The Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Getting Healthy

By Shane Cuthbert

Go out and ask a bunch of your friends whether or not they have a preference for Coke and Pepsi. Some people say they taste the same, but most people will say they can taste the difference. Ask your friends if they think the subtle meanings portrayed in each brands advertising has affected the way they feel about the drink. Inevitably they will say no. Inevitably, they will say that the only thing that affects the way they feel about the product is the way it tastes. Ask them what they think about the fact that each of these companies spend more time and money on advertising than they do on anything else, and they will inevitably say that the advertising has no affect on them. And of course they would think that because the effect is ‘unconscious’.

You probably have some vague memory of the ads you’ve seen over the years for these products. Scantly clad, young attractive guys and girls in the prime of their fertile lives. Usually in party or holiday mode. Socialising. Relaxing. Wearing the latest trends in fashion, looking cool and having flirtatious fun.

Consciously there is not much going on, but branding doesn’t work in our conscious mind. And our unconcious mind sees a very different meaning here. These advertisers aim to activate the deeper part of the brain which is often referred to as the ‘reptilian’ brain. It controls many of our basic animal instincts that our conscious mind has little awareness of. And those animal instincts see those images and create some very strong meanings around them. To put it simply, those ads tell our unconscious mind that if we associate with their brand, we will fit in with the cool kids and become more socially and sexually desirable. From a primitive tribal prospective, that means our offspring will be more protected by the tribe and have a better chance of survival.

Actually, Coke started it, but because our animal ‘tribal’ instinct tells us to fit in with a pack, then all Pepsi had to do was something very similar but in a way we perceive it as opposite (i.e. blue is the opposite of red). Now the message becomes this, try to fit in with the Coke tribe, but if you can’t, then at least fit in with the Pepsi tribe instead. If you can fit in, you’ll feel a greater sense of self worth. And as Stuart experienced during his running years, there are few things that drive us with as much power as a sense of self worth.

Of course, through conscious eyes, this all seems kind of absurd. Were intelligent, logical, rational and sophisticated humans. Not dumb animals, right? And even if we did feel that way when we see those ads, we would realise it wouldn’t we?

All the advertisers have to do is trigger you to have very subtle feelings. So subtle, that you don’t even realise that they are there. Its the repetition of those subtle feelings that programs your unconscious mind to create the meaning. You see those messages all the time throughout your whole life. And at some point, eventually, you’re going to feel a desire to fit in with the cool kids (especially during your adolescent years). And in those moments, your uncurious has already primed you to associate those feelings with certain brands through all those repetitious messages you thought nothing of at the time.

The take home message is that they still have to make a product that tastes at least reasonably good of course. But remember, the taste is only part of it. The rest is in the psychology of how the brands are marketed to manipulate the feelings and meanings we attach to them which distorts how we think they taste.

So if advertisers can trick our brain into making us prefer their products, then how can we take back the power and control? As a therapist, many people come to me saying “I just wished you could trick my brain into wanting to exercise and eat healthy”.

So if you would like to know how exactly to trick your brain into craving healthy habits instead, then this book is for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shane Cuthbert
• Release date: Apr 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463904763

Shane Cuthbert

Shane Cuthbert (1990) was born in the Hawkesbury region of Sydney, Australia. Shane grew up in western Sydney. Shane was only 15 years old, when he was kicked out of home and high school. As a teenager Shane struggled with feelings of worthlessness, not being good enough, depression , anxiety and addiction. Shane eventually overcame all this and began touring as a professional drummer. Shane's once simple status was elevated, due to the success and notoriety he received as a touring artist.As the years passed and opportunity and chances of success subsided, Shane had hit what he refers to as "cognitive rock bottom". Feeling that all his prior success was but behind him and he would again fail to achieve or amount to anything, he had his first real opportunity to reinvent himself and change his life. Shane started a small landscaping business that grew into a large trade & services company. This company established multiple businesses and franchising opportunities soon followed.In 2014, Shane started and developed his own State Of Glory brand of clothing, and entertainment website also of the same name. In 2015 Shane Cuthbert married Australian swimsuit model and public figure Berenger Rose. Despite much controversy and allegations by Rose of Cuthbert's alleged domestic violence, the pair are still supportive of one another and are actively promoting and growing their businesses together.In 2017 Shane graduated Justice and contract law at Harvard University, enrolled in the study of Psychology at the University of Queensland, developed his first online coaching course, began offering mentorship services and wrote the first book, in his self help series. In 2018 Shane's first book "SEX TRANSMUTATION" became available and was released worldwide through Amazon.

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THE TOP 10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT GETTING HEALTHY

AN EXAMPLE

This is an example of Stuart, a client of mine. Throughout most of Stuarts schooling years, his academic performance had been pretty miserable. He wanted to finish school achieving at least something significant, so in his final year, he tried getting good at a bunch of different skills. What he quickly realised was that it takes many years of practise at something to become good enough to achieve a significant result. This is especially true when we look at competitive environments where students are up against others who have been practising for a very long time.

After trying his hand at all sorts of athletic events, the one thing he found himself reasonably good at was long distance running. Being a good endurance runner does not really require too much practise. It just requires a repeated willingness to push further through the mental and physical discomfort barrier, more so than the other competitors. At this stage of Stuart’s life, he had a particularly strong urge to prove himself.

After about six months of intense training, he managed to place well in his school and at the zone level of long distance running. He didn’t make it past the regionals but remembers vividly this time in his life.

The smaller wins had boosted his confidence somewhat and he now had better feelings about himself. Because of these good feelings about himself he still felt motivated to run long after the competition was over. He continued running and participating in other running events until as he says, ‘life got in the way’.

Years later in his early 20’s he decided to get back into the habit of going for a jog. By this time however he had become really unfit, so the feelings he got from running caused nothing but discomfort. The discomfort of feeling aches in his muscles, the discomfort of sweat running down his back and the discomfort of the burning felt when his lungs became constricted, plus the mental discomfort of realising how unfit he now was. Basically, running had become an uncomfortable thing for him.

When I asked Stuart about whether or not he could recall the same discomfort when he began running all those years ago, his answer was really interesting. Stuart said he did not notice that discomfort as much back then because his desire to gain something and prove himself was a lot higher. When he had something to prove, the experience had a different meaning attached to it. But when Stuart’s life changed, so too did the meaning. When the drive was lost, it became too hard, too much of a struggle. So Stuart basically stopped exercising and became quite sedentary for the next chapter of his life.

Fast forward to his 30’s and he suddenly started to find much more practical reasons to exercise.

He started a jumping castle business and spent many years setting up bouncy castles for children, backyard parties and events. The weight of these inflatable castles were around 100kg plus. So over the years, handling these castles by himself had started to take a toll on his body. Stuart was x-rayed and the X-rays revealed damaged vertebrae in his back from all that heavy lifting.

The medical recommendation was to lose some excess weight and reduce the pressure on his spine and joints whilst strengthening the muscles around them.

THE FROG AND THE BOILING POT

For those of you unfamiliar with the analogy of the frog in the saucepan, let me fill you in. If you take a frog and place it into a saucepan of boiling water it will jump straight out. However, if you put the same frog in a lukewarm saucepan increasing the temperature slowly, its neurology does not notice the change and the frog remains in the pot until it boils to death.

Basically, the analogy demonstrates that gradual changes happening over time make it difficult for us to notice. This can be positive and negative depending on whether that change has developed habits within our best interests or not. This explains why when we examine our weight over time we don’t notice it being a problem, however when presented with a photo of us at a younger age we notice the significant change straight away. This is something that occurs commonly, people tend to let their dietary habits slip over many years.

For those of us that