I love to hate things I don’t like. In fact, hate is one of my most motivating emotions. If I don’t dislike something strongly enough, I won’t do anything about it.
And since I am not getting any younger, I don’t have time to ignore things. I have to take action with a ferocity that will produce the results that I am looking for.
So I constantly make an effort to define what I don’t like in my life and then think about it over and over until I hate it so bad, that I will do anything to eliminate it from my life.
For example, I recently gained an unhealthy 30 lbs. This was the first time in my life that I had gained that much unhealthy weight.
I went from 175 to 205 in a matter of 3 – 5 months. A lot of the weight was directly related to my wife being pregnant and me chowing down with her during the last months of her pregnancy. But all my life I have eaten my fair share at the buffet line and never gained that sort of weight.
At first I was in shock and disbelief, then my pants stopped fitting me. And then my friends started to notice and poke fun at me. Finally my wife even told me. That is when I got mad. I became so angry that I let myself get so far out of shape in such a short period of time that I grew a deep hatred towards the weight gain.
And that deep hatred towards being out of shape has driven me to where I am today, in great shape.
Let’s put this into perspective, just 1 year before gaining weight I had a full six pack and modeled part time. (Yes that’s me to the right) So you can understand the distress I was in after falling from such a great height.
With my new found hatred of being out of shape motivating me, I changed my diet, started working out and changed my total mindset.
At first I started out slow so I would not hurt myself. Then I gradually increased the intensity and now I worked out 2x a day 5 – 6 days a week and have the diet of race horse.
I started this program in June of 2010 when I still weighed 205. By August 2010 I dropped down to 185. Since then I have gained back 10 lbs, but this time it is muscle not fat.
The end result, I look great, feel great and I look forward to keeping on this same track.
This is just one example of how hate can be a powerful force used for good. I know there is a negative connotation to the whole concept of hate, but we have been given that emotion for a reason. And using it selectively and responsibly can net some very positive results in our lives.
In fact Anthony Robbins has built his entire career around the concept of associating negative emotions to a problem you have so that the pain can be greater than the pleasure. This is the only way you will rise up and do something about the problem. (source: “Awaken the Giant Within”, Tony Robbins excerpt goto pg. 55)
So what is going on in your life today that you don’t like, but don’t hate enough to get it up and do something about it? Do you dislike your weight? Do you dislike your current lifestyle? Do you dislike the way your yard looks?
Whatever it is, if you want to change it, then try finding reasons to hate it. Isolate the issue and get so angry at it that you will do whatever it takes to get it out of your life.
Once you have harnessed this power of rage and hate, then unleash it by focused and decisive action. And constatly remind yourself why you hate it, how it is creating a problem in your life and how your life will be 100% better if you replaced what you hate with something you love!
Give it a try and let me know how it goes. In the mean time, I am starting to hate the distance I travel to work. So by December that will be resolved.
Till next time, Make It Happen!
