Mind Over Matter

It’s not about what happens. It’s about perspective. I may not be able to change what takes place, but I can always choose to change my thinking.

Michelle Sedas

Mind Over Matter…Getting and Staying in a Healthy Mindset!

Driving down the road it may seem sometimes like we are navigating through a sea of fast food signs and advertisements. The grocery store is equally as daunting with an abundance of unhealthy foods and eye catching packaging drawing us right to them.  Add to that the donut filled break room at work, the many celebrations throughout the year, and the friend who’s always inviting you out for a cocktail or dinner plans, and it can seem like an overwhelming feat for anyone trying to stay on track. We are human, and we are going to become tempted by things on a daily basis, but we also have a great deal of power to make the right decisions each and every day. No one said it was easy to say no to all of the temptations that life can present, but it can be done I assure you!
One of THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS anyone can do to set themselves up for success is to CREATE A HEALTHY MINDSET AND ENVIRONMENT!  There are so many simple things that you can do to create a healthy mindset, and I’m going to share a few of my favorites with you.

1. Get a subscription to healthy magazines. Buy a few in the store to see which ones you like first, and then order a subscription.  This way you have a constant stream of fresh new health related media arriving at your doorstep, sitting on your coffee table, and ready to read anytime you feel tempted to sit on the couch and eat potato chips. Instead just grab a magazine and start reading it. The pictures in them are great motivators in and of themselves!
2. Speaking of fitness models, find pictures of the body that you aspire to have in these magazines or print some off of the internet. Visualization is key to reaching your goal, and before you start saying…”I’ll never have that body,” stop yourself, because yes you CAN have that body! You have to have a picture of where you want to go if you ever want to get there, and you have to believe in your ability to do it!  Some of the best places you can hang your goal pictures are on your refrigerator, your bathroom mirror (that’s what I did!), a small one in your car or wallet, in your home work out room, your workspace, or anywhere else where you might encounter temptation.
3. Post your goals! But I know it’s easy for many people to get sidetracked, and so this is why it’s necessary to read them often. Write them down and post them where you can read them each and every day…no ifs, ands, or buts…DO IT! It’s your road-map to success!!
4. Choose carefully what you allow in your psyche. Watching tv shows filled with negative messages and pizza commercials in between isn’t exactly inspiring, so take a look at what you are allowing into your mindset and decide where you can make some changes. Many times people just get accustomed to certain habits and don’t even realize how much those little things can impact their mentality. Be mindful of anything unnecessarily negative that enters into your life through media or other avenues and just make the decision to focus instead on things that help you reach your goal of living a happy healthy lifestyle. Change the channel….or better yet do something active!
5. Inspire yourself with words of wisdom.  Never underestimate the power of a good quote or scripture (now you might understand all the quotes I have been sending you : )! This works much like having goal pictures around, but they can tug at your heart strings a little bit more and steer you in the right direction when you need the extra motivation most. Find a few quotes that you can write and post them in various places.  Make small ones to fit in small places and large ones to post if you want. Be creative and find ones that get you fired up!
6. Make a dream board. This is perhaps the most powerful tool I can think of to help spell out your goals and to visualize where you want to go in life. You can even tie all of the above things into your dream board. Get a regular poster board, some magazines, and a glue stick and start cutting and pasting! The focus of your dream board is going to include pictures of where you want to go in life, words that define the type of life you want, and any symbols that you feel represent your own happiness. They can be health related, family oriented, financial, or personal, and nothing is too big or too small or too silly. Dream boards are inspiring to create, but even more powerful once the things on them begin happening in your life. Put it somewhere that you see it every single day, and I guarantee it will help you stay in a healthy mindset!
7. Keep a record of your journey either on paper or online. Use a journal or your own method of tracking your eating and your exercise routines. This is very eye opening for anyone who has never done it. Not only will it help you to see where you have room for improvement, it will also help you to see your progress as you fine tune what works for you in regard to your eating and exercise plan.  It might seem unlikely, but it really does help when you are standing in the kitchen late at night thinking about whether or not you want to grab that peanut butter and jelly. You need to be accountable to yourself for what is going into your body and to stay on track with your workouts. Writing it all down is important and skipping this is non-negotiable in my opinion for anyone doing a challenge or looking to change their physique.  Take the time to do it, and I promise you will thank yourself later!

While these things may seem almost too simple at first, once you try using these little tricks, you might be surprised at just how powerful they are and how much they can and WILL help you succeed! Think of them as the “little angels on your shoulder” that help you to make the right decisions when you need a push in the right direction the most!

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude!

Thomas Jefferson