Fun Friday Fact - The “Punchbuggy” Effect

I hope your Friday morning is going great!

Today I want to talk about “Punchbuggies”.

Did you ever play that game as a kid? You know, the one where you get to punch your sibling when you see a VW beetle (bug) driving by?

While the game has evolved a bit over the years to encompass all yellow cars (there are less VW Bugs on the road these days), I’ve been playing it with my kids, and it’s still loads of fun.

The interesting thing is that the Punchbuggy game is extremely relevant to health, wellness, success, and personal performance. It’s even backed by science.

If you’ve ever played the game, you will know that after a few weeks, you will start seeing “punchbuggies” everywhere. It will seem like thousands more people just went out and bought yellow cars over the preceding weeks.

The fact is, those cars were always there, but we just weren’t paying attention.

The human brain is uniquely wired to to focus on what we see as “important”.

Importance is defined by what we think about and act on.

If you’ve ever decided to buy a new car, you’ve seen this in action. Within days of the decision, we are seeing that model and colour of car everywhere. We see this in all areas of life.

There is a specific area of our brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). Think of it like a heat seeking missile. It will subconsciously search for, highlight and hone in on what you tell it to.

The great news is that we can consciously use this mechanism for our benefit.

Unfortunately, most people fail to harness the power of this built-in success system, and because they focus on negative, or unimportant things, it actually makes things worse in the long run.

We have the power to harness this effect to accomplish almost everything we want in life.

This is why proper goal setting and success routines are so important. (learn more about these in my book "The Fitness Curveball")

Here are 3 Tips to maximize your “punchbuggy effect”

• Get VERY clear on what it is you want to accomplish, and WHY accomplishing that particular objective is important to you. (Dig DEEP to the REAL reasons.)
• Review your goals daily while visualizing what it will look and FEEL like to accomplish the objective (How will it transform your life?)
• Open your mind to noticing and acting on the opportunities around you each day that can take you one step closer to your goal. (Opportunities are everywhere. We often fail to see them.)

This afternoon, think about how you can use the punchbuggy effect in your life.

What do you want to accomplish? Is it to lose weight, get in great shape, get a promotion at work, find more balance between work, health, and family?

All of these are possible, when you get clear about the specifics, take specific actions, and put your subconscious brain to work on the task.

Do this and you will be amazed by the results.

So, it’s time to get to work on this part of your personal performance.

If you would like help getting clear on your goals, purpose and plan so you can raise your performance in life, message and let me know. We will set up a time to chat.

Yours in Health and Happiness

Tim

P.S. When you are ready, here are a few ways I can help…

1. PERSONAL: Learn Where You Stand on Your Fitness Scorecard - The best 3 minutes you will spend today! These 8 questions will show you the right areas of focus to quickly improve your health and fitness. Complete your scorecard here.
2. PERSONAL: Follow the plan in my book, The Fitness Curveball. - This book is your step by step guide to mastering the 4 Pillars of Personal Performance (Mindset, Habits, Movement, Fuel) to look great, feel amazing, reach your goals, and live your best life. If you are self-motivated, love to read, and ready to change your life, visitwww.thefitnesscurveball.com to pick up your copy!
3. PERSONAL: Join my VIP Coaching Program. - This is your chance to work with me one on one, regardless of where you live. Get private coaching in each of the 4 Pillars of performance and leverage my 25+ years of performance coaching experience. DM me with the word “COACH” in the subject line and we will set up a quick call to figure out if we are a good fit to work together.
4. CORPORATE: Workplace Wellness Audit - Identify what's working, what's not and receive a valuable report to help you maximize the potential for positive change in your organization. This is a critical first step for any workplace that's serious about improving employee health, happiness, performance, and productivity. DM me to set up a quick call where we can discuss the details.
5. CORPORATE: Hire Me to Speak to your Company or Corporate Team - Choose from many popular topics in the areas of workplace health, performance and engagement, or we will work together to create a custom topic. DM me to set up a quick call where we can discuss the details.