Press Reset

-by Matt Leedham

Have you ever noticed that the decisions you make tend to have momentum? Sometimes things "come in three's," or you can just get on a roll, right?

When I ask this, most people assume I mean positive momentum. Meaning, good decisions tend to lead to other good decisions. This is true.

But the inverse is also true. Negative momentum exists as well. Poor decisions can lead to more poor decisions. If unchecked, this can snowball into a poor choices over time and lead to a poor lifestyle.

Jaime often gives a great example that a lot of us, both male and female, struggle with. Most of us are on a quest to have a healthy diet. What happens when you indulge and succumb to temptation? What happens when you go out to dinner for a friend’s birthday and don’t turn down the ‘death by chocolate’ piece of cake?

It’s easy to tell yourself, “ah, I’ve already screwed up my diet today, what’s another piece of cake…or glass of wine…or…?” And before you know it, one poor decision leads to another and by the end of the week, your diet is in the trashcan and you’re just operating at the whim of your temptations.

Same thing goes for drinking alcohol. If you have one too many at night, what does your breakfast tend to look like the next morning? If you’re anything like me, it’s fried! That’s right, anything that’s been sitting in oil in a frying pan all of a sudden has a great, big, blinking billboard on it saying “EAT ME!”

Last example that I see all too often: you decide to not step out of your comfort zone and apply for that promotion. Or maybe you talk yourself out of approaching that attractive guy or girl. These little decisions, which may be well justified in your mind, can sometimes add up and create an inner culture of defeat. Over time, it can affect your confidence.

This isn’t just a week-to-week issue. I’ve met people that have built up this negative momentum over years. You can imagine how ingrained this pattern of decision making can be. How they’ve now convinced themselves that they can’t make other choices. That they’re not FULLY in control.

The key to avoiding this negative momentum is to press the reset button. It’s to put the breaks on the whole decision making pattern you’ve started to adopt, and realize 2 truths:

1. There IS a reset button…all you have to do is push it.
2. You DO have a choice…you can push it, or you can choose not to.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with a few life/executive coaches over the years, and this is one of the more powerful benefits. That is, a) they can often recognize the negative momentum going on in your life, b) inform you that a reset button exists, and c) challenge you to push it.

So, what do you think? Are you ready to take control and reverse any negative momentum in your life? Are you ready to push the reset button?