Transforming Your Mind Will Transform your Body

Transforming your mind is the first thing that must be done in order to lead a healthier lifestyle. Many of my clients cannot seem to make progress because they cannot seem to renew their thoughts. Your emotions are tied to your thoughts, and that is what hinders us from making changes or making progress.
If you examine your undesirable habits closely, you will find that they all have something in common. They all give you some type of feeling that is rewarding to you. Why do people spend hours watching mindless television? Why do people who drink alcohol continue to drink it? They do it because it gives them a certain feeling, in this case, relaxation, stress reduction, or pleasure. Read more: http://www.motivational-well-being.com/developing-habits.html#ixzz1HuIRBGOjny

Many people are emotional eaters. For example, you might overeat and feel bad afterwards, but while you were eating, you probably had a big smile on your face as you stuffed that big piece of chocolate cake into your mouth. It made you feel good at the time and probably brought back good memories that you relate to eating the cake.
This is the main reason why people set a goal of developing a good habit, such as regular exercise, and fail. They associate dreadful feelings to it instead of good ones. So how do we associate good feelings? Just think of disciplining a child. If you want a child to do something without forcing them, you reward them; give them something that makes them happy and feel good. So the secret is to find a way to associate good feelings to the activity you want to develop as a habit. Here are some ways to accomplish this:

• Reward yourself immediately after you’ve taken action. Give yourself something that will make you feel good, something that you normally wouldn’t do. Just make sure it doesn’t contradict the habit you’re trying to create. Don’t reward yourself by binging on fatty foods if your habit is to eat healthier foods.
• Focus on the end result. Why do you want to create this habit in the first place? Think about the results you would get if your habit was already developed and how that would make you feel.
• Think about the consequences of NOT following through. Generate and associate pain to not following through. Imagine where you’d be years down the road.
• Think about what feelings you’re looking for and find other things you can do that give you the same feeling and combine them. For example, if the habit you’re trying to create is to workout everyday and the feeling you get is a feeling of power and confidence and you happen to have a particular song that when you listen to gives you that sensation, listen to it while you workout.
There is much more to say on transforming your mind to lead a healthier lifestyle, so I will continue this article next week. I invite you to come to my next Transitions Lifestyle Overview, April 7th, 6:30pm at Spirit of Life Church. Contact me if you would like to come and transform your life.