The first few weeks of my health coaching program are totally focused on mindset! If your mind is not in the right place, then health and wellness will just not last! In this article, I am going to share three of the many mindset masteries that will help you reach and keep better health and wellness goals!
#1 Mindset Hack: Disciplined Imagination
Before I explain the process of Discipined Imagination, let me share the two principle reasons for failure to reach your goals. They are: lack of confidence and too much effort.
Lack of confidence is when you ‘hope to eat a healthy dinner’ or you ‘intend to lose the weight’ or you ‘wish to run a marathon someday.’ You lack confidence in obtaining your goal. The ‘too much effort’ reason for failure is just that. If you feel like the transformation you’re about to embark upon is being forced on you or you don’t enjoy the process of reaching your goals, you will not keep up the behavior needed to succeed, thus, failure is imminent.
So, the process of disciplined imagination is knowing the end result. It’s imagining yourself living the end result NOW! Know that better health is yours. Believe that weight loss has happened or that you ran the marathon. Imagine that you are living in the success of your goals now or they have already happened. Thank your subconscious mind for the weight you have lost. Imagine yourself crossing the finish line of a marathon.
Here’s the exercise in a little more detail:
Be still; quiet the wheels of the mind. Enter into a sleepy, drowsy state. In this relaxed, peaceful, receptive state, you are ready for the next step.
Say to yourself, over and over, a brief phrase, like, “I am at my ideal weight. Losing the weight came easy to me. I give thanks for the empowerment I now feel after having lost the weight.” Fill in your own personal goals. Do this for 5 minutes or so daily.
Just before going to bed, imagine a friend or loved one in front of you. They are saying to you, “Wow, you look great! How did you lose all that weight?” Or maybe you see your loved ones at the finish line as you cross it, hugging you and saying “You did it! Congratulations!” You see their smiles, you hear their voices, you touch their hands; it is all vivid and REAL in your imagination!
Your thoughts feed your belief system which fuels your behavior. So what you believe to be true will guide your actions today. Try it. This really works!
#2 Mindset Hack: Two Words
Here’s an easy one for you that only consists of two words, ‘I don’t.’ Let me explain. Say the words “I DON’T” instead of “I CAN’T” when trying to give up a bad habit or pattern. For example, say “I DON’T eat ice cream on weeknights.” Your subconscious mind will start to believe that statement as truth and your actions will soon follow. Or “I DON’T drink wine after 8pm,” or “I DON’T eat cookies after work.” Instead of saying you “can’t” do something “because you’re on a diet” or whatever the reason, try the “I DON’T” trick! So simple!
#3 Mindset Hack: The Five Second Rule
I read about this concept recently in an article written by Mel Robbins (who also has a book about it.) It’s called the Five Second Rule and it’s not what you think it is! (i.e., eating food after dropping it on the floor!)
Knowing what to do and why you should do it is not enough. If it was, you’d already be attaining your goals. It’s also not as simple as “just do it.” When there is conflict between knowing what you should be doing and what you FEEL like doing, your feelings are always going to win. If you don’t feel like exercising, for example, you won’t do it! That’s why you need the Five Second Rule.
I love this quote from Mel Robbins: “If you don’t start doing the things you don’t feel like doing, you will wake up one year from today and be in exactly the same place.”
Whoa! Ouch! Does that get to you? It did me! So here is the rule:
If you have an impulse to act on a goal, you must physically move within five seconds or your brain will kill the idea.
So, if you have a goal of losing weight, for example, take action RIGHT NOW. Put on your new running shoes and go for a walk, go cut up vegetables for a snack, write out a healthy meal plan, put reminders on your phone to exercise or cut up those smoothie ingredients NOW!
Show the world you are serious about your goals and take action, however insignificant that action may seem. When you physically move, your brain starts to build new habits. Doing something you’re not used to doing is the act of building new habits and erasing existing ones.
What are you going to do RIGHT NOW for better health?
Change your mindset, change your world! You’ve got this!
