I remember playing this game as kid. We still play it with our little wrestlers.
Green light! Everyone runs as fast as they can.
Red light! They all stop cold in their tracks.
It’s fun watching those little kids take it so seriously. If I tried to get adults to play, I doubt I’d get many takers.
But here’s the crazy part. As adults we play this game everyday. And even crazier, we’re playing it backwards.
In the adult version no one’s yelling, “Red light, Green light.” So how do we know when to stop and go?
In life, we stop and go by how we feel about things.
Feel good about something - Green light!
Feel bad about it - Red light!
We’re hard wired to avoid pain and accept pleasure. And this works great - for survival. Standing at the edge of a cliff? Red light! Moving away form a speeding car? Green light!
But in daily life, using how we feel to decide to do something, eventually, almost always, gives us the opposite results.
Eating yummy sweets? Green light!
Feeling fat - Red light.
Avoiding the discomfort and pain of exercise? - Green light!
Feeling tired and out of shape - Red light.
Watching mindless T.V. instead of learning a new skill? Green light!
Stuck in a rut with a boring life - Red light.
Not sharing vulnerable feelings with your partner? Green light!
Being in a bad relationship - Red light.
See the pattern here? For most of what we do, feeling bad about something is actually a green light.
Let’s look again....
Feeling deprived without sweets?
Green light. That will slim you down and kick you into Survival Mode.
Feeling pain and suffering with exercise?
Green light. That will make your body stronger, faster, and lighter.
Feeling stupid when learning new skills?
Green light. That will make you a more valuable person.
Feeling splayed open sharing your feelings?
Green light. That will get you in tune with yourself and your partner.
What we initially thought was a red light, was actually a green light.
This brings us to the point that changes our lives forever:
THE REASON WE DON’T WANT TO DO SOMETHING, IS THE VERY REASON WE SHOULD BE DOING IT.
Avoiding sweets feels like you’re losing a friend? Then you’re most likely overweight and addicted to sugar.
Exercise literally hurts and feels like torture? Then you’re completely out of shape, physically breaking down, and life will soon suck for you.
Learning new skills feels too frustrating? Then you’ve been doing the same old things and you’re completely stagnant.
Sharing your feelings is a completely foreign idea? Then you have a ton of internal tension that’s going to come out as a health crisis.
From here on out, every time you find a reason not to do something, immediately ask yourself:
“Is this the very same reason I should do it?”
If your being honest with yourself, the answer will almost always be YES.
Now go do that thing.
All the red lights you’re feeling are keeping you stuck in place. That’s what red lights do. Turn them into green lights and keep moving forward.
In short time you’ll be shocked at how much your life has changed.
You’ll fall in love with this game all over again.
Get strong as hell,
Coach Ken