Do you have a goal? Like to eat healthier? Or get fit? Or lose weight?

But then do you get diverted from your goal, and find the distractions hard to resist?

For example, do you walk past the chocolate cake on the bench once, twice, three times, but eventually give in and eat some? Because each time the temptation arises, that little voice whispers “You deserve it!” and “Just a tiny piece will be OK!”

Actually, it’s well known that making decisions takes energy. Let me share how I discovered a hot tip to overcome these little temptations.

Years ago, I discovered that I was gluten intolerant. At first not eating gluten was really hard. It was someone’s birthday – how could I say no to their birthday cake?

But then, late one night when I was doubled over in pain from eating a meat pie, and it felt like I had a knife through my stomach, I made a decision. “Gluten is not food! Gluten is bad for me!”

So then, if someone had a cake or biscuits, I was not tempted. “That’s not food! That’s bad for me!” At first, to get started, I sometimes even said to myself “Poison! Don’t touch!”

And what I discovered was that it’s really easy to resist eating food, when in your head, you label it as “Poison! Don’t touch!!”

I mean, there’s no decision to make. I stepped away because that was the only logical choice.

Absolutely no willpower needed!

So what’s your most important goal at the moment?

And what are you finding it hard to resist, on the way to achieving your goal?

What’s distracting you from going for a walk, or eating that healthy salad or getting to bed earlier?

And how could you change the way you think about that, so that you make it easier to do the thing you really want to do?

If you make just one small change every week, by the end of the year that’s over 50 steps towards the life you’d love to live.

So what small change will you make today?