Did you check yourself out in the mirror this morning? If so, did you like what you saw? Or did you tell yourself that today is the day you’re seriously going to start losing the weight?  That you’re tired of looking and feeling the way you do.

What if I were to suggest to you that a good motivational technique would be to put a picture on your refrigerator of what you’d like to look like in 6 months?  Would that work for you?

If you answered “No”,

it may be because you’re a “what-is” type of person.  (In personality terms, you would favor the Sensing preference.)  You live in the moment and also want the problem fixed right now.  None of this waiting around for 6 months to see results.  It doesn’t matter that you know that it took you months to get this way and if you’re honest with yourself, that it will probably take you just as long to get it off.  That doesn’t stop you from thinking, “Just give me one of those quick weight-loss pills and let’s get it over with.”   To you, you saw the truth in the mirror this morning.  No picture on the refrigerator is going to deliver as powerful a message.

If you answered “Yes”,

that you would consider putting a picture on the refrigerator, it may be because you’re a “what-might-be” type of person (or lean toward the Intuiting preference).  You can imagine yourself being slim.  In fact, if you’re really into it, you’d probably put your face on the picture of the body you want that you taped to your refrigerator.  And since you realize that it takes time to get the job done, that picture on the refrigerator will probably keep you motivated until you reach your goal.

Can We Change How We Deal With the Situation?

Most definitely.  Interestingly enough, the “what-is” personality type has some “what-might-be” tendencies.  However, the “what-is” type favors the Sensing preference over the “what-might-be” or Intuiting preference.  If this is like you, you could try to lean on your less favored preference.  However, it would probably require willpower to force yourself to be motivated by a picture on the refrigerator.  You’d have to convince yourself that it was motivating.

A better idea is to use another preference in your type that you also favor.  For example, if you favor the Judging preference, the qualities of which are being structured and organized, consider keeping a food diary.  Make an appointment with yourself to exercise and put it on your calendar to do it.