Goal sabotage 57 The gap between a‘ nice idea’ and execution To complicate matters further, I do not believe that everyone who says they want to lose weight really wants to – deep down where it matters. I know lots of people who would like more money but clearly it is just a nice idea to them – they don’ t do anything to make it happen. We all need to recognize that wanting something does not have much to do with whether or not we are motivated to make it happen. There is a big gap between a nice idea, such as losing weight, and the‘ execution’ or making it happen. Remember our earlier discussion in Chapter 2 about motivation and how ultimately it will come down to how much pain and pleasure we associate with a given activity? This process has almost nothing to do with our conscious wishes. So as you read this, think about how badly you want to lose weight. Is there pain associated with not changing your eating habits? Can you get in touch with this pain right now? If your health has already been affected then this will be easier for you. On the other side of the equation: What is the real pleasure and satisfaction in losing weight? Is it really just a nice idea? I find a lot of people want to lose weight because it is a nice idea. The media bombards us with what we should look like, and then in a cleverly crafted piece of propaganda links this ideal body image to being happy. The message is, unless you look like this, wear these clothes, drive this car you can’ t possibly be happy. My God, you poor misguided soul to think otherwise! One of the most common lines I hear is something like,“ Of course, I’ m motivated, I wouldn’ t be here if I wasn’ t.” Wrong. If you are talking to me, or reading this book, you may be motivated to do things differently, but equally you may still be in the‘ nice idea’ phase. It is not until you have to execute the plan that we will find out how motivated you really are.