Steve

We actually don’t have TV either, totally agree with you there.

Rock on man.

1.
You may have to go scorched earth on the distractions. You
mention TV as a big one. That means getting rid of your cable and maybe the TV
altogether.

We god rid of cable over four years ago. TV is
no longer a distraction.

Man, I am no longer watching our guys live
their dreams on Saturday and Sunday while I’m eating Cheetos on the couch. I’m
not watching others win gold medals while I could be writing.

Whatever the distractions are, you need to get
rid of them. There will be times when you will want a distraction and there won’t
be one, so you will just kind of find something productive to do. After a few
months, it gets easy. Similar to trying to lose weight. If you tell me that
Twinkies are your downfall…that you eat 2 every night because they are so
tempting. Easy fix…stop buying them. Remove the temptation. I doubt that every
single night, you are going to venture out into the cold, dark night, start up
the car, and drive just to get your two Twinkies. Eventually you lose the
desire and the desire for Twinkies is replaced by the desire to be thin.

2.
When you need a life, get a life. Listen to or read whatever you
need to read. It may be the exact same thing every time or it may be some
different things. Whatever gets your motor going. I used to think motivational
speeches were corny but now I choose to react to them.

I don’t know your style, so this might not be right for you, but
I love Eric Thomas. Check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HutvJgpjDgU
if you have never heard of him. Then listen to all of his stuff.

Find whatever works for you. A movie clip, a certain
speaker, a book. Whatever works for you.

3.
Keep a journal. When do you get “down?” Is it after a real high
(success)? Is it when you have relational problems? When you aren’t exercising?
When you _____?

This may take months or possibly years to really pinpoint but do
it.

I would write it out however you want and also keep a chart.
Something like:

Date – Emotional Status – Life Events – Today’s Objectives

Something that allows you, over time, to identify trends. I’ll
bet after 3 months (it isn’t a quick fix) you start to see some trends and
start to make life changes that raise up your down times, shorten them, and
make the time between them longer.

I hope that helps!

Too many more and I have a hard time doing any of it.

I want to hear what you’ve found works, please share!

Thanks.