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Saying it outloud!
Saying it outloud!
Car Chronicles EP 2: Breaking Free from Emotional Decision-Making: How Your Body Hijacks Your Choices
The power of choice is something we all take for granted, but how many of our decisions are truly our own? Walking the line between deep introspection and practical wisdom, this episode challenges our fundamental understanding of decision-making and personal agency.
What separates a rational choice from an emotional reaction? When we're physiologically compromised—hungry, tired, stressed, or unhealthy—our bodies hijack our decision-making processes. A staggering 70% of Americans are overweight, with 40% classified as obese, highlighting how our relationship with food exemplifies this lack of control. When our bodies crave comfort, we respond automatically, without conscious thought. The same principle extends to vices, addictions, and relationship conflicts.
Consider how often a minor disagreement about household chores escalates into a full-blown argument. That isn't rational choice—it's an overwhelmed nervous system firing from the hip, fueled by accumulated stress and anxiety. True freedom comes from recognizing these patterns and reclaiming control through self-awareness and intentional living.
Breaking this cycle requires a comprehensive approach: improving physical health through better nutrition, auditing social circles to eliminate toxic influences, and establishing clear boundaries. The journey isn't easy—it demands honest self-assessment and courage—but the reward is authentic freedom. Are you ready to distinguish between the choices you make and the choices your state of being makes for you? Your path to rational decision-making and genuine autonomy begins here.
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ah, yes, sir, you know what that means. Back on the road again, heading back to the warehouse, found out a little information about it last night. So if you were wondering why doordash had a, well, they bought it with the intentions of using it, but they never actually used it over the past couple of years because it kept getting broken into and vandalized. So instead of continuously pouring money into it, repainting it and fixing all the broken stuff, they just decided to sell it. So they're selling it. There's literally nothing on the inside. So, yeah, they're getting rid of that.
Speaker 1:But it was pretty chill job, or I just literally worked on content for 12 hours. So, yeah, other than that, today we got a nice tropical tundra Frost C4. Not bad, I like these new C4s. They're just far more carbonated than the original ones. That's one thing I don't like about them. I'm not a fan of too much carbonation, but the taste is there. I like the branding. I'm a sucker for good branding. I'll tell you that right now.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I got a very, very, very important episode today and I think this is going to resonate with a lot of you. So today I want to talk about control, okay, and choice. So today I want to talk about control, ok, and choice. It's like a combination of both. So when you think of decisions that you have to make in life, ok, let's say, for example, I don't know, you want to go to the store, so you're like, ok, I want to go to the store. So you go to the store, you get to the store and you're like I want this, this, this, this, this and this, and you go back home. You chose to do all that. You chose to buy, you chose to go, you chose to leave and you chose to go. You chose to leave and you chose to eat whatever you got.
Speaker 1:That is how much power we have over our own lives. At any moment in time, we can literally choose to do something Like literally, no matter how crazy it may seem. We can choose to do something Like literally, no, no matter how crazy it may seem. We can choose to do it Like right, I'm driving right now, and if I, if I wanted to, I could choose just to turn my car into oncoming traffic, I could do that if I wanted to. That's how much power we have over our lives. So what is what? Does any of that have to do with anything? Okay, yeah, obviously you're aware that you have the power to choose. Now, what if I told you that most people aren't choosing of their own free will and you could? You're probably thinking you that clearly I'm making the decision to do something. Well, are you? Is my question to you.
Speaker 1:Because when you think of a lot of people's lives nowadays, we're under intramarital amounts of stress, societal pressures, anxiety, depression, and the list goes on. And just based off of those things alone, okay, do you think that the choice that you are making is one of rationale or one based in emotion? Because someone choosing something that is rational is completely different than somebody choosing something based on emotion, and that's a big distinction. So the same person who's going to go to the grocery store to buy something a rational person making choices is going to buy what they need and leave Someone basing their purchases off of emotions is probably going to buy a bunch of stuff to help them feel better, to give them comfort, and maybe they'll buy what they need. It's completely different, completely different moods.
Speaker 1:When you go emotional, it's like when you're hungry. If you go to the store hungry, you're far more likely to buy stuff, food that you don't need than if you were to go after you ate completely different. Now I want you to. I want you to keep that, that, that concept, in your head, and I want you to think about this other one as well, because a lot of us Do not eat well. That's just. That's just facts. Ok, 70, 70 percent of America is overweight and 40% obese. The standard American diet has its own name the standard American diet, and we just do not eat well. Okay, now, when you're not eating well, it can disrupt a bunch of things going on in your body. One example of this is it can give you cravings, and when you crave things, you make choices based on what you're craving. So, for example, we'll take a rational person who's eating well and taking care of themselves.
Speaker 1:Take me, for example. I don't have any cravings and, honestly, sometimes it's annoying because for our cheat days, she'll be like well, what are you making for cheat day? And I'm like, bro, I don't even know, because I don't even, I don't, I don't know, I don't crave anything. So I can never just be like, oh, I'm craving peanut butter and I'll make some peanut butter cookies. So every time cheat day rolls around, I literally have to think about what it is that I want to make, and most of the time I just try to refine my cookies to make them better, or my cheesecakes and the flavors. I just pick the ones that I think need improvement. That's how it works. Same thing for her when it comes to dinner. I'm like, well, what are you making for dinner? She's like I don't know. I'll give you three options and I'll let you decide. I'm like, okay, well, we're gonna be here for a while. So that's how it goes. We don't have any cravings, so making decisions for us is pretty complicated.
Speaker 1:Now, take somebody who has cravings, and somebody who has cravings usually craves sweets. So when you go to the store, you're craving some sweets. You're probably going to fill your cart with sweets. Now, was that choice based on you wanting the sweets or your body craving the sweets? So you got the sweets. You see the difference there, the distinction. Now, obviously, you don't just crave sweets. There's people that crave savory food as well, and that's the exact same scenario. You're still not making a choice based on rationale. You're making a choice based on the state of your body and what you feel at that moment in time. Now, keep both of those in your mind, because there's also vices. A lot of people have vices.
Speaker 1:So, for example, when I used to watch porn, it wasn't like I was making the choice to watch porn. My body was like we're watching porn, so I will watch porn. I wasn't making that choice. I wasn't thinking, hey, you know what I should, so I will watch porn. I wasn't making that choice. I wasn't thinking and say, hey, you know what I should do, I should watch porn. Nope, my body was like. My mind was like hey, let's watch some porn. I'm like, ok, and now a rational person who is thinking logically and that's what I do now, since I don't watch porn anymore. If I for some reason get like an urge or something like that, like, yeah, no, I'm not doing that. There's no reason to. So now I'm in control of that thought, I'm in control of my body. And this. This is what. This is where I want to bring it all back around to the beginning, when I said it's a combination of control and choice.
Speaker 1:Ok, because when you're craving things, when you have vices, when you have urges, that hijacks control over your body is going to cause you to make choices based on then and now, then and there, how you feel, and not based in rationale. So take an addict, for example, somebody who's an alcoholic or an addict. But we'll go with alcoholic. They cannot control their urge to drink alcohol. Their body says drink, so they drink. That's why it's so hard for people to overcome their addiction because they're not able to make rational choices about it. It's your body telling you To drink, Even though you know you're not supposed to do it. Your body tells you in that I know this from experience with porn it, it builds that feeling. It just keeps building and building and building and eventually you cave and then you do whatever it is that you're not supposed to do. And that's that's the difference between you being in control of your choices and your state of being being in control of those choices. So that's why I ask you when you're making these decisions In life, are you actually making them or is your body making them for you?
Speaker 1:Because a lot of the choices that you've probably made over a couple of years or the past few years or however long, you probably haven't been making rational choices. Think about just your friend. How many rational choices have you made? You can even tie this into like arguments.
Speaker 1:In a relationship, people argue over the craziest things, like I told you to take the trash out, why didn't you take the trash out? Yada, yada, yada right. Told you to take the trash out. Why didn't you take the trash out? Yada, yada, yada right. And hearing what I've been talking about, do you think that's a rational choice that you just made? Or the state of being and the anger took control of your body and now, instead of thinking about it logically, like, oh, it's just a trash, it's no big deal, you know? Let me just ask him again hey, babe, do you mind taking out the trash for me? You're going ham. Why? Because all of that depression, all of that anxiety, all of that stress, all of the societal pressure, whatever it is, it's all weighing down on you at the same time.
Speaker 1:So you're more likely to fire at the hip than you would be to think rationally about it and actually make the choice to. Hey, I'm not going to fight over taking you out the trash, but, like, think about that. Can you do that? Are you capable of calming yourself in the moment and saying, hey, you know what? This is not a not a big deal. Let me just ask again and get to the bottom of it, if he doesn't want to do it. You know what? I'm not going to turn this into a battle, I'll just take out the trash. Maybe when he sees me take out the trash but all my bad, I forgot Let me get that for you and then he'll take out the trash.
Speaker 1:But if you're not able to calm yourself and think rationally, then you're never going to get to that part. So you're just going to fire at the hip and then it's going to turn into a big fight and then it's going to become a battle of who can hurt who, and then the relationship slowly degrades instead of making a better choice. And that's what I'm getting at. Okay, it's plain and simple. Because you don't take care of yourself In any aspect. If you're not eating well, that's eventually going to lead over to affecting your mind, because it's going to make you, you know, have some type of body dysmorphia. You're not going to feel comfortable in your body, which is going to bring upon depression. And if you're already having depression from outside events, like, you know, your job or your relationship that's just going to add on to it. And the more stuff you just keep piling onto your plate, the harder it is to actually function.
Speaker 1:You know, I've been there, I've been depressed, I've dealt with that and it, it just it just sucks, because I know how it feels to have nowhere to go, no one to talk to, and trying to figure this out on my own. Man, I can't tell you the amount of times where some nights, man, I would just break down and be like I'm just alone, like I don't feel like anybody me, I don't feel like I can get close to anybody. Uh, I don't know that that's another story for another time, but it just I understand the feeling of isolation and that everything in life is just going in the wrong direction, and that's obviously what I've been talking about this whole entire time is I wasn't able to make rational decisions in life, so every choice I made was based off of an emotion, and that emotion that most of the time I was feeling was, you know, fear, anxiety, helplessness, sad, and I would take any, any, I would make any decision to give me some type of temporary relief, some type of temporary happiness, some type of temporary anything, just to feel better. And choices tended to be the wrong ones. So you know, I made a lot of bad decisions and choices in life, but so I know where you're at with that and I understand, which is why I'm here telling you that you have to take care of yourself. Ok, so you got to make sure you eat right. That's, that's just. That's just how it is.
Speaker 1:Then what you need to do is audit your circle. Okay, you need to audit who you let into your friend group. You need to audit your current friends. You need to make sure that the people that you're hanging around one aren't just straight toxic and that they're actually people who value you as a human being and are there to celebrate you through thick and thin and aren't fair weather friends. Same for family. And then you need to start cutting people.
Speaker 1:Man, we have one friend group in Austin, and then we have one friend group here in San Antonio, but they're leaving to Korea, so we're going to only be down to one friend group in Austin. And then we have one friend group here in San Antonio, but they're leaving to Korea, so we're going to only be down to one friend group. Outside of that, it's just me and my wife, that's it. And then a few people that we'll link up with, like photographers that we know when we do photo shoots, but outside of that we're not. We don't have friends like that.
Speaker 1:I know it sounds sad, but I promise you our life has been far less stressful, not knowing that we got freaking our own friends talking behind our backs, you know, trying to stab us in the back or just using us, and things like that, and it really has made life chill, because now we, when we do meet new people, we are well aware of how peaceful our life is now. So the moment we even think that you might interrupt that piece, nah, bro, we can't. We can't hang out no more, or we can't be friends, no more. We won't play that no more. So you got to set boundaries for yourself, okay, and you got to.
Speaker 1:You also have to audit yourself, and are you being yourself or are you trying to fit in? Are you choosing to try to mold into different scenarios and try to try to be yourself? Because if you're choosing to mold yourself to different people or different scenarios, obviously it's going to start weighing heavy on you, because that's not who you are and you can only keep up the persona for so long before it starts to crack and then, once the mask falls off, they're going to see you for who you really are, and if you don't like yourself, well, why do you think they're going to like you? And to find out that you've been lying to them this whole time, they're going to feel some type of way about it. So you need to make sure that you're OK with who you are as a person, and that takes a lot of work, so you need to.
Speaker 1:I'm actually working on content for that right now. I'm actually working on content for that right now, and I think it's going to help a lot of people having a program that you can follow that allow you to become a better human being by taking control of your life and the choices that you make in it. But that's just a brief synopsis of what you need to do. It's much more in depth than that, and I promise you it's a lot easier with guidance, which is what we give in our coaching business. So think about, think about all that that I just said, and I want you to apply it to some scenarios in your life when you think that you've made choices, and I want you to use the concepts I gave you and think to yourself did you make rational choices or was your body in control of you at that time and you can come to a lot of conclusions about the situations that you have been in that have been bad, because now that you're equipped with the tools to analyze that and be like, wow, you know what, I don't think I was thinking rationally at all. Matter of fact, at that time I was under a lot of stress and I was just pissed off and they said something to me and I just snapped yeah, well, probably not a rational choice.
Speaker 1:Hopefully you guys enjoyed this episode. Um, I'm currently sitting in traffic, so not fun, but that's why I leave early. I try to leave about an hour early when I'm going to Austin, just to give me enough time because of this traffic. And I got to step out, bucky's, I got to get gas too. I'm about to run out, actually. So, yeah, like I said, hopefully you guys enjoyed this episode and if you did, don't forget to like, comment and share. You can leave that five-star review and until next time, see ya.