What I’m about to tell you breaks the number one rule of marketing.

In case you haven’t heard it, the number one  rule of marketing is this:

Don’t tell people what they need to hear. Tell them what they want to hear.

In all the marketing courses of study I’ve taken over the years, this has been underscored and repeated, again and again.

And I resist it, each and every time.

It’s probably lost me a boatload of cash along the way.

But it’s allowed me to emerge with integrity intact.

And that is central to my point. Not that what a headline promises won’t be delivered.  That’s not the issue here, for headlines CAN be delivered.

But apparently the good marketer is not supposed to distract you with the process you’ll undergo to get there – to that end result promised in the headline.

The advice to marketers is:  keep your reader focused on the result that has captured their attention.

Apparently appealing to the thinking person – the person with head and heart, along with the body and the emotional being hooked by the headline – is a marketing weakness.

For example, when promoting a weight loss program, the weight loss result – lose this much weight, in this much time – is that upon which to focus.

In the subtext, you can talk about how you’ll learn strategies for dealing with this or that challenge, learn this or that rule – apparently so that you can overcome temptations at any turn, and ‘stick’ to your ‘diet’.  But keep hammering the end result – the weight loss.

It’s that ‘diet’ time of year

With spring already sprung, and being as we are on the cusp of summer, the internet offerings about super-weight – loss plans is exploding.

We see what we want to see – the promise of the end result, just like the marketing coaches said.

And I don’t blame anyone for grabbing the hook. We can be desperate for getting some control over our weight, our health, our food, our appetites.

But I won’t stand by silently and watch  the omnipresent illusion.

We forget so easily what happened last time we walked into food jail for a few weeks – or months – without a lifeline to fall back on once the thrill was gone.

And since I’ve promised to be honest with you, this spring, once again, I’ve got to speak up.

And here’s where I break that marketing rule – because honesty presses me to remind you about the all-important process necessary for success.

Successful and sustainable weight loss is a 3 – legged affair

If you’ve been with me on this journey for any amount of time, the three pillars approach is not news to you.

Yes – you can follow the best diet plan in the world.

You can yank any last vestiges of sugar and salt from your diet. You can strictly forbid foods with more than a smidgen of  fat content to cross your lips.

But in my mind, it sells you short not to inform you – from the very beginning – that the very thing you may be searching for – the above mentioned weight loss – will not truly, authentically be yours until you realize that an integration of mental mastery and physicality – along with the very important dietary component – is what you absolutely need to achieve sustainable weight loss and a healthy happy relationship with food, eating and your body.

If that’s what you want.

And to be honest, that is the only kind of weight loss I am really interested in helping you achieve.

The power of this success trinity trumps any dietary ‘transgressions’ you may – and are likely – to encounter along the way.

Sure, I can outline a diet for you that will take ten pounds off in a month.

And maybe you are one of those people who can keep a strict diet going out of steely determination, with strict controls on what foods you allow in your presence.

Some days and weeks will undoubtedly be easy. Yet if you are living in fear of certain foods, certain venues, the scale, certain people, certain situations – and so on and so on – what have you really achieved but the loss of a few pounds and the expense of any kind of peace and presence in your life?

Answer the following question:

How would you describe what you want your life to look like in 5 years – and 10 years down the road – in relation to your weight AND your day-to-day life when it comes to food, eating, and your body?

Don’t leave anything out. It’s not just your size, it’s everything else around it in your life — YOU.

Then, answer these questions:

Are you afraid of certain foods?

Are you afraid to be in certain situations around food?

Are you certain that once you lose the weight, your other problems will vanish?

Are you obsessed with food, eating, what you can and can’t have –  and preoccupied with pounding down enough of the ‘good’ stuff? Is this what you want? Because if this is your frame of mind now, it will continue to be so – unless you start practicing something different.

There was a time – decades of time, in fact – when I would have answered ‘yes’ to each of these questions.

Once I understood how absolutely vital building strength of mind and clarity of vision is to the process of long term success, everything changed.

It’s the reason I always ask clients during our first interview if they are willing to look at all three pillars as part of their weight loss, health building, and plant-based transition quest.

Dream Big – and Take ACTION even bigger

Think back to every other health improvement or weight loss plan you signed on for. List them if you need to.

It’s astonishing how the attempts add up. And disheartening to see all the times we forgot what happened last time.

But this time, you can do something different.

This time, go for the gusto.

The giant carrot.

This time, you can support yourself with all three legs:  the food, the physical activity, and the frame of mind.

1) Start with a whole food plant based plate.  This is the portal to true eating freedom because of all the goods it delivers for hunger satisfaction and weight management as well as health and vitality. If you need a refresher course on plant-based basics, see the Plant-Based Diet Brochure you can download here.

2) Cultivate – beginning TODAY – a practice that connects you with your higher aspirations. That means a meditative or centering practice that connects your heart with your head. That strengthens you to move through the fickle nature of ‘getting motivated’ to ‘get healthy’ This is essential for offsetting black-and-white thinking, a proven  diet saboteur, and ;  will allow you to have your cake and eat it too. Imagine!  If you don’t already have a centering practice to which you can tap into, use this simple guide: 5 minute anti-anxiety paint and willpower workout: how to meditate in 5 simple steps.

3) Get yourself moving every day – to restore brain power and vision velocity.  For a starter guide on what you need for healthy fitness, this will help you get going:  The 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: What the research says

Strengthen each of the three legs – the three pillars – daily.

And when it seems one is strong enough and you don’t need to concern yourself with it any more, see through it and get back to the important business of building a life more joyfully successful that you ever dared dream before.

It doesn’t take luck or talent to be successful at achieving your big dream.  You just have to decide – and back yourself up with the pillars.

If the 3 pillars idea resonates with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts – please share them in replies below.

P.S. I broke another HUGE rule of marketing with this article in my headline.  You’re supposed to stick to one simple point.  I think I put five in the title of this one.  Oh well!  Dream big!