There are many phrases that we use periodically that come from movies. “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” (Wizard of Oz) “Nothing personal, it’s just business.” (Godfather) “I’ll be back.” (Terminator) And, “Locked and Loaded – or – Lock and Load” (Sands of Iwo Jima and Saving Private Ryan)
The phrase ‘lock and load’ has a couple of origins, but literally the same definition. Before firing a flintlock rifle, you must position the firing mechanism into a ‘locked’ position and then add the gunpowder and ball. This prevented any misfires. During WWII, the M1 Garand rifle required that the bolt be moved to the ‘lock’ position in order to load an ammunition clip. Again, a safe position.
Regardless of its origin, the phrase relates to any activity in which you must prepare yourself for immediate action. I’ve been blogging this month about starting New Years Resolutions in early December so that you are already doing them by the time the New Year starts. Dr. Maxwell Matlz (Psychocybernetics) tells us that it takes 21-30 days to make a new habit.
We get discouraged easily in early January with many other things going on and miss a day here and there and pretty soon we aren’t doing what we want to do. Start early and fail a couple of times and you still have an official start date to ‘restart’ if you haven’t established a habit by then.
Do we really need an official start date to begin something? I think not. We love to procrastinate. The Spanish term, mañana, means tomorrow. Put off today what can be done tomorrow. Our health seems to work that way. Except, that when tomorrow comes, we don’t have recourse to correct what went wrong.
If you want to make healthy changes in 2017, are you locked and loaded to make those changes? Are you aware of what you want to do? Do you know how to transition appropriately? And, more importantly, do you know why? The ‘WHY’ is probably the most important because it will keep you actively engaged to make it happen.