Coach Ted discusses the precipitating thoughts and limiting beliefs that lead us astray from our intended actions.
The Thought that Precipitates the Action
arrow_drop_down_circle
Divider Text
The Thought that Precipitates the Action
Season 4/Episode 33
April 13, 2022
[Block//Author//First Name] [Block//Author//Last Name] [Block//Date Added %M j, Y g:i a%+0d0h0m]
[Block//Comment]
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
This is the Ted O'Neill Program where we explore science and philosophy for performance optimization and the elevation of the human experience. From the mind of Ted O'Neill with Jon Leon Guerrero.
0:22 Jon
Welcome to the Ted O'Neill program. Today's Wednesday, and we are exploring the topic of consumption. And where are we headed with it today?
0:32 Ted
Well, we're going to kind of go a little bit into the standard concept. You know, people think of consumption as eating or drinking. But as we discussed yesterday, there's a lot more to this, because we can consume through our eyes, through our ears, through the relationships and through the exchanges we have with others, what we expose ourselves to. These are all ways that we consume in general.
But in the physical, it's the most pronounced. Everything in the physical, it's tactile. It's hands on. We experience it in the way that we perceive reality to be. Even if it's not the only reality. So the way I often look at this, and the passage that I discussed yesterday about… in order to have a sustained, elevated experience, I talked about having your brain and your body on lockdown. So what that means is not being at the whim of changes in chemistry. So if I get hungry, does that mean that I go and I overeat this huge meal? If I have a mental obsession about something, does that mean to engage that behavior? Things that are rooted in the physical have to do with chemical changes.
So, my belief is, as our chemistry changes, this is what predominantly grounds us into the world of cause and effect. (Okay.) So definitely some people call it being a materialist. In other words, the things that I can feel and touch and sense, that way, are the only things that are real to me, or they create the predominant amount of my reality.
So, if our chemistry brings us more into the material world, then I think this really bears looking at, because there can be different states of being attached with that. And this is… this can be obvious; if someone eats fast food every day, versus someone who is preparing balanced meals that are specific to a macronutrient ratio that has been deemed best for their particular body type and their activity level and their stated ideals, goals, and objectives—this is something that then becomes really, really easy to see—what seemed to be a very, very basic concept, where if you're at the whim of needing to eat certain things because you crave them, then you are a slave to your tongue. And to those things that exist outside of you. Where you have to, then, get that to change your chemistry. And as you change your chemistry, what do you think is going to happen? You're going to then seek more of the same.
3:05 Jon
It's a slippery slope.
3:06 Ted
And it's a cycle. And that's what I mean by… this grounds you more into the realm of cause and effect. “I eat this. Now I'm going to create more of this.” This now becomes a lifestyle as I enact this behavior over and over and over again.
3:24 Jon
Let that sink in. Boy, is that the truth. I can absolutely relate to that specific thing. As I think of myself in my just gluttonous identity, my fattest. Well, all of those things were absolutely true.
3:41 Ted
So, let's look at if we can, I want you to, if you can even remember what that was like to be that person. Let’s A-B this to where—what your thoughts were that precipitated the moments of gluttonous behavior. (Okay.) Versus where you sit now, in the seat of having totally transformed your body, you’re thinking and your life.
4:05 Jon
Yeah, well, okay, so let's get a couple of things out of the way. First of all, I still don't not still like pecan pie. I still like pecan pie.
[Laughter]
4:15 Jon
I still like pecan pie. (All right, you still like… So, okay.)
This is a—part of my identity was that, if you hollered out a place that you were going to visit? It was somewhat likely that I could tell you someplace to get some gluttonous meal. “Oh, you know what you do. When will you get there? You go to a little place there called Mother’s, and you get the bread pudding. Make sure you get it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.” I can tell you about most cities in the United States. (Wow. Yeah.) But it was never, “Hey, you know who's got the freshest kale salad?” It was always something like that. You know where you can get the thing that the person’s serving you? This…
Oh man, so many memories come into my mind where I could think, “Oh, yeah, Dreamland Barbecue in Birmingham, Alabama.” The guy who's serving you your meal. Mmm, God bless him. He's going to die in the next two years. You can tell like, wow, that's Big Earl. He doesn't have much time left. (Right.)
And still I embrace these places. But what precipitated these thoughts? “Oh, I'm going to enjoy this delicious meal now.” Would I still love a rib from Dreamland barbecue? Sure. I'm going to have that rib. Probably going to be a whole lot less sauce on it. Because I now understand, hey, man, that's a rib. This is a piece of nutriment that is giving life. Enjoy it for what it is.
5:45 Ted
It's now for you an experience versus a lifestyle.
5:49 Jon
Right. Yes. And then the experience part of it is so much deeper because, as I consume this rib or bite of pecan pie or whatever, I'm going to enjoy it for exactly what it is. While this bite of pecan pie, let's say, is spectacular. It's explosive. It's really sweet. It's delicious. Ooh, I'm going to pay for that. And I'm going to enjoy it in the type of moderation that allows me to say, “I can put this away now. I have ordered the pecan pie. I have consumed what I need out of it.” I'm going to thank it and set it aside and move on. But there was a time when I paid $4 for that pecan pie, because I'm going to eat every crumb of that, because I paid $4 for it. Now I realize, you know, hey, there's an experience there. Is that bite worth $4? I can let it be worth that if that's what I choose at that moment. Sure. Or I can say, hey, I'd rather do something else.
6:49 Ted
So then that sounds like you're not ruled by your cravings or compulsions.
6:54 Jon
So, I've chosen a different set of rules. And that set of rules, first of all, is based on my vitality and longevity. And so, I'm going to say, “Here's what I need to consume, because my physical being needs this in order to perform in the way that I enjoy performing, and to experience the alertness, the complimentary comments from people I know and love.” So, all of those things come into it. And now that pecan pie—that bite of that's going to be pretty good, but better eat the really good stuff so I can continue to enjoy the things that I enjoy about the physical state that I'm in, the longevity that I'm continuing to enjoy, the fact that I'm turning my aging clock backwards. You know, all of these things mean a whole lot more to me than, “Man, I paid four bucks for that pecan pie. I better eat all four buck’s worth of it.”
7:49 Ted
Right? Yep. Because we're going to throw your life away over $4. (Right. Yeah!)
[Laughter]
So, you've moved from a place of servitude or slavery to this idea of what the body is demanding that you do. And so, the mental obsession portion of that is, it’s $4, because what's four bucks? (Yeah.) Coffee now costs $4 for a cup, and so there's no obligation to eat all $4 worth, that's a mental obsession. In other words, it's a thing that we would say in our brain to then justify the execution of the behavior. So, you're now coming from an entirely different place. So, with that being said, I want to know where, in your personal opinion, then, that you're not demonstrating mastery. Because you started this by saying that you feel that you're not always in the place of mastery.
8:38 Jon
Because there are times when I am less in full command of that thought process.
8:45 Ted
Alright, so pause on that for a second. There. So, what you're describing with the pie and the rib, you're in control of your faculties, you're making conscious decisions. You're saying, “This is why I'm going to choose this,” or, “This is an option and I don't choose it today.” (Yeah.) Or “I buy this for whatever and I'm going to buy this for this price knowing I'm going to have one bite.” (Yeah.) So, you're exhibiting a great deal of personal agency there. So, walk me through the thought then the precipitates the other moment. Where you don't feel that you have that same level of cognizance or control over your outcome. What does that look like for you now?
9:27 Jon
Yeah, here's what it looks like now. “Boy, I intended to take a bite of that pecan pie. And I've eaten the whole thing.”
9:35 Ted
Okay. So, in that place you fall back into. So, if we know then that it's not physical… Even though we're talking about the physical part right now. But that's fine. Yeah, let's go. I want to go a little bit deeper on this because when you said that I became intrigued by that for you specifically. So, let's go a little.
9:55 Jon
That's not the only one though. So, I'll just give you the other one. I'll be doing something in my normal patterns, but I'll get a milkshake. And I'll just, you know, I'll answer a compulsion at that moment. And then I'll know though as I'm doing it, like, “Ooh, I'm answering a compulsion,” and then, “Okay, but I'm not going to turn back,” and then they call my number and I go up and I get my salad. I also ordered a milkshake. Yeah, there it is. And I'll take the milkshake and I'll go, “Ahh, doing it again.”
10:23 Ted
That's how that presents. But what kicks that into gear? That's the part I want you to grab.
10:31 Jon
Yeah, that's a really good question. What kicks that into gear? Perhaps I hadn't really realized that there are still occasional attachments to that personality. Okay. You know, I was really, I know yesterday I referred to myself as having been a magnificent fatass. I was really good at it. But it's part of that whole, jovial, fat person personality, like, “Oh, yeah, that guy. He's always happy. He's always got a milkshake, or he's always whatever it is.” And there are, I guess you know, times where I still find charm in my attachment to that thing or I… It's not even… I can't say that I find it charming. I just remain attached at times. And sometimes I have to report back to myself. Like, “Hey, man, what are you doing?”
11:21 Ted
So, I want you to find what that attachment is. Okay. Because you said that what was the wording? That jovial fat guy holding the milkshake. (Yeah.) But that guy, in fact, wasn't jovial about that because he changed his whole life. (Yeah, that's true.) In fact, he wasn't so happy. Maybe the milkshake was creating the state change to get out of the feeling that theoretically that person, or you, might have been experiencing in that moment, and then creating the chemical state change was able to experience something closer to joy, by, maybe, turning away from a different feeling you were having. (Ahhh.) So, see if any of that resonates.
12:00 Jon
Yeah. Okay. Well, I'm going to explore that. Because I can say yes, it resonates, but not yet to a point where I really have an expression about it that's going to be very articulate.
12:14 Ted
So, hold on to that thought, because when we get into the mental component of this, let's see if we can find it by them.
12:19 Jon
Alright.
0:22 Jon
Welcome to the Ted O'Neill program. Today's Wednesday, and we are exploring the topic of consumption. And where are we headed with it today?
0:32 Ted
Well, we're going to kind of go a little bit into the standard concept. You know, people think of consumption as eating or drinking. But as we discussed yesterday, there's a lot more to this, because we can consume through our eyes, through our ears, through the relationships and through the exchanges we have with others, what we expose ourselves to. These are all ways that we consume in general.
But in the physical, it's the most pronounced. Everything in the physical, it's tactile. It's hands on. We experience it in the way that we perceive reality to be. Even if it's not the only reality. So the way I often look at this, and the passage that I discussed yesterday about… in order to have a sustained, elevated experience, I talked about having your brain and your body on lockdown. So what that means is not being at the whim of changes in chemistry. So if I get hungry, does that mean that I go and I overeat this huge meal? If I have a mental obsession about something, does that mean to engage that behavior? Things that are rooted in the physical have to do with chemical changes.
So, my belief is, as our chemistry changes, this is what predominantly grounds us into the world of cause and effect. (Okay.) So definitely some people call it being a materialist. In other words, the things that I can feel and touch and sense, that way, are the only things that are real to me, or they create the predominant amount of my reality.
So, if our chemistry brings us more into the material world, then I think this really bears looking at, because there can be different states of being attached with that. And this is… this can be obvious; if someone eats fast food every day, versus someone who is preparing balanced meals that are specific to a macronutrient ratio that has been deemed best for their particular body type and their activity level and their stated ideals, goals, and objectives—this is something that then becomes really, really easy to see—what seemed to be a very, very basic concept, where if you're at the whim of needing to eat certain things because you crave them, then you are a slave to your tongue. And to those things that exist outside of you. Where you have to, then, get that to change your chemistry. And as you change your chemistry, what do you think is going to happen? You're going to then seek more of the same.
3:05 Jon
It's a slippery slope.
3:06 Ted
And it's a cycle. And that's what I mean by… this grounds you more into the realm of cause and effect. “I eat this. Now I'm going to create more of this.” This now becomes a lifestyle as I enact this behavior over and over and over again.
3:24 Jon
Let that sink in. Boy, is that the truth. I can absolutely relate to that specific thing. As I think of myself in my just gluttonous identity, my fattest. Well, all of those things were absolutely true.
3:41 Ted
So, let's look at if we can, I want you to, if you can even remember what that was like to be that person. Let’s A-B this to where—what your thoughts were that precipitated the moments of gluttonous behavior. (Okay.) Versus where you sit now, in the seat of having totally transformed your body, you’re thinking and your life.
4:05 Jon
Yeah, well, okay, so let's get a couple of things out of the way. First of all, I still don't not still like pecan pie. I still like pecan pie.
[Laughter]
4:15 Jon
I still like pecan pie. (All right, you still like… So, okay.)
This is a—part of my identity was that, if you hollered out a place that you were going to visit? It was somewhat likely that I could tell you someplace to get some gluttonous meal. “Oh, you know what you do. When will you get there? You go to a little place there called Mother’s, and you get the bread pudding. Make sure you get it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.” I can tell you about most cities in the United States. (Wow. Yeah.) But it was never, “Hey, you know who's got the freshest kale salad?” It was always something like that. You know where you can get the thing that the person’s serving you? This…
Oh man, so many memories come into my mind where I could think, “Oh, yeah, Dreamland Barbecue in Birmingham, Alabama.” The guy who's serving you your meal. Mmm, God bless him. He's going to die in the next two years. You can tell like, wow, that's Big Earl. He doesn't have much time left. (Right.)
And still I embrace these places. But what precipitated these thoughts? “Oh, I'm going to enjoy this delicious meal now.” Would I still love a rib from Dreamland barbecue? Sure. I'm going to have that rib. Probably going to be a whole lot less sauce on it. Because I now understand, hey, man, that's a rib. This is a piece of nutriment that is giving life. Enjoy it for what it is.
5:45 Ted
It's now for you an experience versus a lifestyle.
5:49 Jon
Right. Yes. And then the experience part of it is so much deeper because, as I consume this rib or bite of pecan pie or whatever, I'm going to enjoy it for exactly what it is. While this bite of pecan pie, let's say, is spectacular. It's explosive. It's really sweet. It's delicious. Ooh, I'm going to pay for that. And I'm going to enjoy it in the type of moderation that allows me to say, “I can put this away now. I have ordered the pecan pie. I have consumed what I need out of it.” I'm going to thank it and set it aside and move on. But there was a time when I paid $4 for that pecan pie, because I'm going to eat every crumb of that, because I paid $4 for it. Now I realize, you know, hey, there's an experience there. Is that bite worth $4? I can let it be worth that if that's what I choose at that moment. Sure. Or I can say, hey, I'd rather do something else.
6:49 Ted
So then that sounds like you're not ruled by your cravings or compulsions.
6:54 Jon
So, I've chosen a different set of rules. And that set of rules, first of all, is based on my vitality and longevity. And so, I'm going to say, “Here's what I need to consume, because my physical being needs this in order to perform in the way that I enjoy performing, and to experience the alertness, the complimentary comments from people I know and love.” So, all of those things come into it. And now that pecan pie—that bite of that's going to be pretty good, but better eat the really good stuff so I can continue to enjoy the things that I enjoy about the physical state that I'm in, the longevity that I'm continuing to enjoy, the fact that I'm turning my aging clock backwards. You know, all of these things mean a whole lot more to me than, “Man, I paid four bucks for that pecan pie. I better eat all four buck’s worth of it.”
7:49 Ted
Right? Yep. Because we're going to throw your life away over $4. (Right. Yeah!)
[Laughter]
So, you've moved from a place of servitude or slavery to this idea of what the body is demanding that you do. And so, the mental obsession portion of that is, it’s $4, because what's four bucks? (Yeah.) Coffee now costs $4 for a cup, and so there's no obligation to eat all $4 worth, that's a mental obsession. In other words, it's a thing that we would say in our brain to then justify the execution of the behavior. So, you're now coming from an entirely different place. So, with that being said, I want to know where, in your personal opinion, then, that you're not demonstrating mastery. Because you started this by saying that you feel that you're not always in the place of mastery.
8:38 Jon
Because there are times when I am less in full command of that thought process.
8:45 Ted
Alright, so pause on that for a second. There. So, what you're describing with the pie and the rib, you're in control of your faculties, you're making conscious decisions. You're saying, “This is why I'm going to choose this,” or, “This is an option and I don't choose it today.” (Yeah.) Or “I buy this for whatever and I'm going to buy this for this price knowing I'm going to have one bite.” (Yeah.) So, you're exhibiting a great deal of personal agency there. So, walk me through the thought then the precipitates the other moment. Where you don't feel that you have that same level of cognizance or control over your outcome. What does that look like for you now?
9:27 Jon
Yeah, here's what it looks like now. “Boy, I intended to take a bite of that pecan pie. And I've eaten the whole thing.”
9:35 Ted
Okay. So, in that place you fall back into. So, if we know then that it's not physical… Even though we're talking about the physical part right now. But that's fine. Yeah, let's go. I want to go a little bit deeper on this because when you said that I became intrigued by that for you specifically. So, let's go a little.
9:55 Jon
That's not the only one though. So, I'll just give you the other one. I'll be doing something in my normal patterns, but I'll get a milkshake. And I'll just, you know, I'll answer a compulsion at that moment. And then I'll know though as I'm doing it, like, “Ooh, I'm answering a compulsion,” and then, “Okay, but I'm not going to turn back,” and then they call my number and I go up and I get my salad. I also ordered a milkshake. Yeah, there it is. And I'll take the milkshake and I'll go, “Ahh, doing it again.”
10:23 Ted
That's how that presents. But what kicks that into gear? That's the part I want you to grab.
10:31 Jon
Yeah, that's a really good question. What kicks that into gear? Perhaps I hadn't really realized that there are still occasional attachments to that personality. Okay. You know, I was really, I know yesterday I referred to myself as having been a magnificent fatass. I was really good at it. But it's part of that whole, jovial, fat person personality, like, “Oh, yeah, that guy. He's always happy. He's always got a milkshake, or he's always whatever it is.” And there are, I guess you know, times where I still find charm in my attachment to that thing or I… It's not even… I can't say that I find it charming. I just remain attached at times. And sometimes I have to report back to myself. Like, “Hey, man, what are you doing?”
11:21 Ted
So, I want you to find what that attachment is. Okay. Because you said that what was the wording? That jovial fat guy holding the milkshake. (Yeah.) But that guy, in fact, wasn't jovial about that because he changed his whole life. (Yeah, that's true.) In fact, he wasn't so happy. Maybe the milkshake was creating the state change to get out of the feeling that theoretically that person, or you, might have been experiencing in that moment, and then creating the chemical state change was able to experience something closer to joy, by, maybe, turning away from a different feeling you were having. (Ahhh.) So, see if any of that resonates.
12:00 Jon
Yeah. Okay. Well, I'm going to explore that. Because I can say yes, it resonates, but not yet to a point where I really have an expression about it that's going to be very articulate.
12:14 Ted
So, hold on to that thought, because when we get into the mental component of this, let's see if we can find it by them.
12:19 Jon
Alright.
LISTEN TO MORE EPISODES
LISTEN TO MORE EPISODES
clear
Lifted Academy is the next movement in human evolution, offering specific high-level strength training of any and all weaknesses found in the four planes of your existence: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Turn your biggest weakness into your greatest strength.