Change Your Mind, Change Your Life

Let's take a popular resolution-to lose weight. This is how your thoughts might go..."I am so fat! I have to lose weight! I have no discipline!" Stop. This kind of thinking will not help you change and it may set you up to fail. Your brain hears negative thoughts, and negative actions follow.

Start sending different messages to your brain and you will get different results. Here are some examples: When you say to yourself, "I am fat," tell yourself instead, "I am going to have a healthy body." When you hear yourself say, "I have no discipline," change it to, "I am capable of doing this." Change "I do not have any time to exercise," to "I have plenty of time to exercise. When you try to justify eating something unhealthy, stop, and say, "My body deserves healthy food." Instead of saying, "I hate exercise," say, "My body loves movement."

It does not matter if you believe what you are saying right away. You are changing self-destructive talk that has been going on for a long time. This is the talk that got you to an unhealthy place. Don't worry about how you will change your behavior. Once you start changing your thoughts, your brain will work on making these things come true. You say, "My body wants healthy food," and you will find yourself looking at totally different menu items. You say, "My body loves movement," and a few days later you get the idea of walking in the morning with a friend.

You are not lazy or undisciplined. You have just gotten in the habit of thinking in a certain way. Change your thoughts and enjoy the feelings of success that will follow. Make this fun. Make it a game. Give it a try. Observe yourself and see how often you find yourself speaking in a negative way. You may be surprised at how hard you are on yourself. After practicing this for a time, you will come up with many more positive things you can say to yourself. And positive thoughts will lead to positive changes.

You can change your actions by first changing your thoughts. It takes time, but it is worth it. Try it! This could be the best year you've ever had!