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New Year’s Resolutions, we all make them every single year. Usually the first thing on our list is vowing to get healthier & lose the weight!
Some people start with a detox program to jumpstart and maximize their weight loss efforts. But how many people truly stick to their New Year’s resolutions and actually carry it out throughout the entire year? We are all becoming more aware of detoxing the body for better health but what about the importance of detoxing the mind?
It has been said that it takes 21 days for new habits to be formed and become concrete, or unbreakable. Actually the 21 day habit-forming time-line is not a scientific fact but just an estimate. How long it takes to form a habit actually depends on the individual and also the new habit that one is trying to form. There are some things that are more simple to incorporate into your life than others like drinking more water everyday
or brushing your teeth every night before bed
Then there are harder habits that require more effort and dedication to form like getting into a good exercise routine every morning consistently 4-5 days out of the week or consistently eating fruit and vegetables, getting those 5 servings everyday
These type of habits depend on how much we actually enjoy the activity. Some people (like myself) love working out because we workout lovers just enjoy the process of motion and movement of the body whether it’s with a good workout or being active with sports. It’s an activity that offers challenging rewards, relieves stress by releasing those endorphins, and just makes you feel good. Exercise gives you energy and improves brain cognition thereby making you more alert, focused, and sharp. But then there are those people who absolutely HATE exercise and find it extremely difficult to stick to a workout routine without the help of a coach or personal trainer.
Here’s the thing about forming new habits. What most people don’t realize is that there is a reason you don’t stick to your New Year’s resolutions. You blame your lack of will power. Typically you start out really good and somewhere along the way, sometimes without even realizing it, you lose track of your goals. Sometimes life just gets in the way . Some people usually have about six to ten new year’s resolutions vowing to reach these goals before the end of the new year, starting out with very good intentions and very motivated with lots of momentum to get you in high gear but what happens after about two months or so? Your momentum slows down
you lose a little bit of interest unless it’s one of those habits that are easy like drinking more water everyday. But, if it’s a habit that requires more time to see that goal manifest, it becomes harder to stick to it. Why is it so hard to stick to those new year’s resolutions? As I stated before, a lot of times we attribute it to lack of will power but actually your will power has no effect if your mindset is not positioned for success. Our attitudes (or thoughts about a particular thing) affect our latitude and how far we will go in achieving our goals. This is where the assistance of a coach can really be helpful.
What is a coach? Well think of a personal trainer or sports coach, say like with football. What does a football coach do? Well he motivates, trains, educates, and holds his football players accountable. Without a coach a lot of players probably would find it hard to keep up with the physical training that football requires. Some players probably wouldn’t even make it to practice most days. It’s the accountability aspect that gets them out on that field. When we are held accountable to someone, we are more successful at achieving our goals. It’s kind of like going to church. Those who are not members of a church feel less accountable to attend regularly or even maintain certain standards that they know they should follow. It’s easier to break the rules when there is no accountability to a pastor or church members. Why? Once again, because as much as we all have good intentions, we all have our good days and bad days. Nobody’s perfect, unless of course you’re one of those A type personalities. What a personal trainer and sports coach offers is similar to a health and wellness life coach except it’s to help educate, develop, train (by providing tools), and motivate you in areas relating to your physical and emotional health and life-related issues. Unless a person is a very self-motivated individual, most people typically need someone else to keep them motivated. Now back to the resolutions. Most people who resolve to commit themselves to a weight loss program are typically successful at sticking to the program long-term only if they have a personal trainer to keep their momentum going. Why? Because we all have our good days where we are focused, energetic, and excited about getting to our goal. But then we also have our bad days where we lack focus, the energy is just not as high as it should be, and the excitement?……well, it’s much similar to a marriage; after the 2 year honeymoon period the glamour and high of it all starts to subside and real life kick in. Some days are just not as peachy as others and everyday is not going to be a bed of roses. This is where real commitment is tested!
So what is the answer to sticking to your resolution after the excitement has worn off? Well, first of all, everything that you do starts with a thought.
And as we form thoughts about things, we create meaning for each thing that we think about. Say for example, when you vow to lose weight and get on an exercise program what do you think about? The first thought that probably comes to your mind is spring and summer time and wanting to look good in that bathing suit right? This thought sparks something in you that motivates and inspires you to take action. Not only does it get you to take action, you also attach meaning to it. So now what does exercise mean to you? It means you will be able to fit into your ideal swimsuit. That’s an automatic motivator by itself. But what happens when you get into the workouts and discover that, “Wow, this is really hard work! Well, most people usually give up and throw in the towel. Others usually just sporadically do their workouts only when they feel like it maybe going 2-3 weeks at a time between each workout or even a month or two. In order to stick to a program or goal and continue to carry out the necessary changes in order to reach your goal you have to start with the mind. It’s your thinking that allows you to push past the point of struggle to a place where it just becomes a part of you, a lifestyle. As one would start with a detox program for the body to rid the body of toxins in order to optimize weight loss efforts, one should also adopt the same concept for the mind to get your mind in gear for optimized goal success. Well I have good news for you. As a health and wellness coach I can offer you a detox program for your mind! So what is a detox for the mind?
Here are some highlights of a few of the things that will be addressed in my Detox for the Mind Program that I will be launching January 15th 2011 that will offer a little bit of explanation of what detox for the mind is:
The Belief System
*What is the Belief system? How is the Belief System developed?
*Assessing your thoughts, self-talk, and inner beliefs (Personal assessments are provided for you to help you identify and find out exactly which areas you need to work on along with an affiliate program to take you through the steps of assessing your thoughts and beliefs). This is very important if you want to make changes in your life and are tired of struggling. Where the mind goes, the man follows. Your thoughts determine your behavior and your outlook on life!
*How and why your belief system controls everything from relationships to career success.
*Limiting beliefs: we all have limiting beliefs that keep us from achieving our goals and getting what we want and where we want to be in life. I will help you in addressing these issues and with identifying your limiting beliefs.
Reconstruction of your Belief System
Struggle is a part of life. It’s inevitable. But you’re not suppose to struggle all the time. If you are struggling all of the time and areas of your life seem to be going in an endless cycle where you keep producing the same results over and over then you are stuck and you need to figure out the problem area. If you are stuck in a “pattern” of struggling then there needs to be a shift taking place within your mindset, a reconstruction of your belief system.
Replacing old, negative thoughts and beliefs with new ones
The mind is in some ways similar to a computer. Consider the mind/brain to be the CPU or central processing unit of our body. This is where all thought processes take place. For a lot of us, just like a computer, our mind needs to be defragmented. We need to clean up our thought files and work on those thoughts that are fragmented, distorted, and untrue and don’t serve a good purpose for our lives.
*Pulling down strongholds of the mind: A stronghold is an incorrect thinking pattern that has become a part of your belief system and is negatively affecting some area of your life. Strongholds are built when we accept untruth and wrong thoughts and begin meditating on them until they become set in our minds and become part of our mindset or belief system. Meditating on a thought starts with the imagination. The bible speaks of strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:4, “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
Taking back control of your thoughts and therefore your Life!
*Giving your Power away. Have you given your power away to others? Sometimes we think we don’t have control over our own thoughts but we do. We allow other people’s negative opinion and thoughts about us rule over our own and take precedence over our own but who is the BOSS? (Best Opinion Supportive of Self!)
*How to get your power back!
A lot of times we look to others on a daily basis to give us what we need emotionally and in the process of doing that we give our power away in a variety of ways. It’s sort of like looking for love in all the wrong places. In this case, all the wrong places being among negative people in our lives. What we really need to do is tap into our inner strength. Everything you need is already within you, you just need to tap into and develop it. Tap into that inner power by detoxing your mind and getting rid of old negative beliefs and developing new positive ones!
*Plugging into the Power Source: Our Creator. God is the source of everything we need. Plug into Him to maintain optimal mental and emotional health.
1. The importance of Meditation.
2. Visualization.
Remember when you were a child and you spent countless hours daydreaming? There was a purpose for that! Actually what you were doing was visualizing and creating your reality. In an interview during the height of his basketball career, Michael Jordan revealed that he made it a practice to visualize himself on the court making his shots over and over in his mind before actually getting out on the court. There’s immense power in visualizing or seeing your goals and dreams in your mind. It’s like watching a movie, except you are the producer. The mind is a powerful thing and it is through the mind that God has given us the ability to create!
3. The Power of Prayer
4. Utilizing The Power of the Conscious and Subconscious Mind.
Your subconscious is influenced by your conscious mind and accepts WITHOUT QUESTION the information you send it. The conscious mind is where we do our thinking, rationalizing, and decision-making. It is the place in our mind where we are aware of the things that we are doing, thoughts that we are thinking, and what’s happening around us. The subconscious mind is that place in our mind that we are not actively aware of. Dreaming is a process that is part of the subconscious mind. The process of dreaming is how our mind tries to process the things we experience. It is also the place where our underlying beliefs are stored forming our belief system which drives our behavior.
These are just a FEW of the highlights of the detox program that I have designed for those who would like to maximize your goals for optimal success in the new year!! Let this year be different than last year. If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten. Aren’t you tired of getting the same results that don’t work? Aren’t you tired of self-defeating thoughts that drain your energy and keep you from the happiness you deserve? Well try something different. Do yourself a favor this year and utilize the help of a Health and Wellness Life Coach to help you in achieving your goals!
To receive weekly updates on my detox program for the mind visit my website at www.lifesourceinterventions.health.officelive.com. To keep up with weekly updates on health and wellness stop by my facebook page at Lifesource Interventions LSI and Like my page!
Blessings and good health to you in the New Year!
I often hear the question, "how do I develop a personal brand statement?" and my answer stays the same most of the time. A strong personal brand statement can be one of the best tools you can have and certainly one of the most critical ones for your branding and marketing toolkit, whether you are a business owner, or a professional working for someone else.
By the way, if you’re going to eat chicken, which is a good source of protein for those who are trying to lose weight, make sure you are getting good quality chicken that hasn’t been injected with hormones and chemicals. (That’s a whole other topic of discussion.) And while I’m speaking of healthy things to eat, going back to carbohydrates; there’s nothing wrong with eating pizza or any other carbohydrate as long as we make sure that we are taking in healthy carbs like whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, fruit and raw or steamed vegetables. It’s better to make the pizza yourself from scratch using whole wheat flour or unprocessed flour and throw some spinach or finely chopped broccoli on the pizza to make it even more healthy. There are even some vegan restaurants nowadays that make healthier pizzas and other foods that allow you to eat out and choose healthier options. Ok now back to the hormones.
