SUMMARY:
In today’s post, we are going to learn how to harness the life-changing magic (and power) of a positive mindset, for ourselves. If you only watch ONE of my videos or read only ONE post all the way through, I pray that this is the one, because if you can master this skill, it will truly change your life as it has changed mine! If you stick around, I tell you exactly how…
I have used these skills to achieve the fitness goals I desired to the exact pound, measurements, and body composition I dreamed of. More important than the outward change in my body, was the internal transformation of my dialogue with myself, my beliefs surrounding my weight, and my attitude toward an evolving lifestyle.
You see, the point is, that you can completely change the outcome of something. The feelings of doubt do not have to hold you back from improvement. Whether you wish to improve your weight or you want to alter your fears and your habits in other areas of your life, as you learn to change your mindset, you can allow your subconscious mind to take over and navigate you toward your goals. Your improvements become automatic and require minimal effort on your part. Remember, your thoughts become beliefs, which in turn, become your habits —and ultimately, become who you are. In other words: you are your thoughts.
This post is dedicated to helping you to supercharge your health and satisfy that lovely soul of yours by living your best life! You are going to learn how to harness the power of a positive mindset. If you only read ONE of my posts all the way through, I pray that this is the one! If you can master this skill, it will truly change your life as it has changed mine! If you stick around, I tell you exactly how…
Let me start this post by asking you a question: Have you ever been positively influenced and inspired by someone so deeply that they made you feel you could conquer the world? Perhaps, it was a friend, parent, mentor, teacher, pastor? I imagine that they made you feel great about who you are and who you want to become. What did you appreciate about them? Were they positive when you were feeling cynical? Maybe they always had the right thing to say when you needed a boost. Most likely, they made you feel great about who you are and what you have been created to do on this planet. Consequently, the more that these people encouraged you, the more you believed them — and as a result, you experienced great things come to fruition.
Now imagine with me, if you will, that you are approaching these same mentors with the frustrations you have about your health and your fitness level. Imagine if their response was something like:
“You know you’re never going to reach your goals, right? You’ve tried to get in shape before and look where that has got you! You’re just going to give up. Your thighs are indeed fat, and it’s not the pants that make your booty look big. It’s your booty. If it looks bad in the dressing room, it won’t look good out there, babe! You’re too old to get in good shape!
Whoa, wait a minute…These are offensive statements! We can’t even imagine people we admire and respect saying such things to us, can we? SO WHY ON EARTH DO WE SAY STUFF LIKE THIS TO OURSELVES…AND OFTEN?
I have a long history of struggling with negative self-talk and self-doubt. And, if I can be completely transparent, here, I still do. My weight loss journey has been a long and fascinating one; but, it hasn’t been easy. The journey has been an uphill battle at times, with plenty of plateaus along the way. While learning how to exercise properly and how to eat nutritionally sound food in proper proportions were all important practices that helped me achieve results, it was not until I applied some critical mental activities, that I indeed saw a transformation take place.
In my journey, I met Bob, a friend, an amazing mentor, and my previous supervisor. Bob was responsible for pioneering the shift in my mental framework that allowed me to achieve more success in my life —the method that not only helped me create my ideal healthful body composition; but, helped me pursue and experience excellence in every other aspect of my life.
Bob introduced me to the concept of visualization and affirmations that he had learned from his mentors. Inspired by his enthusiasm, I started creating affirmations and a visualization practice, focused primarily on my health, in the beginning.
This process was surprisingly refreshing and improved my mood and overall outlook because I was creating a sense of control and hope for my future. As time went by, I started to see the fruits of my thought patterns come to light; I began to see results. I felt more energetic than before. I started sleeping better. I was serendipitously coming across the right research; a good nutrition program; the appropriate exercise program at the right time. My mind was open and willing to accept the gifts available to me that would assist me in achieving my success. And all of this occurred with little effort on my part.
Months later, I was able to achieve the goals I outlined in my affirmations to the exact pound, measurements, and body composition I desired. More important than the outward change in my body, was the internal transformation of my dialogue with myself, my beliefs surrounding my weight, and my attitude toward an evolving lifestyle.
I have countless examples of how the gifts of affirmations and visualization have worked in my life. You see, the point is, that you can completely change the outcome of something —albeit, it may seem daunting at times. However, the feelings of doubt don’t have to hold you back from improvement. Whether you wish to improve your weight or you want to alter your fears and your habits in other areas of your life, as you learn to change your mindset you can allow your subconscious mind to take over and do the driving, so to speak. Your improvements become automatic and require minimal effort on your part.
As Bob says, It may seem like a lot of “happy talk”, I know; but, your mindset affects your lifestyle! How? Our minds are amazing storage units for information. However, our minds cannot always determine true thoughts from untrue thoughts. Over time, given enough of the same thought patterns, the brain will develop a belief system surrounding similar thought patterns. More importantly, our habits (good and bad) will stem from these belief systems. And, consequently, our habits, over time, become who we are. This process of thoughts becoming beliefs and beliefs becoming habits is proven psychological science. Our minds must have a method of categorizing the constant barrage of information we deal with day in and day out. By forming belief systems and maintaining habits, our mind can more easily make sense of all the information that filters through our brain. Essentially, our thoughts beliefs and habits become a method of categorizing, compartmentalizing and organizing information to create the world that we understand.
NOTE: If you are interested, feel free to research neurophysiology, neuroplasticity, cognitive psychotherapy and the power of affirmations, if you are interested in learning more.
So where do you begin? You start by changing how you speak to yourself. And how do you do that? Grab a piece of paper (or your journal) and a pen and divide one page in half. Or, for this exercise, you can print off the Affirmation Worksheets that I’ve linked for you, HERE.
On one side, write down everything you dislike. Be specific. Once you have completed your “unhappy list,” it is time to move over to the opposite page. Now, on the right side of the page write down the ideal characteristics that you wish to have—and again, be specific. Be specific to the pound, the inch, energy level, hours of sleep, etc.. For example, you may write on the left-hand side, “My thighs jiggle when I walk.” On the right side of your paper, you may write, “Firm, slim, healthy, 22-inch thighs.” Make your list as long as you wish. However, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to be very specific. The brain likes specifics!
Now, here comes the fun part. You are going to create affirmations from your list on the right side. You can print off the Affirmation Worksheets that I have linked for you, HERE. These affirmations must be positive, in the present tense and programmable. What do I mean by programmable? Programmable is a term I use for affirmations that are simple enough for the brain to process and to adopt as a belief —and in turn, create subconscious habits to support this new belief.
To illustrate this process, I’ll share with you some of my affirmations that I created for specific health-related areas I wanted to change. I should mention that of all of the affirmations I created; the most important statement to myself is: “I love and accept myself unconditionally just the way I am.” Yeah, it sounds a bit Stuart Smalley-like; but here’s the deal: how often do you catch yourself giving a returned look of disgust in the mirror, or a negative thought creeps up in your mind, or you say something cruel to yourself? Most of us struggle with this and need to stop the pattern of self-deprecation!
Here are some of my specific affirmations for health and fitness:
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“Each day, I feel more energetic and alive.”
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“My nutritional intake supports my ideal health and body weight.”
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“I am growing taller, more flexible, leaner and stronger every day.”
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“I fall asleep quickly and remain asleep. Upon rising, my mind and body feel rested.”
The most common mistake folks make when attempting to change mindset is to use negative connotations. For example, do not say, “I’m not obsessed with eating bad foods.” This type of statement is not entirely positive. Instead, say, “I crave only the foods that nourish and fuel my body.”
To realistically fit the practice of affirmations into your daily life, I recommend recording yourself on your phone, saying each affirmation, and then pausing your voice for 5-10 seconds to allow enough time for repeating the affirmation, out loud, after each recorded statement. After all of the affirmations are recorded, you can now listen to your affirmations on a walk, jog or in the car and repeat them after hearing your voice say them. Hearing your voice is very powerful. If you don’t want to record them, you can type them up and have them handy to read, out loud, as part of your morning routine.
When you repeat your affirmations out loud, say them with conviction and with emotion. Smile when you say them and say each of them like you are projecting on a stage. Say each one with power and with energy (a car is a perfect place for this, by the way). By adding emotion, you are further signaling the brain to make new neuronal connections to the belief you are creating. And, you will find that by adding the dramatized emotion, you may feel freakishly happier and excited for your day and what lies ahead.
Lastly, visualize yourself in shape; in the situation; in the form that you wish to create. Just as a pro athlete visualizes success before the competition, you too will benefit from visualizing what it is that you want. After the process of addressing every aspect of your health that you wish to improve is complete, apply the same process to other aspects of your life. Use this process for your finances; your relationships; your spiritual walk; your business; your fears; your yearly goals; your intemperate habits, etc. Ultimately, every area of your life and every attitude you wish to change will benefit from creating new thoughts.
You see, the point is, that you can completely change the outcome of something. The feelings of doubt do not have to hold you back from improvement. Whether you wish to improve your weight or you want to alter your fears and your habits in other areas of your life, as you learn to change your mindset, you can allow your subconscious mind to take over and navigate you toward your goals. Your improvements become automatic and require minimal effort on your part. Remember, your thoughts become beliefs, which in turn, become your habits —and ultimately, become who you are. In other words: you are your thoughts.
Now it’s your turn. Here is the first thing you should do after reading this post: Download the affirmation worksheets that I have for you, HERE. Create affirmations that define your ideal self. Let me know what affirmations excite you! There are folks reading these comments who need encouragement from you! And I want to learn from you as well.
Let’s make this fun and let’s encourage each other to become the best version of ourselves…Remember this: perfection is who you are, at this moment; your mind, body, and soul. Imperfection is the result of time passing with no effort to improve each of these.
See it. Feel it. Believe it. Become it.
XOXO,
Dr. Linné
Originally published at www.journeytowardjoy.com