“Duh”… So Why Don’t You DO What You Say You Want?

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I like reading Kathy Sierra’s Creating Passionate Users blog on a regular basis. While she is usually talking from a business and customer experience perspective, I thought her recent post called Why “duh”… isn’t has some serious application to the life and business coaching work I do and thus the content of this blog.

Some of the same “duh” reasons businesses don’t apply common sense principles are the same excuses we use day in and day out for not doing the things we know we need to be doing in other areas of our lives.

Take this excerpt…

This is no different from any other part of our lives, of course. Eating healthy is a “duh.” Exercising five times a week is a “duh.” Saving money is a “duh.” Keeping our kids off TV is a “duh.” Flossing is definitely “duh.” Managing stress is a “duh.” Greeting your significant other and kids with a smile and full attention is a “duh.” Empowering our employees is a “duh.” Changing the oil is a “duh.” Being on time is a “duh.” And I might as well end this paragraph with a totally lame cliche:
There’s a big difference between saying, “Eat an apple a day” and actually eating the apple.

If “duh” is so damn obvious, why aren’t we DOING it? (I say “we” because I’m just as guilty) More importantly, why do we drastically overestimate the extent to which we are doing “duh” things?

When clients say to me “I need to lose weight” or “I want to get out of debt” or “add your own personal ‘duh’ here“….. I then ask them what gets in their way of actually DOING what they say they want? And, from there a whole exploration ensues around a multitude of underlying beliefs, patterns, and obstacles that get in the way. If it were as easy as “just do it” with everything we both knew we should do or wanted to do, we’d all be living our ideal lives every day and fulfilled to the max. So the “I should’ve had a V-8” moments are all 20/20 in hindsight, but sometimes take actual effort to apply in our lives at the right time (before, not after…).

Where in your life do you need to make the shift from “Eat and Apple” to actually sinking your teeth in and EATING the apple?