When I talk with clients about achieving their chosen weight and healthy life, we spend a ton of time on motivation, vision, and behaviors for success.
Motivation Keeps You Moving
What exactly is motivation? According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, it is:
1 a) The act or process of motivating
b) The condition of being motivated
2. A motivating force, stimulus, or influence
So how do we maintain and even increase motivation over time? We pay attention to clearly articulated reasons for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.
For participants in our Weight for Wellness(TM) program, that means focusing on what we call the "Big Whys". Why do you really want to be healthy? What happens if you continue to do what you're doing now? How will your health be in a year, in three years, and beyond if nothing changes? Is there someone important in your life who will benefit from a more healthy you? What does achieving a healthy weight mean for you and why is that important?
Vision, Trance, and You
What constitutes vision? Returning to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary, we find:
1 a) something seen in a dream, trance, or ecstasy;
b) a thought, concept or object formed by the imagination
2 a) the act or power of imagination
An important question to ask is: What vision am I paying attention to?
One vision is of you being at your present weight, doing the things you've been doing, and feeling the same way you now feel about yourself.
I hear someone saying, But wait a minute Steve, that isn't a 'vision'. Yes, indeed it is a vision.
Look at definition 1 a) again: "something seen in a dream, trance, or ecstasy;"
The beliefs you hold about your weight; the behaviors you rehearse in your mind time and again; the real expectations of your future, they all contribute to the trance you call present reality. You spend hours a day cementing in this vision while spending less than 10 minutes a day creating a vision of super health and personal command over your life.
Rehearse a New Reality
What would happen if you committed just two or three minutes every hour of your day creating rich, big, bold, and clear pictures of the reality that can be? Why not aim your powerful imagination in ways that support health and happiness? Rehearse in self-talk and vivid imagination multiple times every day the reality you really want for you and your loved ones.
Behaviors Bring Reality
Finally, what behaviors keep you chained to your present health reality and what behaviors support a new reality of health and happiness? Genetics and other factors may play a role, but you have far more control over your health and life experiences than you might imagine.
Changing behaviors leads to changed realities. What small changes can you make that over time bring huge health benefits?
- Read labels and stay away from high fructose corn syrup and other sugars in processed food.
- Write down what you eat and drink daily. This leads to behavior changes automatically.
- Take a walk.
- Wait 10 minutes after a meal before deciding whether to eat desert.
- Drink a glass of water 10 minutes before a meal and when cravings arise.
- Wear a pedometer and track how far you walk every day.
- Pack a lunch and healthy snack.
- Get out of your desk chair at least once an hour and stretch.
- Ask your subconscious knowing and heart wisdom what will work for you. Email CarterMethod@gmail.com to learn how.
Make a decision to do just a few things differently every day and notice what happens. Add short exercise breaks during the day to your electronic calendar and set automatic reminders. Stay motivated by focusing on your "Big Whys". Choose to spend time in the trance of terrific health and happiness.
You really can achieve the life, health and body of your dreams. Start by approving of yourself exactly the way you are. You're not "broken". You have simply been running unconscious behavior programs in a highly effective way. The skill and efficiency you're using for existing programs can be shifted to new programs.
If it's time for you to choose a new reality, cultivate new motivations, new visions, and new behaviors.
You are worth the investment!
Steve Carter
Stress Solutions, LLC
Home of the Weight for Wellness(TM) program
http://EasyStressCures.com | http://www.EFT-MD.com
1-804-677-6772
Very helpful post. Thanks.
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