by Dr. Scott Briggs

Have you set your goals yet? If not, why not? Get on it! Oh, hold on, I need to set my goals. I told you I am horrible at this, thanks for the reminder. UGH!! I will write down my goals as soon as I finish writing this blog post.

How are you occupying the time that was being used with your unhealthy habit. If you don’t fill this time you will revert back to doing what you use to do. Why not fill the time with something beneficial and rewarding. For me, my new thing is learning to play the guitar. Playing the guitar is something I have wanted to do for many years but I was not willing to invest the time or money and if I’m completely honest I didn’t have the courage to take on this way out of my comfort zone skill. So why now? The coolest (is coolest a word) thing came about this past year. My son, Jackson, who is now 9 told us he wanted to learn electric guitar. He has been taking piano lessons, so for Christmas he received a new electric guitar. I’m not sure who was more excited, him or me. As Jackson repeatedly talked about his Christmas wish, the topic of he and I learning guitar together kept coming up. “What if I teach you Daddy so we can play together?”

My wife Cindy over heard the conversation so come Christmas morning not only did Jackson get the surprise of a guitar, I got one too. Now here we are, both Jackson and I taking guitar lessons. Practicing together, trying to get our fingers to make cords I’m not sure my fingers can create. I am so new to guitar …that lessons and practice are more trying than relaxing but I am still having fun. The thought of playing songs with my son as our skill improves creates great excitement in me. A 25-year desire is in the beginning stages of becoming a reality and I get to experience this with my son. What more can I ask for??

I write this story for a couple of reasons. First, this second new journey (guitar) can be used to combat moments of weakness when I want to cheat and go to the refrigerator and grab some leftovers. I also find my mind thinking about cords on the guitar instead of food. Working through the challenges of learning something new keeps me mindful of the self control and discipline I have within me to stay on track with my health challenge. The anticipation of playing songs as my skills improve correlates to the anticipation of losing weight, seeing my body change, be a better example to my family and patients. The happiness of achieving a goal. See, this is why ours goals need to be written down.

There is no doubt that this health challenge is called a challenge for a reason. There are, and will continue to be times that we will need to exhibit extensive amounts of self control to battle the temptation of the old unhealthy habits. I am hopeful that my other new journey, guitar, will provide distractions for the temptations so I don’t always need great self control.

I hope I am making some sense here. I guess what I am saying is try something new, it may help you overcome some of the challenges you are facing as you march toward a healthier you.

Wishing you great health

Dr. Briggs

Dr. Scott Briggs is the owner of Briggs Family Chiropractic in Converse, IN. He has been a chiropractor for over 15 years. He has invited everyone to join him in his health journey for 2022. You can visit the first post on this to receive free helpful downloads. Click HERE to find that post. You can also follow us on Instagram (@briggsfamiychiropractic).