I’m not going to spoil the movie for you if you didn’t get around to seeing it when it first came out. And if you haven’t seen it yet? May I recommend you add it somewhere near the top of your ‘to watch’ list…if for no other reason than to watch Leo be Leo and get sensory overload from the visuals in this movie.
‘Inception’, beyond confusing to some, weirdly relatable to me…produces several concepts that, if applied to your own life, could actually help you become way more fit for real life.
#1. Pay attention to the details
How often do we go through the day without really noticing anything because it just fades into the background? Your mind is built to do that so that you can focus brain power on to the stuff that is different than the day before and react quickly to it. We may ride that pony a little long though & miss noticing the subtle changes that happen in our lives that let us know we are here, present, and living our lives.
When I left the movie, I had such an acute awareness of my surroundings – the music playing in the theatre lobby, the kid posing for a picture that his mom was taking, the angles of walls & doors & their detail work – it was all always there but I just used my brain power to notice it all.
What if you started paying closer attention to what your body is telling you?
What if you applied attention to the details of a workout program rather than going through the motions all the while thinking about other things?
What if you decided to learn the details of what exercise & nutrition mean for your body’s needs instead of trying whatever the workout or diet du jour is?
Paying greater attention during workout time is practice for paying greater attention in the rest of your life. Don’t miss that opportunity.
#2. There’s going to be a “kick”, something to wake you up
What has woken you up to the critical importance of you being healthy, fit and well, connected to a social group, happily going through life with a good-natured demeanor? All these things are +’s that can help you live a longer, better quality life. But being told you ‘should’ do something doesn’t do it for most people.
So instead, look for your “kick” to spur you to some sort of action. That “kick” can be a major challenge or struggle, or seeing someone else’s major challenge or struggle. If you’re smart, you’ll take the latter as your “kick”, but if you’re anything like me, you have to get the kick in your own ass in order to get going. As long as you take action after your “kick”, that “kick” is a good thing, no matter how painful it is to experience.
If you’ve already gotten your “kick,” remember it often so you can remain aligned & excited to what will make you your best Self!
#3. An idea is an incredibly powerful thing when implanted in the mind
Dr. Wayne Dyer writes about memes – viruses of the mind – thoughts we’ve had since our childhood that we let control who we are as adults. They have been wired in, practically encased in cement into our minds, and only with awareness & effort can they come undone so that new memes can be laid down.
Once your mind takes hold of even the tiniest thought, your brain has the ability to create the need to have that idea come to fruition, to get you in a state of comfort with the idea regardless of if its’ good for you & can take serious attention & mindfulness to change. If you think about how tired you are, your brain has the ability to latch to that idea & create surroundings that match that idea so that you really do create a feeling of tiredness for yourself!
Positive or negative, when it takes hold in your mind, there is practically no stopping you – what you need to accomplish that idea will seem to come out of the woodwork – you will create possibilities for yourself simply by thinking of that first idea.
This is an insanely powerful thing to understand in your work to live healthy and fit. Think you’ve got ‘bad genes’ – you’re capable of creating a life that shows you that you do indeed have ‘bad genes.’ Know that genes provide some groundwork for life but that they are changeable at any time. You’ll create the world to match your beliefs, and you are not destined for one route in life just because your genes, your family, or anyone else says so.
#4. Who is to say this is the best situation you’re going to be in?
You have no idea what’s waiting around the corner – it’s silly to think your current state is the best you’re going to get. There will be peaks, and valleys, and all of it is part of the experience of living your life.
We are only hindered in our imagine by our ability to fantasize. Find it hard to fantasize about what’s possible? Like anything else, imagination takes practice and consistency. Start with a deceptively simply question and expand from there: “What do I want?” Not so easy to answer at first, if you’re un-practiced in this arena. Take whatever answer you come up with, and then ask, “what does that mean?” Take whatever answer you get from that and repeat the question, “what does that mean?”, and on and on until you feel the shift in your soul that says, “ah, THAT’S what I want.”
The ability to generate amazing, out of this world, ‘holy hell is this my life’ happiness is there for us all. But a key ingredient in creating that, I believe, is having the openness to let go of the control just enough to let it work itself out.
We create our entire experience of our lives. Even when we get a “bad shake”, where some really difficult or painful things happen, we still get to control how we handle it and what comes next for us.