Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Out of sight, out of mind is not just a phrase, it’s a strat­egy. It’s a strat­egy that you can lever­age for your over­all wellness.

I’m human just like any­one else, so when I go to the gro­cery store, I stick to some basic prin­ci­ples that have fared well for me. For instance, I am not allowed to go down the ice cream aisle. As sooon you as go down the ice cream aisle…the sale stick­ers and the dou­ble choco­late this and caramel driz­zle all start invad­ing your mind and acti­vat­ing my sali­vary glands. If I don’t go down the aisle, out of sight, out of mind.

Same thing goes at home too…if I do have snacks in the house, they’re stored high in a cab­i­net. Out of sight, out of mind. If I want to dish myself out a snack, I use a bowl, put the pack­age or con­tainer away, and then leave the room. If I take the whole box or con­tainer with me, it will come back empty. Out of sight, out of mind.

In sight, In Mind

The con­cept works the other way. Take affir­ma­tions for example.

If you have a dream board or quotes posted in the house, it keeps the image and the actions in the fore­front of your mind. So rather than tuck­ing away those exer­cise dvds, have them ready to go in the player. If you want to work out the next morn­ing, have the dvd loaded and to a point where it’s easy to just hit play. If you’re going to go run­ning, have the clothes laid out, have a gym bag ready. In sight, in mind!

It’s the small behav­ioral tricks that can spell the dif­fer­ence for some peo­ple. The more dif­fi­cult you make unhealthy activ­i­ties vis­i­ble for your­self, the less likely you’ll do them. The more you make healthy activ­i­ties more doable is to make them the fore­front of your life!

This includes who you sur­round your­self with, the job you choose, and the pur­chas­ing deci­sions you make every­day. Stick to some basic prin­ci­ples and 80% of the bat­tle can be won.