and Its Is Given” and came across a sentence that  seemed to jump out at me, it said…“your purpose in life is to experience joy.”

And it got me thinking, with so many of us looking to the start of 2010 as a new start and a chance to finally get back in shape, are we chasing after slimness or happiness?

Because there’s a big  difference between the two.

You would assume (if you were overweight) that all slim people are blissfully happy and all overweight people are depressed and down.

But you and I know that this isn’t so in real life.

Some of the slimmest people with the greatest figures that God could ever give can be the most unhappiest and some of the most overweight people are a joy to be around.

So, the question I’m asking today is…  “Are you linking your happiness to losing weight?”

While you might have a picture in your mind of how you might when the scales are finally going in the right direction, what if you’re still not happy?

If the thought of joining a gym or cycling for hours are going know will make you unhappy don’t do them. Happiness is an inside job that no one else or weighing scale can bring to you but you!

So, the tip I want you to take away from this post today is make a a list of all the things that make you happy in life,  work on your happiness first and don’t be reliant on that weight loss to make you happy.

If you’re happier you’ll be more of a joy to be around and don’t be surprised if the weight loss seems to happen as a side effect. Because if you’re slim and unhappy what are the chances that you’ll stay that way for long??