Why affirmations and self talk work

Self talk and positive self motivation are nothing new; they've been used for years in the elite sporting, science and medical community for everything for improving game day performance to helping people to quit smoking. So why doesn't everyone use these techniques? You may look at that athlete at the gym who's mumbling under his breath or getting very vocal and think that he's making a fool of himself, but the truth is, there's a science behind what he's doing and it’s a science that works.
Henry Ford (founder of Ford automotive) once said “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t. You’re right.”
Fitting words, even today, 64 years after Ford’s death, they still ring true. That’s because they are. Ford recognised that the way that people think influences the outcome of what they do. That’s exactly the same reason that athlete talking to himself over at the gym and pumping himself up to make a big lift is going to be more successful than you if you’re not equally mentally determined. It’s all about committing to sharpening your mental strength
If you can continually convince yourself that you have the ability to achieve that great dream of yours or make that big change in your life, then taking steps towards doing it is going to be the next logical step. Your mental success will drive your physical success. It’s all about being mentally aware of your thought patterns and altering them to suit your needs. You can be happy, healthy, wealthy or loved; it’s all a matter of making yourself aware that you are and taking appropriate steps.  Be aware. Make your mind your greatest tool, and most importantly, be consistent.

How to acheive success

Setting yourself up for success is as easy or as hard as you decide to make it.One of the main problems people come across when planning for success is that they over simplify their goals. They think that simply by stating their intention they will somehow come up with a means of reaching that goal. For example, if my goal where to lose weight, just implying that I want to lose weight is not going to give me a solid plan in achieving it. However, if I rethink my goal and say to myself, okay maybe I want to lose 5kg in 3 weeks as part of my overall goal of losing 20kg, I have already set a minor goal that is going to help me in progressing to my main goal.

The reason this works better than setting up your larger goals is because you are limiting yourself to a set time period in which you have to achieve those goals, this puts more pressure on you to work at achieving your goals. So what’s going on behind the scenes? It’s a well studied fact that humans are much more influenced by instant gratification than future gains, that’s the reason why we’ll often end up splurging some of that hard saved cash on something that is going to make us feel good now, opposed to something of future benefit. So if all your brain wants is instant gratification, even though it knows that the future benefits may outweigh the instant pleasure, how do you use that to your advantage?

This is where we start to break down our goals even more. So we look at the same example as before and say to our self well I’m starting with 5kg in 3 weeks, what am I going to do? Well I could start by calculating my daily macronutrient intake (that’s proteins carbohydrates and fats) for losing a certain amount of weight per day, so if my goal is 5kg and I have 21 days to do it, I’m going to need to lose just over 230g per day (that sounds reasonable right!), so I Google macronutrient calculators and workout exactly how many of each of those three categories I need to eat to lose that amount each day. Let’s just say I want to be extra certain I’m going to keep it off and decide to start working out three times a week for 30 minutes doing high intensity interval training because I know that it’s an efficient way to burn fat, all of a sudden that fat is disappearing because I’m burning more than I’m consuming and my diet is solid. Soon my goal of losing 5kgs in 3weeks is starting to look too easy.

This is just an example of how good planning can help you gain the upper hand in creating your success. This isn’t limited to weight loss alone; you can apply the same principle to any goal you have in 4 steps.

1. Define the overall goal.

2. Break it down to a shortened period (no longer than a month)

3. Break it down even more (daily, weekly, whatever it takes)

4. Re-access as you progress (important if you want to keep progressing)

Remember to keep your goals timely, if you start setting goals that take too long( in excess of a month) it can be hard to stick too them because your brain just wants that instant gratification.

Most of all its important to remember that you control the outcome, if things aren’t going your way, switch it up. You control your success. Be your own person and claim it through simple planning today.

JD

Defeat procrastination

I'm down and out of the action at the moment while I wait and recover from having my wisdom teeth removed, it's a blessing in disguise, i have all this free time to do things but in having so much free time it also means a lot of time to procrastinate. So today I'm I'm focusing of that mighty little devil procrastination.

Often it seems like such a luxury to simply have the time to sit and procrastinate, yet so many of us do it everyday, but no matter what we're avoiding it's important to remember that procrastination isn't going to aid you in a positive way. Time wasting is the successful persons pet peeve, it frustrates them and destroys their game plan. Anything less than forward motion towards their goals is wasted time. That is why procrastination is the top of their list of hates. For that same reason it should be the top of yours too. If you really want to achieve and move forward in creating your ideal vision of your life then waste no time in doing the best with yours.

Declare war on mediocrity

Life is a game of ups and downs, yet sometimes it is when we are at our worst that we discover our path to achieving our greatest ambitions. It is only through discovering the depths of the lows that plague us that we can uncover the obstacles that restrain us and therefore devise a plan to defeat them. It's just like a comparison to the movie star character that at his lowest most vulnerable state drives through adversity to defeat evil. But the truth of the matter is it doesn't just happen, the only way to strike back at adversity and defeat the obstacles that stand in your way is to ask yourself a few very important questions.

Why? Well the men (or women) who learn to ask questions of them are directing their actions towards making improvement towards their goals.
By learning the right questions they learn the right answers that will drive them forward. Give it a try, when you’re feeling low or simply want to move forward ask yourself:

What is limiting me and how can I overcome it?

How can I set myself apart from others or my competition?

What can I do that will help me improve my situation today?

If I could set apart an hour today towards my goals what would I do? (aim to do it )

Who do I really want to be?

What can I do to get closer to being who I want to be?

These are just a few examples of how you can direct yourself to creating a better you and a better life, the real power is left in your hands, ask your own questions and live up to acquiring your desires