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Know Your “Whys”

Knowing your “Whys” will give you the leverage you need to make your decisions a reality

Regardless of whether you are trying to lose 10 pounds, 100 pounds, become a fitness model, build wealth, or achieve any other worthy goal you need to start by making a defining decision to achieve your goal. Make your decision, write it down, and then list all of the reasons why that goal is important to you. This simple exercise alone will significantly improve your odds of success in any endeavor.

The difference between Those Who Achieve their Goals and those that Do Not

The single most important thing that makes one person successful and another fail is the difference in their mindset. When I meet with a client for the first time, I help them determine not only what they want but why they want to achieve their goals. There are many stages that we go through when we want to achieve a new goal. We can be contemplating making some changes, getting ready to make the changes, or committed. If you are committed then you are absolutely motivated, willing and determined to do whatever it takes to implement the actions required in order to achieve the outcome or result that you want.  If you have a big enough why or enough desire, given the right tools and information, you will achieve the outcome you desire.

Many of you may have struggled with your weight for years or even decades. People who have had this struggle often feel guilty, embarrassed and ashamed of their weight and appearance. I’ve met with countless individuals who no longer even believed that they were capable of losing weight much less keeping it off. I know when I was struggling with my weight I felt all of those things. I completely understand what it feels like to be locked inside a prison that you don’t feel you can escape from because it happens to be your body. I remember the years of looking in my mirror and being shocked and unhappy at the matronly woman who was staring back at me. I was unhappy, uncomfortable and self-conscious all of the time!

Guess what? This is very important—Focusing on losing weight and being unhappy and uncomfortable won’t help you achieve your goals! Therefore, the very first thing I want you to do is to begin practicing self-acceptance. Don’t put any more energy into feeling guilty or unhappy about where you are right now, today. Instead, give yourself some gratitude for taking the simple but powerful first step to evaluate where you are and where you want to be. KNOW that you have taken the first step to achieve your goals of losing body fat and of having a healthier body. Remember, you didn’t get where you are right now in just a day, so it will take some time to change the habits that got you there. Within a couple of weeks you should start seeing results and feeling better. You won’t have to get “all the way” to your goal to begin enjoying the rewards of more energy and looking and feeling leaner.

Step #1. Decide What You Want

Here is a Secret of all Masters in achieving success in any areas of their lives. Decide what you want.  Make a decision and keep choosing the same thing over and over until your will is made manifest in your reality. Neale Donald Walsch in Conversations with God, Book 2

Regardless of the goal, whether it is in the area of your health, wealth or any other area of your life, one of the most important success strategies is to decide exactly what you want. Decide what you want and be very clear about what that will look and feel like when you achieve it. Simply saying, “I want to lose some weight” is too vague. Be specific. You can use the following examples to write a better goal for yourself:

  • I want to eat and exercise optimally so that I lose “X” amount of excess body fat and increase &/or tone my muscle mass.
  • I want to have a fit and healthy size “X” body and look and feel my best everyday.
  • I want to increase my muscle mass by “X” percent, reduce my fat body mass by “X” percent, so I will look more toned and have more energy.

Think about and visualize what your life will be like when you have achieved your goal. How will you feel and what activities will you participate in that you are not participating in now?  Will you dress differently?  Feel different about yourself?

Step #2. Visualize yourself AS IF …

Your mind is a powerful tool for helping you get what you want in life.  That’s because much of what goes on in your mind is nothing more than a story that you made up. Now that can be a very bad thing or it can be a very ‘cool’ thing.  Think of it like being on a movie set except that you (through your mind) get to play all of the parts. You get to be the story teller, you write the script; you get to be the Producer; you get to be the Director; you get to be the Star!  Now, this is really important….YOU get to decide whether your movie has a HAPPY ENDING or a sad one. It’s all in the story you make up.

Here’s how this all relates to this program.  First you will make a DECISION to take control of your own health and fitness…something many of you may have neglected for too long.  Next I you will make a TOTAL COMMITMENT to create a laser focus on getting the result.  Then you will create a lot of CLARITY around just what health and fitness means for you. You will need to learn how to eat healthy and exercise consistently and set your target goals.

Focus Forward:

Focus on what you want to achieve and what your life will be like when you reach your goals. If you focus on being a fit and healthy person, you will start to act like a fit and healthy person, making healthier food choices and being more active. If you focus on “being fat”, “being unhappy”, and “wanting to lose weight” your mind and your attitude are still in “fat mode” and you will tend to act accordingly. I think we’d all rather focus on being fit, healthy, active and attractive and bring our actions in line with that visualization—your results will naturally follow!

Here is a true story:

One of my clients set a target goal of dropping 20lbs of body fat and reducing his waistline by 3 inches over a 40-day period.  Pretty lofty goals, but he decided he wanted to ‘test’ himself and see just what was possible if he did everything right for 40 days.  He wanted to discover what kind of transformation he could achieve for himself. This client got very clear on what he wanted to achieve, made a huge commitment to do everything correctly for 40 days to see what would happen.  I am proud to report that he achieved his goals!  A big part of his success was that he used visualization.  Here’s what he shared with me: “As a big part of creating clarity, I VISUALIZE myself not as I am, but AS-IF I am already that person who has released 20 lbs of body fat….meaning my ‘mind’s-picture’ of me is 20 lbs lighter.  By doing so the mind begins to ‘adapt’ and ‘believe’ in your change and seeks to move you from where you are to where your mind’s eye sees you.”

This wasn’t just any client. He was a very successful self-made multi-multi millionaire who had created a very successful Financial Planning Service and appears on Fox News every Tuesday. He even went public on the news with his challenge! He assembled his team of experts, and I was his Nutrition Coach and Meditation Consultant. He and I agreed that regardless of the goal, whether it is to make a million dollars before your 40th birthday, which he had achieved plus some, or to lose 100 pounds, the success strategies are the same. What makes the difference is applying those success strategies to the right techniques (meaning having the correct information to implement your plan). Not only did I coach Stewart in his original goals, I went on to coach his entire staff in his business, and finally helped him with his book, Think Like A Self Made Millionaire.

Other great examples of using Visualization include two of the greatest golfers of all time, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods—both of who have stated that they ‘Visualize’ every shot before they actually swing on the ball—even their practice shots! Deepak Chopra goes into this process in depth in his book, Golf for Enlightenment: The Seven Lessons for the Game of Life. I would highly recommend that book even if you are not a golfer.

Then there’s the research that included 3 groups of basketball players.  The first group did not practice their free throws and saw no improvement; the second group practiced 2 hours per day and saw a marked improvement in their free throw percentages; the 3rd group ‘visualized’ shooting successful free throws for 2-hours per day but they didn’t actually practice.  The result?  The group using visualization saw their free throw percentage nearly match that of group #2!

Visualization can make a huge difference in both achieving and accelerating your intended results, whether your intention is to achieve greater health and fitness or to become financially free or to greatly improve your relationships. When you use the visualization process it actually begins to change your brain and you start creating new neurological pathways.  My physician friend, Dr. Rick Brown, tells me there is a medical term for this, “Brain Plasticity”.

Start now. Visualize exactly what you look like after having participated in our program. Don’t be afraid to ‘see’ an astounding NEW YOU! Use the following form to create your vision of what having a fit and healthy body means to you. Use the Master Your Mindset Worksheet to help you, or create your own in a personal journal.

Step #3: Act “As If”

When you change your decisions and goals in a way to put them in the present tense, “as if” it is already true then you will begin to behave “as if” you already are fit, healthy, and full of energy. Indeed you BECOME that person and begin to do and behave “as if” it were already true.  And when you change your actions, the results follow.

Act as if you have already achieved your goals. You will look and feel better and improve your results. If you tend to “hide” in baggy clothes—I call them my goddess clothes—then stop! Dress yourself in your nicest clothes that make you feel the best every day. Get out and be active. Don’t postpone any other activity “until you lose weight”. Start living your life fully TODAY. And if you act as if you are already fit and healthy, eating and exercising as fit and healthy people do, then you will become fit and healthy!

Remember to state these things in the present and in the positive. Instead of saying “I want to lose weight”, say to yourself, “I want a lean and fit body.”  Or “I have achieved my optimal body composition and I look and feel my best.”  If you focus on “losing weight” then you are still calling that weight into your reality. Instead, focus on calling optimal health and wellbeing; “being fit and healthy” into your reality. And if you state things as “I want” than the universe continues to keep you in the “wanting” state.  If you state that you ARE a fit and healthy person and that you have optimal body weight so you can live your life to the fullest everyday, you will quickly find yourself “acting as if” you are fit and healthy and have optimal body composition and weight. You will find yourself making choices “as if” it were already true and very soon you will be moving in the direction of your intended outcome!

I want you to take a few moments to start getting even more clarity about  what you want to achieve.  State what you want not only in the positive but make it measurable.  How many pounds do you want to weigh? What Body Fat Percentage do you want to achieve?  What size clothing do you want to be able to wear?

This is what I have decided I want to achieve in the area of my health:  ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Fueling Your Decision with Power!

Great job so far—now let’s give your decision some power! Now you have taken the step to “Decide What You Want” to achieve.  Remember a secret of those who achieve great goals is they keep choosing the same thing over and over until they bring it into their reality. This means every small decision they make along the way will continue to support what they have chosen. You must keep choosing the same thing, over and over until it has become your reality. In order to do this we must give your decision power and passion!  You need a big enough why to keep you focused and on track.  In this exercise we will fuel your decision with power by using the Universal Law of Intention and Desire.

Remember, what we think we create and what we think we become!

OK, now you are ready.  I want you to write down all the reasons why you want what you have promised yourself.  Why is it important to you that you achieve your goal? How will your life be different? How will it feel to do, be and have what you have decided you want?  What is your why?

Now you have made your decision and a promise about what you want to achieve. You have fueled it with energy and passion by giving it a big enough WHY! You now realize that every decision you make along the way will bring you either one step closer or further away from what you have decided to create.  And remember, the Secret of the Masters is they keep choosing the same thing, over and over, until they have made what they want manifest in their reality.

Your Thoughts & Beliefs Create Your Reality

Our bodies and the state of our health and fitness is a reflection of our experiences over the last few years. Our bodies are not solid and fixed, but are an ever flowing river of energy and information which are in dynamic exchange with our environment. Our bodies are made to spontaneously rejuvenate, heal and support us.  Most of the diseases we associate with aging are actually caused by our lifestyle choices and stress. We can choose to support our bodies and have optimal health and well-being as we age.

Remember, what you think, you create! “I am strong and healthy and I always make the best choice to nurture my mind, body and spirit.”

Make a Commitment to Yourself!

Now it is time for you to make your decision and a commitment to yourself to make yourself a priority for a fixed amount of time.  You should now be clear now about what you want to achieve in the area of Health and Fitness. When you write down your goals in the form of a commitment you are more likely to achieve them. A commitment is a promise to yourself and it is much more powerful than a goal.  Use the following Commitment Form to get clear on what you want and why you want it, and the action steps you are committed to taking in order to achieve what you want.  This form can actually be used to make a commitment in any area of your life, so feel free to use it to make a commitment in the area of Wealth, Career, Relationships, or any other area where you would like to achieve a new level of success.

Thoughts are things, and they are powerful things. Thoughts are subtle vibrations and they have energy. When you share your promise with someone else, you are putting your promise into Words which are powerful creating vibrations!

Ask For What You Need

An essential part of success in any aspect of life is to be willing to ask for support!  I’ve discovered that sometimes this is difficult, and occasionally I fall into that category myself. I believe in personal accountability and I admit, I like being in control. Sometimes those ideas and qualities do not go hand in hand with asking for and receiving support. I have learned though that it is equally important to be not only a good giver, but also a good receiver.

Ask the people in your life to support you both at home and at work. Let them know some specific things that would be helpful to you that they can do, such as support you and your schedule for your daily workouts; not bringing tempting, unhealthy foods into the office or home. You may even ask a friend or colleague, to be your accountability partner or join you on your new plan.

One thing I’ve learned in life is that “How you do anything is how you do everything.” So if you are hesitant to ask for support for your Health & Fitness, where else in life might you be hesitant to ask for and receive support from those around you? So let me ask you, where are you getting support for your goals and are you asking for what you need? Have you asked the people around you to support you in your health and fitness goals?

Get Clear about what Optimal Health & Fitness means to you

This has to do with visualization. Think about it, write it down; visualize it every day. What will your life be like when you reach your goal? How will you look? How will you feel? How will other people react to your differently. What activities will you participate in that you do not right now? This exercise will help you bring your vision into reality.

Download the Master Your Mindset Worksheet

Affirmation: “Knowing I have the power to change, I can create what I want in any area of my life. My thoughts create my reality, and if I can dream it then I can achieve it”. 

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