The Zone

During a big change in your life, you can sometimes run, emotionally, off of the snowball effect that tends to onset, usually, around the three week mark. This is how long it takes an average person to build new neural pathways in her brain. This is true for me, and I have always heard that it takes an average person 21 to break an old, or start a new habit. By this time, if you stuck to your plan 100%, you should be kickin ass and making it look easy. This state of being is known by many names, but I've always called it....... SUPER DEDICATION MODE, or SDM (Not really. I don't have an acronym for my "the zone".)

Every time I've ever been in super dedication mode, I was on my A game in everything I did. In the gym, I'd workout twice as hard, I would get A's in school, and do better in life, generally. I don't know how I manage to lose that after I have it. Some people, you can see have it all the time, others will never experience the power of the 100.

I'm sure that I am actually smarter while in it, my mind is strong and positive, I tend to be a great deal more confident. I don’t second-guess myself and I've noticed that I’m more happy and, seemingly, lucky.

Now, the question would be, “How you obtain this level of peak performance and maintain a high level throughout the rest of your life?” One thing that has helped me through my addictions and troubles, is challenging myself to be better every day, and then auditing myself honestly each night. So, by waking up and thinking of how I will improve myself today, preparing and planning, taking action, and then finally measuring the results is a great place to start. This process is easy, and fun. Gamifying habit breaking is a must. Finding your own little advantages to breaking a nasty habit or forming a positive one is the backbone of the topic for this month, so it can’t be that easy.

No. In fact making a habit change, or, much more difficult, an addiction change, is just that: difficult. I want to remind you that anything worth doing is difficult. The more difficult, the better the reward for succeeding at it will be. The most difficult part may be over for a lot of you, if you have stuck with your New Year’s resolution. If you have, then you have almost created the habit, or broken it. You are much less likely to revert back to your unwanted behavior or lack thereof, so give yourself a pat on the back, just don’t take a break at this crucial time.

Breaks are hard to avoid, but you must keep in mind what goes on during a break. I can tell you that in my life, I’ve hit SDM twice. Both times it was punctuated by a break. These punctuations, in my case have lasted years. I just wonder where I’d be had I not taken the break. My advice for this is to make a written list of what may happen during your break, and if you can somehow continue your routine, possibly in a less functional manner, to decrease the likelihood of slipping back into the old habit and out of the zone.

During my time in the Army, I had a friend who introduced me to working out in a gym. He was my personal trainer, nutritionist and coach. He helped me reach a level I had not ever gotten close to prior to that. We worked out together for about six months and I was looking forward to time off and visit back home. I worked out harder and longer, ate better and even set my alarm to wake up in the middle of the night and drink a protein shake.

Once I got home and showed off to all my friends; which is one of the main reasons that I wanted to get fit in the first place, I felt like I didn’t have anything to work towards anymore. When I returned, I stopped going to gym altogether. Had I written out a list of anticipated obstacles for my upcoming visit and return to base, I would have been prepared to deal with them.

I have one other example that is so similar to the last one that there isn’t much of a reason to mention it. I know once I hit Super Dedication Mode again, within a couple of months, I will do what I can to keep it.

I hope you learn from my mistakes and prepare for unavoidable hiatuses in your life by preparing to maintain your mindset.

Anyone has the ability to make any change in their life as they see fit. The know-how is a different story. I don’t claim to have all of the answers, but I welcome comments and nuggets of wisdom for keeping yourself in the zone, in the comments section below.

Update on my New Year’s Resolutions:

I am completely failing at the main one: quitting smoking. I don’t want to talk about it. I will give another update soon and I’ll discuss the reasons for my failure.

I am happy to report that I have been working out on the planned schedule and doing cardio above what I had planned. I am eating right (for my diet) which means eating lots of protein all day, and lots of carbs in the morning.

I will keep you posted and with better news of my main resolution. Just because, I have given in several times, doesn't mean that I’m not closer to my goal than I was on the quit date and I must keep trying and not let myself get any leeway as far as allowing myself to smoke without getting disturbed about it. I know I will win this. A positive attitude is kindergarten for making change.

Thanks for reading and leave a comment. Let us know how you’re doing. It doesn’t have to be a NY resolution. It can be a today resolution. Make a commitment here and hold yourself accountable.

Volunteering with Focused Life is easy, fun and rewarding!

If you want to help Focused Life's Mission, just email me at bizwizardx@gmail.com 
vols@addictX.org

We need people to help out with the social and online media, and raising awareness in y her way, you will be a great asset and an original team member,at this point.

I've been planning this new type of transitional recovery residence for almost 3 years. I've gone through countless hours of SBIC &; STA training, I've collected hundreds of surveys and have done more research than is probably necessary, I'm days away from starting the 1st SMART Recovery meeting in Tampa and this is my passion, because I've experienced the suffering of a wasted life, and the resistance society imposes against anyone who tries to make their past, their past.

We have so much science for change now and it works when an individual is immersed in this environment. Fortune 500 companies pay hundreds of millions of dollars annually to have experts in change to guide them through a three day seminar to teach these processes. Addiction isn't and everyday habit and three days will not fix alive controlling problem, however the allotted amount of time, using these techniques at the forefront of science and medicine will most definitely have the optimum impact on the visual that we could expect in this day and age. This is the cornerstone of our recovery program.  However, the details are just as important. They are too numerous to list here,  but are documented in the curriculum of our coursework.

Focused Life is launching the recovery program as an L3C, a business entity that is structured like an LLC but it must be socially motivated. This means that if we make decisions based on our bottom line and settle our social impact we can lose our license. It also means that we are able to except program related investments. Program related investments are like grants that you have to pay back. They are issued by foundations and only to socially motivated businesses. And L3C stands for low profit Limited Liability Company. They are often described as hybrid between private sector and non-profit organizations.

We have a proven method for creating lasting change, showing others the processes and the psychological sciences behind what makes addictions such strong habits. Addiction have ruin the lives of people that we all know. The DSM 5 now names addiction as a disease and as such, when the person is treated successfully they should not be held in such high contempt by society, especially since we all know an addict, and have seen that person change from, likely, a good person to someone you wouldn't want to be around. This makes it one of the most undesirable diseases that one could have to face.

We believe in holding people accountable the same way as everyone else, except once the individual demonstrates that they are no longer actively addicted and it is unlikely they will return to their addiction , if they have paid for any misdeeds they might have acted out in their addiction, then they should be forgiven by their community and allowed an enjoyable life, like everyone else.

This leads me to Focused Life's Mission Statement. First and foremost, we are setting up to continue and enhance individual's recovery for a heightened chance of success. However, a close second to that, is our mission to create an environment where individuals, who were once addicted to drugs, alcohol or any life controlling problem, can expect to have a life in the future, the same as that is available to those who haven't experienced addiction. We are already working with local business owners who can comprehend the fact that these people that we are working for can change, and have changed.

They are empathetic to our cause , not necessarily because they can relate to it, but because they don't agree with the injustice of an unforgiving society towards an individual who has paid for his mistakes and has done an incredible thing in overcoming a life controlling problem. 

This is an amazing feat, considering that most recovery doctrines hold the individual as powerless over this issue. We know from extensive research and observation that this is not the case. People are resilient. The human factor cannot be dismissed even in the case of addiction. So, our third mission is to raise awareness of these truths and stop enabling addicted behaviors individually, and as a society, by leading them to believe that they are powerless over their own choices. I agree that most likely they cannot make these changes in their current state, environment , doing the same things, with the same people, in the same place where there is addiction was born.

Our doctrine is based on practical processes that can be implemented by anyone, and teaching these processes in the right environment with the proper group dynamic. We offer, because of the above-mentioned business owners and empathetic employers, good jobs, schooling, training and guidance to quickly transitioning these individuals to a new level.

Often these individuals, because of their disease, have lost much more than their health. We work with them to restore relationships, guide them to the best practices in transitioning back into society while focusing on helping these individuals regain everything that they have lost.

If you feel a connection with this cause I encourage you to volunteer to help anyway that you can. We are, of course in need of volunteers to help out with the initial workload of starting something like this and fighting addiction not the addicted individual. The war on drugs failed because we were fighting the wrong enemy. The entire recovery industry is broken because we were allowed dogma and superstition into our recovery programs. We focus on the life of the individual and her continued recovery. So if you are considering being a volunteer, I ask you to just start out with something small. We can talk about what you feel you can contribute and allow you to help in any way that we agree is fitting for our purpose. We need you.

We also need corporate sponsorship because we are starting A crowdfunding campaign in less than 60 days on IndieGoGo.com. That is why I am working so hard to build an online audience. I have an investor who had agreed to match my personal investment. The rest has to come from online investors.

I am currently most in new of print companies, online directories, Pro Bono business legal help in certain states*, preferably MI &  FL. Marketing, news media, grant writing &, SEO or anything.

If you just want to help doing something small, that would be great. You get the tee shirt regardless. If you are attempting to get your state's certified addiction specialist license, this is a great way to do some of the really specific volunteer hours.

Call 813.310.5563 for more info.

* FL, IL, VT, WY, KS, MI, , ND, RI or UT

Overcoming Urges

One of the hardest thing about making a New Year’s Resolution is keeping your commitment during urges, especially early on. It’s always smart to use the common sense tactics to be aggressive with your offense against your bad habit. It’ highly likely that anyone reading this has already lapsed back into your habit, that you’ve made the commitment to quit. The most common resolution made, or a very common one, at least is the main resolution I made with millions of others in Americans: to quit smoking. It’s easier said than done. In fact, most people who successfully quit smoking, research studies¹ suggest, attempt it over 20 times unsuccessfully. The fact is, if you’ve lapsed back into the habit, you are already closer to your goal than you normally would be, if you pick your commitment up now.

Some of the common sense methods that I mentioned above are the following:

·         Avoid areas that you’re about to identify as high risk zones.

·         Avoid (temporarily, at least, if even possible) the presence of friend and family who are likely to take part in the habit your trying to beat. It’s sucks but it’s an important part of successfully defeating any habit.*

·         Make sure that you’ve gotten rid of all items that you associate with taking part in your bad habit

·         If you’ve been successful until day 4, congratulations. You’ve done the hardest part with the most intense urges and cues to lapse. If not, four is any easy landmark to hit, so let’s focus on that, and at that time schedule something to lock you into your commitment and understand it for what it is, which is a symbol that you will be successful in your attempt to throw off whatever addiction makes you do the thing you don’t really want to. A great example for smoking is to have your teeth cleaned and whitened. Obviously, after that you’ve increased your chances of winning the fight. You’ve effectively tricked yourself to placing a higher importance on the need to overcome smoking. Since the fight is decided by, well, you, then as silly as it is, tricking yourself, or adding actual value to the beating of your decision. Whichever way you interpret it.

·         Another thing to punctuate a successful amount of time is to take on something healthy if it’s for your health, an added percent of a week’s income to boost your savings it you’re saving for something, or three days of doing your new activity for a longer time than normal. If your resolution is to quit smoking, try a 1-3 day juice fast or use a 21 or 30 day toxin cleanser. There is a special one for smokers who’ve quit at Vitamin World, and probably anywhere of that nature.

·         Do something to in the morning to prevent your habit all day. For instance, if yours is to work out, take your supplements before the warring factions of your mind start to argue about whether you should even go today. Or tell the “loser you”, that wants to just relax, that you’ll just drive to gym and then come back home. You’ll find that “winner you” will do the rest if you can just get your body to the gym.

·         Examine the things “loser you” is saying. This is the constant monologue that goes on in your head. LY can come up with some baseless excuses, that’s most of what this part of your mind does. It looks out to avoid immediate pain and seek instant pleasure, ONLY! YOU, though are in charge of you and choose whether or not to take LY’s advice.

These are things that we all know to do, but often it’s a good idea to see them laid out, as simple as they are. I notice with myself, even simple ideas coming from another source as input, can reinforce these ideas and bring them to the surface where I can more readily use them. Use whatever works for you.

There are also some techniques from the sharp psychological frameworks that I use when changing an area of my life. I’ll introduce the areas I usually consult for high power change and some that I am interested in becoming more familiar with.

·         NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) This is my favorite tool set for change in myself and even eliciting change in others. It is a psychological framework developed for influence over yourself and others, based on common human behavior. The idea is that we can study and implement behavior that will receive a certain response. It’s based on the programming the language of the mind. The way you stand, your posture and breathing all send feedback to your brain and can help you change your mood and every aspect of your life. I am a fairly new student of this metascience, but I have used the tools and techniques for effective results already. You can too. Soon, I will post an introduction to this great mindset. For more information on NLP visit http://www.nlpu.com/NewDesign/NLPU.html

A word of warning concerning NLP: There are a lot of people out there that have taken this 40 year old metascience and completely embedded wishful thinking into the processes. Here is an example of what I think does not work with the way our minds are programmed to understand communication. Try this "mind trick" out and let's hear if anyone has much success.

·         Processes and Tactics that are taught by self-help super-coaches, Stephen Covey (most famous for authoring “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”), Anthony Robbins, who has an amazing story and travels the world teaching his processes for change (He is probably most famous for his bestselling book “Awaken the Giant Within”, although he has an extensive volume of contributions that range from books and audio downloads/videos to research in the field of self-help and change.) I used to discount these types of “gurus”, because of the gimmicky industry that they are in. Anthony Robbins took some getting used to, but looking past his high energy and enthusiasm, he has programs for change. He has dozens of little individual exercises he encourages in his tapes, which can have a powerful effect. Tony Robbins - Official website of Tony Robbins www.tonyrobbins.com

Stephen Covey (10/24/32 – 7/16/2012) is an author that I have a reverence for that I’ve never had for someone I haven’t met. This man has authored several books and traveled speaking at seminars for the majority of his career. He is the founder of FranklinCovey, a business that makes business people better, using his original ideas and tools from his own research. If I could identify one factor that changed my life from addiction/suffering to a happy free life; it would have to be Stephen Covey’s work.

In my addiction I had to go to jail and while I was there, with nothing else to do, I picked up a John Grisham book, “A Painted House”, before that I hadn’t read any books, really. It took a while, but I changed and liked to read. I hated it before. After I read all the Grisham books from back then, and a few other fiction books, I decided that I should read books to learn something and better myself. I eventually worked my way to “The 7 Habits”, and though I couldn’t understand it all, I got so much from that book that I was moved to desire a change in my life, and now had some tools to use. I’ve read every word he’s written and the 7 habits 6 or 7 times. Each time I understand more, and it proves the point of the book. The 7^th habit (spoiler alert) is to “Sharpen the Saw”. Basically, this means to learn every day.  When you do, you grow and become more capable, competent and happy. Therefore, each time I read it I can take just as much away from it as the first time. I have to attribute the desire to change to Stephen Covey and the authors that teach real world ways to have what want and base your desires on principles that you value. For more info visit www.franklincovey.com

·         SMART Recovery® is a modern, science based recovery program for addicted individuals. It is similar to Alcoholics Anonymous, in that they have group meetings and fight the same foe. They are different in their core beliefs of what addiction is, how to effectively fight it, and even disagree on pillars of theory that each program is founded on. For instance, SMART Recovery, much less well known than AA and ¼ of the age, it tries to stay abreast of the latest scientific and medical research, using all available tools to attack addiction and defend against it. AA is strict in its traditions that are the constitution of AA and will not change until AA is no longer relevant. SMART doesn’t have 12-steps, they use a 4-point system; Maintain Motivation, Coping with Urges, managing thoughts feelings and emotions & living a balanced life. SMART does not maintain that an addict must hit “rock bottom” to begin to change, religion is outside of the scope of SMART, so a spiritual experience nor choosing a higher power is relevant nor necessary to recover from addiction. Instead of spirituality, they use science, and because of this many addicted individuals use both. You’ll notice the so far, that we have loosely stuck to these four points in the blog posts so far. There is more info about SMART Here.

·         The 12-Steps: since I mentioned them above, I should point out how truly powerful these steps can be and can be applied to any type of change. I know someone who quit smoking using the 12-steps. Find out more HERE.

·       

Albert Ellis

  Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy is a metascience that was developed by Dr. Albert Ellis, and has changed millions of lives. You can find out more about REBT HERE. I have a free e-book courtesy of the REBT Network, and you can download your free, no hassle copy HERE.

The basic premise of all of these schools of thought is that you can change anything in your life.  You are in the driver’s seat and no matter what obstacles are in the way of you and where you’d like to be, you run you, and making excuses only aids your enemy in controlling your behavior.

For Addiction to Drugs or Alcohol:

If you are trying to stop doing something like addictive drugs, as I’ve said before, that is outside of the scope of the New Year’s resolution strategies segment of this blog. However, I would love to help you find assistance which is imperative in changing a life controlling problem. You still have the power to change, but that power lies in your ability to be able to ask for help when you need it and being brutally honest with yourself. You can never have anything worth having in this life so long as you are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Since that is the main purpose of Focused Life, please, reach out and let us know about your problem and we’ll do all the heavy lifting in finding a place that will help you.

I hold no person in a higher regard than someone who defeats a drug or alcohol addiction. There is no shame in reaching out for help. It is the brave thing to do. It’s easy to stay in your current descending state of crisis, but it takes a noble soul to reach out and get assistance for the problem that is controlling your life. Addictions are very complex issues, and even though you may feel like you can beat it on your own if, you haven’t already, and then it’s highly unlikely that you will. Life is an experience; you can spend your entire existence letting something call the shots for you, or you can step up and get the help to kick this addictions ass. Call me on my cell phone. My name is Ryan and if you follow this link, you will find my number on the left-hand side of your screen. Even if you just need to talk, or want to learn more and aren’t ready to stop, call me. Morning, noon or night, call or text and we can figure out something that works for you.

Thanks for stopping in. Leave a comment and let us know how you are doing with your resolution. Tell us what’s working for you and what’s not. Tell or ask anything….

1. https://www.dropbox.com/s/6cummmymph4v50g/TobaccoFreeFL-Quit-Kit_5-FINAL.pdf?dl=0

Maintaining Motivation

I've stuck to the schedule, thus far without incident. I am so sore from yesterday’s workout and I couldn't have done it without you guys; or at least knowing that I’d look like a fool to you guys if I didn’t. Thanks either way. I started off the new, lifelong health change by doing a body shock. I worked out muscles I haven’t felt in years. I plan to do a body shock for another 6 straight days to really get my muscles aware that this is really going to happen. Then, taking Creatine monohydrate, and whey protein (always), I’ll move on to the longer phase of isolating muscle groups, by day of the week when I've rested for two days after my last body shock workout. 

20 minutes after quitting smoking, your heart rate and blood pressure drop.

I want to put on about thirty pounds of lean muscle because I was so embarrassed that I have withered away to nothing. I said that I’d always be honest on this blog, so I weighed myself and am ashamed to report that I am only 158 lbs. I know some of you are like, “What’s the #@%*ing problem, I wish I could lose weight.” Trust me. It’s a problem. I worked out a lot when I was younger, but I've never weighed more than 205 lbs., which made me look like a monster because I’m normally so scrawny. 

12 hours after quitting smoking, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

My goal for the summer is to be at a solid 185 and in athletic shape. I am going to start taking a photo in the mirror every day, so at the end of the first 30 days, and also the six months, I can show a before and after. I do not want to show the before until the after is ready, though. It’s horrible. 

In 2010, 52.8 percent of cigarette smokers in Florida made a quit attempt.

My plan for dealing with growth plateaus and proactivity, is leaning on supplements and changing my workouts up, before the monotony sets in. I’ll start taking creatine next week for 10 days, because, even though most of the mass one gains (sorry ladies, 1 sec) is going to be lost, seeing the results fast is important to me. I know myself and to maintain motivation, I have to go look in the mirror after I’m pumped up from a workout and be able to tell a difference. 

Two weeks to three months after quitting, your circulation improves and your lung function increases.

If you have any tips of how you will create or maintain your motivation, please post it in the comments. Your mind is yours. Your thoughts are conjured by you. You are accountable for your actions. So, you also get to reap rewards from positive behaviors. The concepts that I am going to share are from a number of sources and I will try to find out where they all originated and give the discoverer credit. 

One to nine months after quitting smoking, coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) start to regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.

If you lack motivation, I know of one quick exercise that will eliminate that lack today. If you can’t decide what you want to do, but have some ideas, I have a super simple way to make up your mind. If you are suffering from depression or any mental health issues, then please don’t mistake this for the prognosis of an expert. Seek medical treatment, but use this as well. 

About one year after quitting smoking, the excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a continuing smoker's risk.

Speaking of smoker's risk:

This is what happens when you drop your lighter
under your seat. Or, when you drink and get behind
the wheel. One of those two, I can't remember, this
used to happen so often,

I am not sure if I am ready to commit to quit something destructive in my life, or begin something great. This is how Benjamin Franklin made decisions, or that’s how the story goes. He would draw a line down the middle of a sheet of paper and one side would represent the pros, the other would represent the cons. This practice is widely used in sales, with uncertain prospects. If you know that the pros of buying your product or service outweigh the cons, this is an easy way to get a visual on all of the information that has to be taken into account to make a decision. 

15 years after quitting smoking, the risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker's risk.

10 years after quitting smoking, the risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a person who is still smoking.

If you know that your resolution is important to do, but you can’t seem to get your butt in gear, try this: Close your eyes. Think of a time, down the road from now, and focus on that time in your future. Spend 3-10 minutes visualizing your life, one, five, ten years from now, if you do the thing you want to. However, before you visualize that, take the same amount of time, with your eyes closed visualizing the effects that this thing will have on your life if you don't stick to your resolution. If you have a strong resolution with solid benefits, it will hard to sit there and imagine your life. You will want to get up and do something about it. 

Evidence-based cessation counseling and FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) provided by the program can double to triple your chances of successfully quitting.

Now, this exercise only works if you do it. Try one minute on each if you're too busy. Anyone can spare 2 minutes to manufacture the motivation you’ll need to stick to your resolution. I also want to quickly point out the power of doing a little research on your issue. I found some really great information in seconds about the benefits of quitting tobacco, and I will list them below. If your resolution is anything else, I’d suggest that you look up the benefits, or even get them from your Benjamin Franklin list. But, to keep your motivation up, you have to know why you are doing the things that you are. I imagine they won’t be pleasant for the most part, so it is easy to just give up. Don’t ignore the impact your resolution will have on your life. Find out all you can about the changes that are going to take place, as you start a new habit or quit an old one.

About five years after quitting smoking, stroke risk can fall to that of a non-smoker's risk and, risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder are cut in half. Cervical cancer risk falls to that of a non-smoker.

The first time I heard of this, Tony Robbins, a self-help guru whom I highly recommend, implored his audio audience to pull over and take the couple of minutes to see the results in their lives. I did this exercise and realized immediately some of the things that I must do in my life. This little powerful practice is called meditating. I know that it is somewhat taboo, and that’s a shame, because everyone should experience the life changing effects of different kinds of meditation. 

Most former smokers made several attempts before finally quitting permanently. The average smoker attempts to quit between eight and 11 times before succeeding.

In my opinion, an individual must become brutally honest with herself to make this thing work. I often see people that make excuses for their own status quo, when they obviously want to break away from it. Tomorrow, we will explore how to do this with psychological sciences. Keep up the good work and take control of your life today. You can change anything and you can change it in an instant. Once you realize your power to change the things under your direct control (you), you’ll love making changes and it won’t be so overwhelming. Old habits don’t die easy.

""Lift off" takes a tremendous effort, but once we break out of the gravity pull, our freedom takes on a whole new dimension.”  

--Stephen R. Covey

See ya, tomorrow!

The number of American adults, aged 18 and older, who smoked cigarettes declined from 20.9 percent in 2005 to 19.3 percent in 2010. This translates to 3 million fewer smokers.

Not only are there fewer smokers, but smokers are also smoking less. The number of adult smokers who smoke 30 or more cigarettes a day decreased to 8.3 percent in 2010, compared to 12.7 percent in 2005.

While fewer American adults are smoking, the rate of decline between 2005 and 2010 is slower than in the previous five-year period (2000-2005).

Since the Bureau of Tobacco Prevention Program (BTPP) was re-instated in 2007, adult smoking prevalence has declined, resulting in about 500,000 fewer adult smokers in Florida.

63.5 percent of adults who have ever smoked have quit and there are more former smokers in Florida than current smokers.

There are more former cigarette smokers than current cigarette smokers in Florida. 29.8 percent of adults in Florida are former cigarette smokers. Go Florida!

Find more information like this at http://www.tobaccofreeflorida.com

New Year's Resolution: How to keep it...a documented experiment

On New Year’s Eve you can see everyone celebrating in all different ways. My friends and I went to Bella’s in Tampa, and watched the fireworks from the roof of a building to get a good view.  There was a mix of us up there. Most people aren’t in recovery and don’t necessarily need it, one friend in this group is a hard-core alcoholic, in the precontemplation stage of the transtheoretical model’s Stages of Change¹.

One girl was in recovery for alcoholism and the rest were “normal”.  Guess what normal people want to do on New Year’s Eve. Drink? That’s half of it, but it seems that my “normal friends” want to drink until they get sick. That’s the difference in alcoholics and normal people. Normal people get sick and experience adverse effects from alcohol after the euphoric feelings fade, or one drinks past them.

I felt bad for the girl in recovery, because she was an alcoholic and last night could have been a major trigger for her to relapse. I only met her earlier in the night and asked if she was okay with being around such a powerful trigger. If I had been more familiar with her I would have put it a different way. Thankfully, she eventually rudely left the rest of us before midnight. People who don’t drink are such a bore. Yaaawn! I’m kidding, but last night’s situation, for her, was no joke. She has built six months of abstinence from alcohol and I would have been embarrassed and a hypocrite if she had given in. “Make no provision for sin”, the Bible states somewhere. This being my first blog post please forgive me for my rusty bibliography etiquette….or just laziness. I’m sure someone can help us out with the verse and book in the comment section below.

So, now that we know what “normal people” do during the celebration of the new, upcoming year; what do they do on the first day of that year? I now know, because I was up fairly early in spite of my late night babysitting gig, and I didn’t see many people out and about, but I found them soon enough. There were lines at the treadmills at my gym. Anytime Fitness has a unique quality. I’d bet you couldn’t guess it, but this is Focused Life’s blog, ultimately and not mine. I’d be responsible if I started a gambling addiction in someone, before I could really even get a chance to help anyone else out.

People make resolutions, and I’ll bet (gentlemen’s wager) that one of the first three days of January is the busiest day of your local gym’s year. And, in the first 30 days of this blog we are going to explore what makes January busy, but then people’s level of commitment has the tendency to slowly lose steam. To remind myself of the realities of the human tendency to skip I am going to make my resolution public, which is even higher stakes than the prospect of attempting this without posting it for everyone to see. However, if anyone is a smoker and is tired of that nasty habit, as I am; I invite you to quit smelling like a stale chemical explosion, with me. In fact, if there is a commitment that you would like to make and really be successful, we are going to be using the latest available tools of psychological/social sciences, medicine and group accountability to ensure the greatest odds of success (I swear I'm not making references to gambling on purpose.)
                                                               

If you smoke, seriously, do you realize how stupid we are for not trying to quit, at least after every pack. I get it, though. I know the reasons that we smoke, but they are silly sitting next to the consequences of being a smoker. We’ll get more into that later. I want to talk about some of the tools that we do have available to make or efforts more effective. I know some people may think of some of these tools as a crutch; which as actually an accurate assessment. When you have a broken leg, guess what the doctors might suggest you use? 

Some of the available tools are simply processes of change, some are social and psychological insights and theories. Some are medical and replacement tools. We will visit introductions to psychological sciences as a means of change like Neuro Linguistic Programming, Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, Processes implemented by self-help geniuses, like the late, great Stephen R. Covey, author of, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". I will try to anticipate the timing to coincide with tools that will help us all stick with it, especially during the first 30 days of this blog. I am in desperate need of feedback and suggestions to accomplish this. Please, if you have a resolution and don't make it on your first try or you haven't started yet, prepare to get back up or prepare to get started. Make your plan. Decide what you will do to draw motivation and fight urges or procrastination. 

If you are going to quit smoking, like me, realize what you are up against and treat it accordingly. I've been an off and on (only off when I was in jail or rehab) smoker for over 15 years. Why does it always creep back into my life? I think I have a reverence for the processes and tools and the willingness to attack this addiction with all I've got now. I expect to never smoke again, once I stop. I am confident for a reason, though. I have been studying self-help expert's processes of change for over ten years now, and very seriously over the last three. I don't envision myself as a smoker and I am going to make reality snap to congruence with my vision. The momentum from this victory will give me the confidence and experience to make new victories in my life afterwards. I've got a big year ahead and I will need that momentum, so I have every reason (motivation) to quit and not relapse. If I do, it's not the end of the world, I'll post it and keep trying and I hope you'll do the same. I've prepared for this and though a relapse is possible early on this thing is not going to beat me.

I’m going to be using a prescription called Chantix. Perhaps some of you have heard of it. I hear that it can make you suicidal and depressed as a common side effect. So what, I say. If it gives me the advantage that I need to no longer pay for Phillip Morris’ gas bill,(Phillip Morris is a huge corporation that makes money of off cigarette smokers. He is also the personification, for the purpose of this blog, of the evil that continuing such a devastating, addictive product to the public is.) then I’d take my chances without a way to lose technically, because either way I’m not giving him another dime, past my stop date. 
(Two things: I know. I just had be different, and make my resolution day the 7^th of this month, at 11:59 pm and whatever your resolution is, you can take some time to prepare. You don’t have to wait until next January.)

Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very
important part of your life. 
--Brooke Shields

I hope that you will join me, holding me accountable to my resolution of a healthier lifestyle this year. It’s nothing crazy, just go to the gym at least three times a week, do cardio three times a week, being more aware of what I eat. I can start eating right, this instant. I plan to go to the gym and do cardio, tomorrow, as well as make a routine out on the 5^th. Of course, that just leaves kicking smoking’s ass. I vow to always be truthful to anyone who might read this and please join in and make your life better somehow. Just do that thing you want to, or stop that thing that you don’t. Use this blog as a means to ensure you win. Thanks.

Happy 2015,

Ryan

Rob in back, Obee to your left, Tristan to your right, Chelsea right front, Ryan holding the camera

1.    http://www.uri.edu/research/cprc Cancer Prevention Research Center