The flavor of the month is PERSISTENCE!!!! I have come in contact with this much needed resource quite frequently in my own life in my training as well as personal life. You know what I mean. You start a new program a few weeks later you look in the mirror and things seem to look the same, and so you say to yourself, what's the use, what's the point, I may as well just quit, nothing is happening. Then you keep at it for just another week or two and miraculously major shifts happen and you forget you were even belly aching about it in the first place. Yes, I know the feeling and I know the thoughts running through your head, they are the same thoughts we all have, why bother if nothing is happening? Believe me, something is happening, and the first thing that shifts is a change in your mentality where this healthy lifestyle is the exception and not the rule in the first place.

What if instead we had a major overhaul in our perceptions, practiced daily affirmations to acknowledge our goals and visions and kept repeating them over and over. Of course, we all know the outcome; eventually we will rediscover electricity right? Yes, exactly!!!! So my message to you this week is this:

If you are feeling a little down, or a little discouraged about your program, just give it one more week, stick to it, and remain free from emotions and checking the scale. Write down two affirmations that you want to be true for yourself and repeat those in your head over and over. I don't mean stuff like "I now weigh 100 pounds" I mean stuff that you can actually believe. "everyday, I am getting closer and closer to my goal" or "every good meal is one step closer to my goal" or how about "I love the way exercise makes me feel when I am done" (haha don't we all?) try on a few affirmations, play around with them, have fun with them and see how your life will do a complete turn around.

OK, sounds easy enough right? But how do we go about doing this specifically, how do we persist with passion, when things just seem to be going all wrong, or nothing is happening at all?  In addition to the above mentioned techniques, begin to focus on mini goals.  You have a big goal in mind no doubt. That is the main challenge in the first place, looking at this huge goal and wondering how in the world you are going to obtain it.  First off, start by chunking your goal down into little mini goals.  Make part of those mini goals daily successes.  When we focus on the process and let go of the outcome, things just seem to move along effortlessly and all of the sudden you look in the mirror and to your surprise you have surpassed your goals.  The trick is to get out of your head, and into your heart. Stop analyzing and beating yourself up for little tiny slip ups or missed workouts.  Focus on the successes. Give yourself pats on the back after each successful workout and each successful weight training session.  Think of it like an artist who is painting a beautiful painting. They enjoy no doubt looking at their gorgeous finished painting, but they also enjoy the process of selecting the paint colors, deciding on what to paint, sketching it out on paper, and getting involved in the process so intently.  When we get involved in the process, the outcome seems to just magically happen.  Let go of the main objective, and enjoy the process.  For one thing, workouts are so much better when you have actually enjoyed them. 

You no doubt have heard of the saying “fake it until you make it” right? How many times in your life have you dreaded brushing your teeth? Personally I have had a few of those experiences but not too many, for the most part; I just wake up, brush my teeth and go about my business. It is a habit, so ingrained that I just don’t think about how I feel about it at all.  So, we can use this trick when it comes to getting to our outcomes with our fitness goals. People often ask me, how do I continue to exercise on a consistent basis, and usually what they tell me is that they don’t feel like doing it.  In turn I say, well, I don’t think about how I feel about it, I just put on my tennis shoes and go.  This is obviously a process, but through our positive affirmations, and practicing taking action, regardless of feeling and separating ourselves from how we feel. Once we actually get into the gym and are in the “zone” then we can clearly see our vision, and start to really create that vision of what we want for ourselves.  Seeing the positive, focusing on the positive and using those affirmations to solidify that we will not take no for an answer and we refuse to quit until our outcome is achieved!  We refuse to give up, or give in to a bad day or a bad situation.  We stay the course, as wobbly as it may seem, at first, until we can just put on the cruise control and put on the auto pilot.

So let’s recap:

1. Create positive affirmations for yourself:  Personally I have many affirmations set up on an audio mp3 and I listen to that first thing in the morning.  You can have them written on paper and read them out loud or in your head.
2. Separate feelings from action:  Set up a game plan for nutrition and exercise, and follow it, no matter how you feel, in fact, just separate your feelings all together, just think of it like you are brushing your teeth.
3. Chunk size: If you start to get too emotional, create smaller chunk size goals, little mini goals to create successes for you along the way
4. Visualize you goals: Once you have done all of the above, then you can really focus on the big picture your big goals.  I like to do this when I am doing cardio, it really gets me fired up.  Put on some awesome music and just have a blast in my head.

Remember you are the only one who thinks in your mind, and you have the freedom and choice to think whatever thoughts you want.  Sometimes it actually seems difficult at first to think positive thoughts, but starting off with your affirmations, and following the steps, you will be on your way to achieving fitness excellence, and achieving all your goals and desires.

Wishing you health and happiness,

Nancy

www.nancygeorges.net

*posted 10/18/07