Health, Put Your Mind to It
One of the most powerful tactics to improve health is visualization. Many successful people visualize what they want to achieve long before they actually accomplish it.
Visualize!
In our lives all of us have used visualization at one time or another. For some reason, although our successes come from this skill we pay no attention to teaching and developing this technique. When it comes to success or results, it’s all about training the mind.
Training the mind is all about learning how your brain works and how to change the reflex ways we think. We want to change the thought process of the mind because our thoughts create realities.
In taking our time to rehearse and execute our visualizations we train the mind. We train the mind to start seeing what we want and what our actions will generate. As you practice this method it becomes a habit and you train your mind to think this way automatically.
When your mind accepts visualization as a way of thinking you develop successful behavior traits leading towards the results you want.
Take your time and train your brain to visualize.
What you visualize, you will create.
People can alter their lives just by altering their mindset. Mental imagery is a powerful step in the process of setting and achieving the results you want. Unfortunately, it is often ignored.
What’s in a name?
Every thing and nothing or any thing you want.
How can you recreate yourself and make your life what you want it to be?
But that’s not how we think. We come up with a name for our self and then we become that character in our mind and then we think that is the role we have to play for the rest of our lives.
This character that we have become is defined by our name. Every
time we hear it we connect on a subconscious level the role that character is supposed to play and then that’s how we act. How did we come to think that? We are simply what we are?
The truth is there is no definition of you other than the definition you chose
to give yourself and to act as.
I have worked with people and known people including myself who have
redefined themselves. You can become anything you want.
The first thing you need to do is free your self of limitations and how you define yourself.
Think outside the box.
Open up your mind.
Release yourself of limitations and your definitions. Visualize who you really are and remake yourself.
Today is the first step for you to realize you can be or you can do any thing.
When planning a new name you are empowering yourself.
You are giving your self the power to be anyone you chose.
So what’s in a name?
Anything you want.
Control
All too often, people want to do something immediately or they are focused
solely on current problems instead of picturing where they want to be in the future.
What is control? Control is what gives you the ability to live how you want and get the results you want. I always tell myself that knowledge is not power; the use of knowledge is power. We often know what and how we should do things, but we simply don’t. Why is that? It’s because we don’t have control over ourselves to use the knowledge in the right way.
After all, we know we should eat right, exercise, pay attention to relationships, our lifestyle, work and more. So why don’t we? We don’t do the right thing more often from a lack of control rather than from a lack of knowledge. As you continue to go through the newsletters, you will continue to decide that you can take control and get the results you want!
How can you stay in control? Learn the A, B, C and D basics and stay in control to get results:
A= Attitude
B= Behavior
C= Conscious
D= Decisions
I can control my attitude which determines my behavior while I am conscious of making the right decisions to get the results I want!
There’s also the fear factor associated with picturing a behavior change. Changing a behavior when you envision yourself finding something better-much better overcomes the fear of change enabling you to find new successes or results.
So how do you get started visualizing improvements to your health? Start by painting a mental picture of the results you want. If you have a weight loss goal, picture yourself 20 pounds slimmer fitting into clothes that you haven’t worn for years. See yourself as active and walking 30 minutes a day.
Experts also advise visualizing how you will deal with obstacles to your goals. Emotions are another important component of the behavior change process. Visualize, and then verbalize to others, how you think improved health will make you feel. Positive and long-term feelings can be powerful motivators.
Start visualizing your health goals. Write each goal and draw or attach a picture of it. Include a picture to remind yourself daily of your future goal(s) because visual cues can help you stay focused.
Post the worksheet someplace you’ll see everyday. In order to make behavior changes, you must have a vision of what you want to achieve. Once you see it, you can name it, describe it, and take small steps over time to achieve it.
Sometimes visualizing negative images can prompt a behavior change. For example, seeing what it would be like or how you would feel if you don’t make a change.
In addition to visualization, there are several other ways to think you healthy. The first is to frequently remind yourself of your strengths as an individual and goals that you’ve already set and achieved. Success is a powerful motivator and failure is a mind-set that can be changed. When you are tempted to abandon your health objectives, think about how good it felt to achieve a previous goal. Challenge the negative influences around you with affirming messages such as If I could do [action], I can certainly do [action]. Draw upon the focus and discipline you showed at an earlier time in your life. If you and/or people around you are saying you’ll never be able to do something, ask yourself why not?
Another way to foster a positive mind-set is with words used to describe behavior changes related to health goals. Experts call this using the language of change. Start by not using words such as I hope to, I plan to, hopefully I can, and I’ll try to from descriptions of future action steps. Replace them with bold declarative statements starting with words such as I am, I can, and I will. It also increases accountability to yourself and to others because you’ve stated exactly what you intend to do with an expectation that you’ll deliver results.
Another language of change is to describe the behavior you intend to take in the present tense, preferably with words like automatically, annually, and always, as if you have already been doing it for some time. Again, there is an accountability aspect to talking this way. It is an incentive to start walking your talk because, otherwise, you are basically telling other people a lie. It is also motivational to focus on small, positive action steps. Some examples of present tense phrases include:I quit smokingI always exercise at least 30 minutes a dayI always eat fruit for dessert at dinnerSimilarly, behavior change experts recommended speaking of negative behaviors and relapses in the past tense as if they no longer happen using words like I was, I no longer, and I used to. Again, this provides accountability to oneself and others and trains the unconscious mind to believe that change is occurring or is at least possible. Some examples of past tense phrases are:
I once weighed 200 poundsI was once a couch potatoI used to smoke a pack of cigarettes a dayWhen it comes to improving health, you can do it if you put your mind to it. When people expect a lot, they generally achieve a lot and, when they expect a little, their performance suffers.
Visualization is the process of creating pictures in your mind and using them to commit to a goal. To get started, complete the Visualization and Positive Self Talk worksheets for health and use them as a tool to train your mind to expect success and take action to achieve it.
