The expression “The Pen is Mightier Than The Sword” was first written by novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, in his historical play Cardinal Richelieu. Richelieu, chief minister to King Louis XIII, discovers a plot to kill him, but as a priest he is unable to take up arms against his enemies. His page, Francois, points out: But now, at your command are other weapons, my good Lord. Richelieu agrees: The pen is mightier than the sword… Take away the sword; States can be saved without it!
By way of this proverb, Bulwer-Lytton wanted to state that the power of writing is much greater than the power of war and hatred. A war always ends in sufferings and loss where as writing is a gift to mankind. More positive things can be accomplished via writing and influencing rather than physical conflict.
Well, what does any of the above have to do with weight control? Here goes:
Almost all of us have morphed away from writing things down in favor of using our mobile devices, tablets and other electronics to make notes. More specifically in “diet and exercise” there are countless apps that allow us to monitor how much/what types of foods we are ingesting, how many steps we are taking, how many calories are being burned during exercise etc.
I believe that the old fashioned way of taking out a pen and writing things down is a more effective aid for weight control than using electronics:
- Shopping lists
- Motivational reasons why you want to lose weight
- Food/beverage journaling
- Derailing behaviors that interfere with the weight control journey
- How to approach challenging upcoming experiences such as vacations, business trips, prolonged airport times
Writing things out pen to paper provides more “quality” time to go through the thought process as opposed to using electronics. There is simply too much temptation to check the sports scores, stock market performance or look at what your friends are doing/eating via their constant Instagram, twitter, Facebook and Tik Tok posts and lose focus on your own mission.
So, filling in the blank in the title of this entry, when it comes to weight control, “The Pen Is Mightier Than The Smart Phone”.
