Pick Your Pain

The full quote by Jim Rohn is:

“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.”

Pain is not just a physical sensation. It is, as we know, emotional as well.

And it’s unavoidable.

Accept that.

Accept, too, that there is pain going through the process of change.

There’s discomfort in the doing part of that change.

Many people try to avoid pain at all costs. In my world, that means jumping from one quick fix weight loss product to another; overlapping one to the next so as not to leave any gap in between. That’s the scary “pain of regret” gap. The space where they have nothing to do until the next fix comes along so as to focus their time and money and energy on that product, that program.

But being constantly overly focused on avoiding any pain takes away your ability to learn new things, to experience what you’re actually capable of, to appreciate the joy of being happy and in control. Confident. And we learn, we experience, we appreciate, we feel in control only after the pain of discipline.

When it comes to weight loss, there are hundreds of little moments throughout the day, the week, the month, that invite discipline. You have to claw your way through them. One at a time. At each moment, you can choose to be disciplined right then and face a small pinch of pain, or avoid that pain, go “off,” and delay that pain for later.

Each individual 60-second weighs very little. But added up overtime they weigh tons.

And those tons of moments are incredibly heavy. They’re the “what if’s . . . ” when you look back on all the time — the tons of moments — that has passed.

The pain of regret is a burden that sticks with you.

The pain of discipline, however, is a series of small pains that disappear quickly.

So, in a couple weeks, a month, three months, a year, more . . . will you be looking back and be as proud as a peacock of the discipline you put into the work of weight loss and lifestyle change?

Or will you look back and regret not facing those 60-second pains when they were much smaller than they are, no doubt, now.

Pay now and play later . . . or . . . play now and pay later.

And the piper always comes.

The choice is yours.