I went through this process of eliminating stuff from my diet with my guy Tim Adams, who trains me and sets my nutrition schedule. He’s very good at what he does and a very smart guy. So we would take a week and cut out sugar. Tim would measure me before, while I was eating sugar, and then the week that I didn’t eat it.
We’d also do that for alcohol, dairy and grains. We could see by the measurements all over my body, in 16 different places, what was affecting me and what I was sensitive to. It was really cool to watch what I was sensitive to and how I could take it out of my diet and it didn’t really hurt me that much.
My kids were watching me go through this, being measured and not eating sugar or not having wine. My son Axel wanted to try it. So Tim and I told him that for this particular week, he couldn't have any sugar. This was during the holidays while he was on vacation—bad time to stop eating sugar.
For that week, Axel was so determined. My wife and I are looking at each other like, “Man, he is one committed kid.” He’s so disciplined. He’s not eating sugar and he’s kind of wearing it as a badge of honor. His sisters might be eating sugar and he’s going, “No, I can’t eat that. I can’t eat anything in the house because it all has sugar in it.” He was doing so well.
Then his class had a Christmas party. At the party, they made sugar cookies and decorated them. The whole class was involved. So my wife and I know this party is coming. We’re not invited, but we decided to make him a sugar-free hot chocolate and deliver it to him. So Dawn and I show up, unannounced, to school and they’ve got this long table set up. All the kids are making their cookies full of sugar, frosting, sprinkles and everything else. We don’t see Axel because his head is down. We’re walking toward him as he lifts his head and he has got frosting covering his whole mouth.
The look on his face was, “Oh my gosh, I am so busted.” He was looking at us like he was going to be in trouble or something. Dawn and I just start laughing and saying, “Axel, what is on your face?” I mean, he couldn’t get the frosting off quick enough. It was covering his face and he just looked so disappointed in himself as we walked up. We’re saying, “No, no, it’s fine, dude. It’s fine. You’ve been committed. You’ve been disciplined. You just fell off the wagon.”
How many of you have had that same experience? During the New Year when you make your resolutions and your goals and your dreams and your plans, we always fall of the wagon eventually. We do. I have a buddy who said, “You know what? I’m not going to have a drink for 60 days.” Later he told me, “About every 6 or 7 days, I usually fall of the wagon and tequila is involved somewhere.”
But I told him, “There is no shame in falling off the wagon.” You’ve got to remember this and take it easy on yourself. Don’t beat yourself up. I told Axel, “Look, dude, you had some sugar. So what?”
We always have tomorrow to begin again. We always have tomorrow morning. My buddy who falls off the wagon every 6 or 7 days with tequila, it’s fine. Don’t beat yourself up. The next morning, guess what? You start again.
Everyone is so ashamed of being off course or of failing themselves. This is why we never make promises anymore. We never make commitments anymore. We never tell people our dreams, and go public with them, because we’re going to fall off. And you are. You’re going to be off course most of your life. I am, too.
Most people go, “Bo, you’re so disciplined.” I’m not. I’m NOT. I fall off, but you know what I’m really quick to do? I’m really quick to get back up on the horse. That’s the only thing I’m good at. I’m really good at falling off the horse, but I’m very quick to get back on it … and not beat myself up and go, “I’m never making another commitment in my life. I could never keep my resolutions. I can never keep my dreams because I’m just a loser.”
I don’t do that to myself. I don’t let my kids do that. I don’t let my clients do that. We laugh about it. It’s part of the human experience. It’s usable. It’s great. And it makes you who you are. So don’t be ashamed of falling off the wagon. Just be quick to get back on and take control.
Tell me how you're doing with whatever you promised yourself at New Year's by leaving a comment below. Have you fallen off course? If so, how are you going to get yourself back on?