This is a guest article by Dexter Godbey 

The Problem

While talking with Sharon the other day, I was reminded of what I call “Your Big But Problem.”

Sharon said, “I’ve tried so many diets over the years and tried to stay on exercise programs, too. Sometimes I’d lose some weight, sometimes not. And I always gained back anything I’d lost. And usually more. Can you give me some ideas or help?”

“Sure,” I said. “What’s your situation right now? Are you looking to lose some weight? Go on some sort of diet? Start an exercise program? What are you thinking right now?”

“Well,” Sharon said, “I was going to start a diet and exercise program 2 weeks ago, but then I realized I had a wedding to go to and one of my friend’s birthdays. I knew I wouldn’t stick with the diet, so I decided to wait ’till next week to get started.”

“Well, like almost everyone else, there’s your problem.”

“What do you mean?” she asked. “What’s my problem?”

“Your big but is your problem.”

“What!” she said, sounding rather agitated and insulted.

“Your Big But,” I repeated. “That’s your problem.”

“I don’t get it,” Sharon said. “My big butt is a huge part of the reason I want to go on a diet in the first place, so how can it be the problem of me starting the diet? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Not your ‘butt,'” I said. “Your but…b-u-t. Another word for poor excuse.”

“Oh,” Sharon said, the light bulb going on. “I was going to start my diet 2 weeks ago but…b-u-t…the wedding, the party…the excuses not to. I see what you mean.”

“Yep,” I said to Sharon, “you’ve got it. Your ‘but’ is a huge turning point in your sentence structure and in your success process.”

“Everything you said before the ‘but’ is good intention. It sounds to me like it’s honest, sincere, and heartfelt. You really, really do want to lose weight, right?”

“Right,” she said.

“Then you added your ‘Big But,'” I continued.

“And, once you do that, everything after your ‘but’ is an excuse. It’s an excuse to renege on your own good intentions.”

“Pretty silly, isn’t it? Your ‘Big But’ immediately obliterates your good intentions. Blows them to smithereens.”

When it comes to diet and exercise, how’s Your Big But? What’s Your Big But? Why do you allow Your Big But to hold you back?

The 4 Types Of “Big Buts”

Before looking at the simple solution to Your Big But Problem, it’s important to understand what kind of a Big But person you are.

Everyone, you included, has a unique personality, temperament, and set of behavioral preferences that make up your natural tendencies. You are born with them and they influence every aspect of your life…including the best ways for you to diet and the kinds of Big Buts you come up with to sabotage your diets.

There are 4 basic types. None is better or worse than another. None is right or wrong. It’s just they way we are. It’s like being blue-eyed or left-handed or red-headed. It’s just how you are.

The better you understand and embrace your natural tendencies, the better you’ll be at everything you do and the more successful you’ll be at it.

For simplicity, let’s call the 4 basic types “Plodder,” “Player,” “Plotter,” and “Pusher.”

If You’re a Plodder…

If you’re a Plodder you have a natural tendency to move through life slowly and cautiously. You’re not big on taking risks, you love stability, don’t like changes very much, like finding the easy way to get things done, and you’re oriented towards helping and taking care of other people. You’re a nurturer by nature and gladly put the interests of your close friends and family ahead of your own. You’re more emotionally (rather than logically) driven and tend to lead with your heart rather than your head.

Your Big Buts are likely to include things like:

“I was going to start a new diet last week, BUT I felt like it would be a lot of work.”

“I was planning go to the gym after work, BUT my sister called and asked me to help with her garden.”

“I got excited about starting my new diet, BUT then it seemed to me that I’d have to make a lot of changes to my eating routines which made me feel hesitant – even a little afraid.”

If You’re a Player…

If you’re a Player, you’re the “life of the party” type. In fact, as far as you’re concerned, life is a party. You’re emotional. You love doing things by pure instinct and gut reaction. You’re probably quite creative. You like spontaneity. You get bored quickly if you have to plan and follow a strict regime of any kind. You live on and for the spur of the moment. If can’t find the fun in something, you’d just as soon not do it. You’re a people person, love being in the spotlight, and are a natural entertainer. You’re outgoing and friendly and are likely to have your own personal posse of friends who gravitate around you.

Your Big Buts are likely to include things like:

“Well, I was going to start on the XYZ Diet, BUT none of my friends was on it….so what fun would that be?”

“I was really going to start my new diet last Monday, BUT then Sam invited me to a party that night which seemed like a whole lot more fun to me.”

“I was really hoping to find a great diet, BUT I realized that to lose weight I had to actually plan what I was going to eat and drink in advance and keep track of what I was doing. The reality of it didn’t feel very good to me, so I to wait. I need to find something where I can be creative and spontaneous.”

If You’re a Plotter…

If you’re a Plotter, you’re very disciplined. You love planning and like to be organized and prepared. You can be quite happy just making progress on a project or moving towards a goal even it the end result is still a long way off. You have plenty of patience and don’t mind digging into lots of details to make sure everything is just right. You can be a perfectionist. You also like monitoring your progress and like to see how you’re doing in black and white – on charts and graphs. You’re logical – some might say to a fault. You respond to and act on facts more than on emotions.

Your Big Buts are likely to include things like:

“I’m ready to get going on a diet…I really need to lose weight, BUT I don’t have all the information yet…I’m still researching which is the best diet for me.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m going to start the XYZ Diet…BUT I don’t want to start yet…I haven’t analyzed all the details yet – you know – just to make sure. I’m still not clear on the kinds and amounts of carbohydrates I should be eating.

“My plan was to get started on my diet last week…BUT I hadn’t finished putting my whole plan together with the meals, snacks, exercise routines…the whole thing. I’m still working on it and should be able to finish the plan and get started by next Monday…or the week after that at the latest.”

If You’re a Pusher…

If you’re a Pusher, you’re the most aggressive of our 4 basic personality types. You aim for, drive for, and love the “bottom line.” You’re results oriented. You like facts and are more fact than emotionally driven. But, unlike the Plotter, you’re not big on minute details. You’re a big picture person who loves to delegate the details to others. You’re competitive, a risk taker, and love a good debate, argument, or competition of any kind. And you’re driven to win. You multi-task and get things done quickly and efficiently.

Your Big Buts are likely to include things like:

“O.K. I need to lose some weight fast and was going to start last week…BUT I was in too much of a hurry to get those other 3 projects finished so I pushed the diet down my priority list for now.”

“I wanted to get started on the XYZ Diet, BUT then I heard it would take a few months to lose 20 pounds. That’s too slow for me, so I asked my wife if she could find me a faster weight loss diet.”

“I’m going to get on a diet and exercise program right away, BUT not ’till I find someone to do it with who will compete with me to see who can lose the most the fastest.”

You can see from the above brief descriptions and examples that people with different personalities will have completely different “Big Buts” that are directly related to those personalities.

The Solution – 3 Steps To Success

Step 1: Look at the descriptions above and decide if you’re more of a Plodder, Player, Plotter, or Pusher. You’re actually going to be a combination, but see if you can pinpoint which describes the way you are most often in most circumstances. This is critical to weight loss success because knowing and accepting which type you are will determine how you can best approach your diet to make it easier to get started on and to stick with.

Step 2: Once you can identify which of the types you are most like, be vigilant and alert to your own version of the “Big But Problem.” Avoid your “Big Butt” if possible. Squash it before it rears its ugly head. As you think about and talk about dieting, exercising, and making changes that will help you lose weight and improve your looks and health, try to anticipate if and when you’re about to throw a “Big But” into the process so you can avoid doing so.

Step 3: If your “Big But” does come out – if you catch yourself after the fact – don’t freak out about it. Recognize that you’re not alone. Accept that it happens to almost everyone trying to lose weight. Accept that you’ve done it and take immediate corrective action. If you’re aware of the problem and your own personality dieting type, then the corrective action will be obvious to you and rather automatic. Just be grateful that you have the knowledge and awareness of how your “Big But” sabotages you so that you can fight back in ways that are consistent with your personality, natural tendencies, and how you like doing things.

The Bottom Line

Your “Big But Problem” is simply a word…”b-u-t”… that you put into your thoughts and sentences that seems to magically give you permission ignore and wipe out all your good intentions and everything you said before you said “but.”

We all do it. You’re not alone and it seems to be normal and prevalent.

Now that you are aware of the problem and can identify your own personality type and natural tendencies, it will be easier for you than ever to eliminate your “Big But” and all the excuses that follow it. All those silly excuses that you use to sabotage your weight loss efforts.

Dexter Godbey is the Founder of DietingLaws.com. For over a decade he has worked with individuals, businesses, athletes, and sports teams in the effective recognition and use of personalities to achieve goals and get what you want in simple, fun, easy, effective, and successful ways.

Mr. Godbey says, “Don’t change yourself to fit a diet. Change the diet to fit you.”

He has developed a unique FREE Dieting Color Profile: http://www.DietingLaws.com. It takes less than 2 minutes and is based on your unique Personality. It’s how to use your Personality to lose weight. Scientists are now proving that your Personality may be the most important factor in your ability to lose weight and keep it off. Not genetics, not will-power, not the diet you choose. Your Personality.

This is a revolutionary approach to weight loss. Discover your unique Dieting Color Profile for FREE and how to lose weight more easily and successfully than ever before – regardless of your diet – once and for all…by personalizing any diet you’re on to suit your own Personality. http://www.DietingLaws.com