“The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but
that it is too low and we reach it.”
- Michelangelo
Even though this has nothing to do with calories, protein, carbohydrates, fats, cardio, weights or anyhow
related to nutrition or exercising. There is a simple, but critically important process you must
complete before you even jog a mile, start a new nutrition program or even walk in
the gym.
If you successfully complete this procedure, the nutrition and training will be a piece of cake and a fit body will soon follow. If you skip this step – like most people do - you
are destined to fail no matter how hard you try. This crucial first step is
goal setting.
A lot has been said about this subject, and even entire books have been
written about goal setting - but the truth is, most people never decide exactly what they want to achieve.
Some give their goals a passing thought, but most people never get to the bottom of it and commit
their dreams and desires to writing.
This is very unfortunate because the biggest reason for failure in getting lean, is the lack of clearly established, written down goals. For example, if we compare not having
goals to shooting at a target with a blindfold on. How could you possibly hit a target if you
can’t even see?
If you don’t know where you are going, you’re very likely not
going to end up anywhere! Action without planning is the number one cause of failure.
I’d like to share with you one of the most effective goal setting formulas, but before
that, you first need to understand the reasons why setting specific goals is so important.
The difference between knowing what to do and doing what you know.
Nutrition and training can be quite confusing subjects, so when you get started, the
first challenge is that you don’t know what to do. Now that you have this blog as
your aid, knowing what to do will no longer be a problem.
Nevertheless, gaining knowledge is only half of the story. The far greater challenge is applying that knowledge and taking action according to it. There is a big difference between knowing what to do
and doing what you know.
Goals are the bridges that close this gap. Goals, when properly planted in your subconscious mind, produce action on it's own. Goals also help create energy and keep the motivation up. Goals get you out of bed early in the morning and help you do your daily workout
The secret to staying motivated day after day is to set emotionally charged goals - write them down -
and stay totally focused on those goals day and night. A goal with a clear purpose is what fuels you forward!
You might think that you’re in total conscious control of your behaviors, but what really is behind all your actions, is the sub-conscious. If you have all the know how, but you can’t seem to get yourself to do it, you’ve probably been giving negative or controversial messages to your subconscious. The behaviors that are produced by your subconscious conditioning are more commonly known as habits.
Fortunately, you can "re-program" your subconscious mind by giving it positive instructions and become a human of positive habits, just as easily as you can become a victim of negative habits. It all begins with your
conscious decision and clear written down goals.
The power of the mind
Most important part of getting in a great shape is simply deciding to do so.
You get in shape by setting goals and thinking about them all the time. That might sound a little strange, but stay with me for a minute and I'll explain myself
I don't mean that you can "think yourself thin". No amount of positive mindwork will work without any action taken. Obviously you have to train and eat properly. What I’m saying is that if you don’t focus your mental energies properly, even the best nutrition and exercising program won’t be much help because you will always end up sabotaging yourself.
Have you ever wondered why you have breakdowns in willpower? Or why
some days you just can’t get yourself to do your workout? Or why you fall off the wagon
completely? Or why you can’t say no to the all-delicious chocolate?
It’s because negative programming in your subconscious mind gains control of your behavior.
There’s a scientific reason why goal setting is so effective. It works because it harnesses the amazing
power of your subconscious mind, and that is what guides your behavior.
It’s important to understand that the subconscious mind does not “think." Which means it works kind of like a computer; All the data programmed into your subconscious is accepted and
assumed to be true. It doesn’t matter whether the data is actually true or false. The
subconscious unquestioningly accepts all the information it gets. It then executes the
programming you have entered into it.
Suggestions given under hypnosis or during deep relaxation
are fast ways to access the subconscious mind. Another effective way to get to the
subconscious, is through repetition. Everything you hear, see, say,
read or think repeatedly will eventually reach into your subconscious mind as truth. In other
words, you are constantly re-programming your brain by conscious self-suggestion
Let me demonstrate with an example:
Your conscious mind is like the captain at the bridge of a ship. The captain
gives a command and sends it down to the engine room. The subconscious mind is like
the men down in the engine room. No matter what orders come down from the bridge
(conscious mind), the crew obeys, even if the orders are stupid ones that crash the ship
into a rocky shore. The reason this happens is because the crew (the subconscious) can’t
see where the ship is going; they are simply following orders.
Like the ship’s crew, your subconscious mind accepts every command your
conscious mind gives it – its sole purpose is to obey and carry out your orders, even if you
give stupid ones like “I’ll never see my abs.” Frequent repetition of thoughts (mental
orders) is one of the most certain ways to penetrate the subconscious mind. This is why,
by repeating “I can’t lose weight” over and over, your subconscious will see to it that you
never lose weight because that’s its job – to follow your every command literally and
without question. If you program your subconscious with negative suggestions often
enough, your subconscious will lead you right into cheating on your diet, skipping
workouts or some other form of self-sabotage.
What you think about repeatedly every day is eventually accepted by your subconscious
mind and your subconscious mind guides your actions on “auto-pilot.” This is the basis
for the entire positive thinking movement. People who say that positive thinking,
affirmations and autosuggestions don’t work for them aren’t using them correctly or
consistently; they’re canceling out every positive command with a negative command. If
a captain gave an order, “Go east,” but then kept changing his mind; “No, go west…no,
go north, etc.,” the ship would never get anywhere!
That’s why most people don’t get far in their fitness, bodybuilding or weight loss goals, either. Ironically, the
statement “positive thinking doesn’t work” is a negative affirmation that guarantees
it won’t work!
The power of focusing yourself
Because of the way your subconscious works, it’s extremely important for you to
focus all your thoughts on what you want to achieve, not on what you want to avoid.
If I ask you to close your eyes and not to think about monkeys, you'll see monkeys everywhere.
You can't NOT think about something! You either think about something or you don't. Whether it's positive or negative, you'll always move towards what you think about the most.
Like the soil, your subconscious doesn’t discriminate. In it will grow whatever seeds you plant there or allow to be planted there. Most people have perfectly good intentions, but they allow their subconscious to work against themselves by focusing on what they don't want. And, the more you focus on what you don’t want, the more of it you create.
Others simply neglect their thoughts whatsoever, and like a garden
that’s neglected, soon enough, weeds will start growing. And in the end, the weeds take over your
garden.
Here are a few examples of negative statements and self-defeating questions:
I can’t lose fat no matter what I do.
Why can't I lose this last ten pounds?
I have a slow metabolism.
Why can everyone else lose weight except me? It’s not fair.
It’s not my fault because I don’t have good genetics.
I don't want to be fat anymore.
It’ll never work because I like food too much.
I don’t have the willpower to get lean.
I would work out but I don’t have time.
I just can’t get myself up that early to work out.
I hate being fat.
I’ll never see my abs.
I hate cardio.
I can’t.
I’ll try.
All day long you carry on a "mental conversation" with yourself. Psychologists have estimated
that we think up to 60,000 thoughts a day and that almost 98% of these thoughts are the
same ones we thought of yesterday - and you guessed it - most of them are negative.
In a year, that’s almost 22 million thoughts!
If McDonalds advertising can influence your subconscious mind tomake a buying decision by repeating an ad a mere two dozen times (they can), then just
imagine the impact that millions of your own thought commands have on affecting
your subconscious mind – it’s amazing!
You may now notice why it’s so important for you to take conscious
control over your mental dialogue and program your brain with positive goals.
Fortunately for us, the one thing you always have 100% total control over are your own
thoughts. If you want to be successful in losing body fat or any other goal in life,
you must master your communication with yourself. You must take charge of your selftalk,
and literally re-program your brain for success!
If you’ve "poisoned" your mind with a lifetime of bad thinking, this may be quite
challenging at first. Of course, as with computers, It will take some time to erase the
old programming, but it can be done.
The first step is simply to become conscious of what you are thinking. Become
aware of your thoughts. What might help, is a little trick that goes like this: I suggest saying
“NEXT” or “SWITCH” the instant you catch yourself in the middle of a negative thought.
Then, right away replace it with a positive thought or an empowering question. Kind of like
overwriting the old thought with a new one.
Replace “I’ll try” with “I’ll do it.” Instead of “I should” say
“I must.” Completely remove “I can’t” from your vocabulary. Soon you’ll find that your
mind switches its “polarity” and the negative thoughts begin to decrease. Here are some
examples of how you could change the negative self-talk to positive self-talk:
How can I lose fat and enjoy the process?
What can I do today that will help me get closer to my weight loss goal?
What can I eat right now at this meal that will help me lose body fat?
How great am I going to feel after I finish my workout today?
My metabolism is getting faster every day.
I am getting leaner every day.
I like the way I look.
Whatever it takes, I’ll do it.
I like eating healthy foods.
I love working out.
Training early in the morning is exhilarating.
I have time for anything I am committed to.
I like myself.
I’ll do it.
Tomorrow I will reveal you the most effective goal setting formula, as I promised earlier on this post.
So for now, Thank you for reading, and stay tuned!!
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