I get really aggravated when people say "I have to" or "I had to." Pardon my french but NO you f****** didn't. You had a choice. You probably just made the wrong one.

Most often I get aggravated because the topic is generally geared towards nutrition.

"Well, it was someone's birthday in the office and they brought in cake so I had to eat a piece." Really? No, that was your choice; no one forced you.


"The only food around me was McDonalds so I had to stop in." Sorry again, still your choice.

Yes you ALWAYS have a choice, even if someone has a gun to your head demanding your wallet you have a choice. Choose to give up your wallet or choose to get shot.

Every second of everyday we're confronted with choices.

A while back I learned a trick to make good choices easier. Instead of thinking of every decision as a choice I decided to think of it as a TRADE. By changing the word and changing my perspective just a little bit, achieving my goals became easier.

My formula for trading became:


This sounds like common sense but you wouldn't believe how well it works when dealing with everyday situations. It also keeps the outcome a positive one instead of negative, not to mention better then whatever you were deciding about in the first place.

For example: If I'm confronted with a huge plate of cheesy nachos, jalapeños, sour cream and meat I now have two ways of looking at it...


When confronted with trades I've found myself much more likely to be able to say NO to the temptation and remain on track with my goals. Do you see how much easier this can be?

Now I'm not saying you're going to win this battle every time but I have found it to be more successful then the alternative.

Conclusion
Achieving any goal, nutritional or not, is just a series of small steps in the right direction. The more of these steps we do correctly the closer we become to achieving that goal. Hopefully, by looking at your decisions as TRADES instead of CHOICES you'll be that much closer to achieving your goals.

I hope this helps you make better trades :)