Do you know anyone that prefers to watch TV instead of doing the more boring stuff - like running, going to the gym, doing the dishes or doing paper work?

… Now you're probably thinking - what kind of question is that Tom… everyone I know is like that!

Well, it turns out that it's actually a strategy that we have wired into our brains.

And it's wired in because of two things:

We (often unconsciously) choose to wire it into our brains by the decisions we repeatedly made

Our brains reward us with instant gratification in the form of a dopamine hit

In short we're hooked on short-term pleasure over long-term gratification.

As you know lately Donald Trump has been grabbing all the political headlines.

It's like Social Media and News Outlets have gone Trump crazy.

There's all the drama about the "existential crisis" for the Republicans… and talks of conspiracies to take "The Donald" out by whatever means necessary.

Cue The Manchurian candidate.

It's turning into a script from House of Cards.

Yet, according to PolitiFact, a Pulitzer prize winning site, a whopping 77% of the statements Donald has made are either false (40%), mostly false (17%) or flat out howling "pants on fire" false (20%).

So what I'm saying is yes - if you are watching Donald Trump and eating up all the pundit 'soundbites' he and others are making like it's the gospel, it's is making you dumb!

And it's most certainly is a HUGE distraction.

Point is:

… If you pick watching TV over exercising. It could also be costing you money… and degrading your health.

…if you pick watching TV over relationships. It's costing you some of the greatest joys of life.

…if you pick watching TV over working on your business or your dreams.

You're most certainly burning through the most unrecoverable and valuable asset.

Your TIME.

I mean let’s face it, everyone gets only a finite amount of time, right?

And if you work 8 hours per day plus commute, you know huge chunks of your days are working on someone else's goals. Your life is not yours.

And when you take away time for sleep, work and eating.

There isn't a lot of time left over for designing and creating a great life.

Particularly if watching TV consumes hours and hours of time every night.

This isn't a rant against TV (I have several shows I love) or against Donald (who I find entertaining to watch, if only for the half-baked and sometime OMG things he says… he's certainly made this campaign more interesting.)

It is a call to wake-up from the slumber of groundhog day living.

Of focusing your energies, talents and finite available time, on the things that really matter most to you.

Especially those things that involve sustained effort, which will pay off handsomely… things like your education, your health, finding or doing work you love and of course financial success and relationships.

In truth - all that's happening when you choose TV over a result you'd like in your life (a better body, more money, an exciting career, a great relationship etc.) but don't yet have, is your brain is picking what's more desirable - in the moment - over what is not as desirable right now…

…But that has a longer-term consequence, as you know.

The good news is… you can change it.

You can program your mind so you…

… pick up a book instead of the remote

… go for a run rather than grab a beer

… make that call instead of opening up Twitter/FB

… get that fit body instead of getting depressed

It's actually much easier than you think.

You can even reprogram your brain and body so it feels great to do those things, and you self-identify as being the kind of person who does them… so they become lifestyle habits for the long term.

Where you get all the rewards.

The admiration, the confidence, the self-esteem, the satisfaction, the money and an inner sense of joy and real gratitude.

And it's even so easy you don't need to

* feel bad

* talk to your 'higher' self

* or mess around with a bunch of techniques hoping something works

I'll share specific ways to do this in a future post. But for now I want to let you know it starts with clearing the junk out of your mind.

And to do that I recommend you check out this YouTube video, where I teach you the first steps in developing the mindset for having a more fulfilled life.

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