Diana MurphyI help business owners who have reached the level of success where business is happening TO them. I help them stop overworking and stay in growth – for themselves, their team, their clients and their lives.

When it’s not about the Coca-Cola, and when it is!

I asked one of my clients recently if there were any tweaks she?d like to make to continue losing weight. ?She has lost 8 pounds in the past few months and I knew she hadn?t hit her goal yet. ??Well??..I do drink Coca-Cola every day??but I really don?t want to change that!?

I shared with her my hunch that eliminating this sugary drink every day might be all she?d need to change in order? to drop to her natural weight. ??Really? ?But I really am not willing to give up my treat each day.?

I asked her to tell me more, and she described this moment when she looked from her desk at the Coke Machine and wanted her treat! ?

I deserve a treat today. ?

She loves the bubbles, the texture the pleasure of this sweet beverage. ?(Don?t you feel like you?re watching a Coca-Cola commercial?)

Hmmmm? So I asked her, “Where are you not allowing yourself treats in your life?”?

She immediately felt a little guilty and began listing all these beautiful things she was thankful for in her life. ?But I heard her voice drop and asked again, “But is there something you?re not giving yourself or doing that you?d love to do??

“Um, ya??I?d love to live in NYC for a year!”?

Her tone immediately turned from a disappointed, let-down voice to an excited melody as she described all that she wanted to do and how she could envision herself living in Greenwich Village for a year. ??But my husband doesn?t want to do this so, I can?t.? ?She sounded so disappointed.

I helped her to step back and get more creative about ways she could give this to herself. ?A week? ?A weekend every month? ?An entire month? Go every few months? ?You could feel her excitement about this as I offered other ways she could ?live in NYC for a year??

I gave her some fun homework: Every time she wants that treat, that Coca-Cola, her homework is to journal all her thoughts and plans about NYC, and to take time to truly plan how to make this dream come true.

Is she willing to drop the Coca-Cola Moment every day? No. ?Do I care? No. ?THIS is a beautiful light bulb moment, realizing that she was trading a Coca-Cola treat for what she really wanted, and I know when she pursues that dream of living in NYC, the Coca-Cola won?t have such a pull on her heart. ?

When you reach for a treat, a glass of wine, ?a big amazing dessert, what are you really craving? What has a pull on you, but is a treat that you?re not willing to give up? ?

Get curious and ask yourself what you really want in that moment. ?Calm? ?A break? ?To feel excited? ?To celebrate? Start your homework: when you?re drawn to your ?treat? take some time to journal like Janet, and find what you’re really craving. I can?t wait to see what comes up for you.

It?s not about the Coca-Cola, but it sure was about something much more important.

Fondly,

Diana