One Solution to Reaching Your Health and Financial Goals

[Chett]

“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

Okay the title to this article may sound too simplistic to suggest there is one thing you can do to achieve your goals in two areas people struggle with the most. The last time I was in a large book store there were five entire book shelves devoted to personal finance and an entire aisle regarding health, getting in shape, and losing weight. So, what is the one solution to the topic that could fill up a small library? Your attitude.

If you think back to anything you have achieved in your life, any goal you've reached, your attitude was instrumental in staying committed and encouraged along the journey. Maybe it was a particularly tough assignment at work, or the rigors of college. Maintaining the right attitude in the face of challenges is the most important factor that will determine our outcome and it's also the most important characteristic we possess that will help influence others around us.

This topic is particularly sensitive to me. In most every area of my life I am pretty optimistic. But, I had a conversation with a friend and colleague of mine last week and they stated, "You know, regarding certain areas in teaching, you are a pessimist." I attempted to defend myself at her initial comment, but I knew she was right. There are a few aspects of my job that I have allowed to frustrate me, so I guess I resolved the only thing I could do about it was complain. (And as I typed this last statement I realized how ridiculous that sounds.)

What a sad commentary of our character if we decide the only thing left is to complain and spread negative attitudes about the situation we find ourselves in. I'm not judging, it was me too. The more I thought about it the more I realized every other time I faced difficult challenges, the one thing I did that improved my situation was changed my attitude and began making positive steps to change both my current circumstances and future outcome. It was that simple.

Get out of debt-Change my attitude about money and stuff to provide happiness and adopted an attitude of financial security.

Pay of debt- Realize small wins and sometimes slow progress was better than going deeper in debt and no progress.

Getting in shape-Realized how much better I felt as a result of exercising, regardless of how I felt about actually exercising when I woke up in the morning.

Eating right-Adopted the mentality that I should eat to "not be hungry," not to be full.

And now I'm training for a marathon. I fight negative thoughts before every long run, during every long run, but never after a long run. In fact if you consider anything you've ever accomplished that was worthwhile, you probably dreaded it before it arrived, the act of carrying out your goal was a struggle, but I doubt you ever looked back and said it wasn't worth the effort.

The following are five suggestions from Performance Prime.com that may help you change your negative attitudes and move you closer to achieving your goals.

The Five R's are key words that summarize a Negative Thought Stopping procedure that can help you achieve this goal. Each word sets up the thought process for the next step in this sequential procedure. Implementing this thought process on a consistent basis, with intensity, is critical to successfully learning to stop negative or counter-productive thoughts.

Recognize - Recognizing that you are having a negative thought is a critical first step in learning to control negative thoughts. Consciously increasing your awareness and vigilance with regard to negative thinking will aid in the recognition and control of counter-productive and self-destructive thinking. You must be "on guard" to recognize the first signs of negative thinking in order to crush that thought before it has a chance to fully form and strongly take hold of your conscious mind.

Refuse - You must refuse to allow the negative thought to continue and gain strength by some positive and defined action (e.g. visualize a STOP sign in your mind's eye; snap a rubber band across your wrist every time you have a negative thought; etc.). You must do something to disrupt the negative image and/or thought in order to prevent it from growing stronger. By doing this, you begin the process of shifting your mind away from the negative thought.

Relax - Use any of a number of techniques that can help you to relax: take a deep, controlled breath; use a verbal trigger to shift your thoughts and feelings to a relaxing image; etc. When you are relaxed, the effect of mental programming is more powerful and you are ensuring that the next step in this 5-step procedure will have an increased potential to be effective.

Reframe - The 4th step in the Negative Thought Stopping procedure serves to complete a mental shift toward images and thoughts that are consistent with your best performance. Replace the negative thought with a positive image or thought. "I AM in control of my thoughts and actions, I can choose to respond and think the way I want to." "I've been here before and done this before, so I know I can do it again." "This is part of the process that I have chosen." Use imagery to 'see' and 'feel' the performance you want to achieve and how you want to BE as you achieve it.

Resume - Continue your activities with a sense of confidence and control. You will always enjoy strong sense of confidence if you tie this mindset to a personal commitment to always give nothing but your best effort, regardless of the situation or outcome. The degree of effort you apply to the challenges that you face on an ongoing basis is totally, 100% within your control. it is one of the few things that is, in fact, fully within your control. Think about what you are like when you perform with excellence and what you want to achieve, and develop your confidence by always applying your best effort to achieve it.


Are you willing to share your negative thoughts, or discuss how they have been obstacles to your success in life and how you plan to overcome them.