The concept of a “Doer” vs “Sayer” has application to the weight control arena. First, let’s bullet point the differences between “Doers” and “Sayers”:
DOERS:
• -Understand the importance and schedule the time necessary to get the result they want
• -Surround themselves with others who are DOING
• -Invest the necessary money, even if that means on cutting back on things that aren’t as high of a priority
• -Find the time by reducing less important activities
• -Understand there will be roadblocks but are determined to overcome them
• -Realize that the pain of their current situation is worse than their perceived pain of making the change and the future pain of NOT DOING is even worse.
• -Know there will never be a perfect time to start and the best day to start was yesterday and the second best day is today
SAYERS:
• Look at their busy schedule and refuse to move things around to make the time
• Allow lesser-valued activities to take over their lives for the more important things
• See how much it will cost and compare that to what else they could be buying (bigger house, newer car, more clothes, more vacations, etc)
• See the roadblocks ahead and quit before they start because they don’t want to fail
• Are afraid of what others will think and say about them as they make their change
• Have a short term mindset rather than thinking about the long term outcome
• Think that a year from now life will be in a better spot to make the change
Now, back how this applies to long-term weight control: “Saying” you are committed to shedding the weight and keeping that weight off is LOTS different than actually taking the very difficult steps necessary to accomplish this. There are many obstacles, barriers and challenges to controlling weight long-term. However, with the right mind-set, commitment and a solid strategy in place, we can all be “DOERS” rather than “SAYERS”.
