Choose better. Sounds easy, but is it? We have a guest blogger this week – Lisa Marchesi. Lisa owns the Healthy Inspirations centre in Sale, Victoria, and has been helping her members not only lose weight and improve fitness, but also helps them changing their mindset. Over to you, Lisa:
Our habits shape our life! The key to successfully changing your daily habits to healthier ones is to substitute alternative behaviours that also satisfy your needs. Once the new habit is ingrained, the new behaviour pattern becomes easy and automatic.
Be realistic and clear on what your needs are and your WHY. Remember your mind is the control room of your life. Then go ahead and set your goals and take action; small daily actions to achieve your goals throughout 2017.
Imagine how you would feel if you sat down at the end of December 2017 and could tick off your goals that you had achieved and set in early 2017. I bet you’d be proud! Maybe even feeling gorgeous and possibly have made new friendships through your new community that supports you.
Now suppose you decided today, right now, that you are finally making a REAL commitment to turn your dramas into actions….whatever they may be. Maybe it’s to lose those extra kilos?
If you want to lose weight and get into shape in the New Year, you must develop the habits of a fit and healthy person. Eating the right foods, getting regular exercise and making the right lifestyle choices are the key ingredients for staying lean, fit and at a healthy weight. In addition to lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure, keeping your weight in check and nourishing your body can also lower the risk of some cancers.
Go find a notepad and consider these questions.
Knowing what you want is the first step to getting it. Knowing what’s holding you back is the second step to making sure you get to keep it.
Write down your answers so you can see your progress later.
- What do I want to achieve this year? Consider the areas of health, wealth, relationships etc.
If you are really stuck coming up with a goal, start by asking yourself, if I could be, do or have anything in life, what would it be?
- Is this something I have tried to achieve before and not been successful? If yes, what has stopped me in the past?
This might include time, money, not having the right opportunities, lack of motivation, procrastination, lack of self-belief, not knowing how to achieve it, or maybe you just don’t know.
- What patterns have I noticed that occur with regards to achieving my goals and following through on my plans?
For example, do you often put in lots of energy at the start, then within a couple of weeks find you’ve lost motivation? Do you put off getting started for so long you just give up? Do you start too many projects at once and end up overwhelmed and under motivated? Identifying your unique patterns is key to changing them.
- What are my limiting beliefs?
What you tell yourself can stop you from achieving your most prized goals and visions. For example, if you have decided that this is the year you find the right relationship, believing that you are not worthy of love will sabotage your plans. If you told yourself that this year is the year you finally get the body shape you want or start the business you’re passionate about, but you have an underlying belief that “I’m not worth it” or “It’s impossible to find work in this market,” how motivated will you be? How effective? Listen to what you tell yourself about what you believe limits you.
- If there were two important changes that need to occur in order for me to be totally successful and reach my goals, what would they be?
They might be to have more confidence in yourself? Break patterns of self-sabotage? Not be concerned with what others think? Most of these can be resolved at Healthy Inspirations.
- What help, support or resources do I need?
This could be a mentor, additional skills, a ‘how to’ guide, a clear action plan, a sounding board or someone to brainstorm with. At Healthy Inspirations, we have lots of resources along with our trained staff who are here to develop your plan so you can achieve your weight loss and healthy goals.
- What 3 things can I do each day starting now to move forward with achieving my goals?
Enlist the help of a friend, partner or coach. To establish your own accountability, tell them what you intend to do. This puts the power squarely in your hands to determine your results.
Once you have these questions answered, it’s time to take action daily and review your goals weekly.
Keep the top 3 goals written on a card in your desk drawer or in your wallet and look at them once a day. Ask yourself, why do I want to achieve these goals? What will that give me or do for me? The “why” is your grander purpose and will motivate you to persist in taking action until it’s complete.
When you achieve a goal, celebrate! This is a great way to reward yourself for a job well done. It will anchor that wonderful sense of achievement within your psychology and physiology. This will only lead to building more and more success!
Remember there are no limitations, except those that are self-created and you can change those at Healthy Inspirations. We’d love to support you on your journey. Give your nearest centre a call today or simply pop in for a chat.