Stinkin’ Thinking
July 18, 2009 by Deb · Leave a Comment
In the gym the other day I heard someone talking about their “Stinkin’ Thinking” (no names given to protect the guilty!) and it got me thinking that I really need to address this issue with you all since I think it’s one of the biggest problems that hold us back from having success. Now I didn’t say WHO this was, but it’s quite possible that ALL of you are saying to your self….I think she’s talking about me!
“The strangest secret in the world is that you become what you think about”
-Earl Nightingale
What I’m talking about hear just may be the most important things you do on this program and it has nothing to do with calories, protein, carbohydrates, fats, cardio, weights or anything else related to nutrition or training! There is a simple, but critical procedure you must complete before you lift a weight, jog a mile, start a nutrition program or even set foot in the gym. If you successfully complete this procedure, the nutrition and training will come easy and a lean body will soon follow. If you ignore this step- like most people do-you are destined to fail no matter what you do or how hard you try. This first crucial step is GOAL SETTING! This is why you each meet with me to talk about weight and body fat % goals long term and then for the 8 week session. On your Rev sheet remember I told you to write down two goals that YOU wanted to accomplish for the 8 weeks? How many of you really did that? I know several of the sheets are still BLANK! I told you to write those down following the S.M.A.R.T. rules and every time you check in I said to ask yourself if you are doing everything to get closer to those goals, and to simply keep those goals on your mind all the time…..I told you to do this for a reason!!
Goal setting is so important, but the truth is , most people never decide exactly what they want. Some people give their goals a fleeting thought, but most never get specific and commit their dreams and desires to writing. “Most people,” says Dennis Waitley, author of The Psychology of Winning, “spend more time planning a party, studying the newspaper or making a Christmas list than they do planning their lives.” According to Zig Ziglar, an expert on goal setting and one of the nation’s most respected motivational speakers, says that only 3% of Americans have actually taken the time and effort necessary to put their goals to paper.
This is unfortunate because the number one reason for failure in losing body fat and in life, is the lack of clearly defined, written goals. Ziglar compares not having goals to shooting a target with a blindfold on. “How could you possibly hit a target you can’t even see?” says Zig. If you don’t know where you are going, you’re probably not going to end up getting anywhere! Action without planning is the number one cause of failure.
There are many hidden reasons why goal setting is so important. One is the difference between knowing what to do and doing what you know. Nutrition and exercise can be confusing subjects, so when you first get started, the initial challenge is that you don’t know what to do. Now that you have our program at your finger tips, knowing what to do will no longer be a problem. However, gaining knowledge is only half the battle. The far greater challenge for most people is APPLYING that knowledge and taking action. There is a big difference between knowing what to do and doing what you know!! Goals are bridges that span and fill this gap!
Goals, when properly planted in the subconscious mind, produce action. Goals create energy and motivation. Goals get you out of bed early in the morning and into the gym. The secret to staying motivated all the time is to set emotionally charged goals in writing and to stay totally focused on those goals day and night, without taking your eyes off them. A goal with a purpose is the fuel that propels you forward.
You might think that you’re in total control of your behaviors, but it’s really your SUB-conscious that controls your behavior. If you know what to do, but you can’t seem to get yourself to do it, you’ve probably been giving NEGATIVE and conflicting messages to your subconscious mind. The behaviors that are produced by subconscious conditioning are more commonly referred to as habits. Fortunately, you can RE-PROGRAM your subconscious mind with positive instructions and become a creature of positive habit, just as easily as you can become a victim of negative habits. It all begins with conscious decision and written goals!! (This is why I have you write your goals down…there is a reason for my madness!!)
This all comes back to setting goals and thinking about them as much as you can. Now, I’m not saying we can “think ourselves thin” because you have to exercise and eat the right foods. What I am suggesting is that if you don’t channel your mental energies properly, even the best diet and training program won’t help because you will always “sabotage” yourself. Did you ever wonder why you have lapses and breakdowns in “willpower?” Or why some days you just can’t drag yourself to the gym? Or why you “fall of the wagon”completely? It’s because negative programming in your subconscious mind is controlling your behavior.
It’s important to understand that unlike the conscious mind, the subconscious mind does not “think”. It is entirely deductive in nature, which means it works like a computer. All the data programmed into your subconscious “computer” is accepted and assumed to be true. It doesn’t matter whether the data is actually true or false. It accepts everything that reaches it, then it carries out the programming you have entered.
Suggestions given under hypnosis or affirmations repeated during deep relaxation are quick ways to access the subconscious mind. Another way to penetrate the subconscious (although much slower) is through repetition. Everything you hear, see, say, read, or think repeatedly will eventually filter into your subconscious mind. In other words, you are constantly programming your brain though conscious self-suggestion, or you are allowing your brain to be programmed through external suggestion.
What you think about repeatedly every day is eventually accepted by your subconscious mind and your subconscious mind guides your actions on”auto-pilot”. This is exactly WHY I want you all to get rid of the “stinkin’ thinking” and work on positive self-talk and write your goals down and repeat them DAILY! It’s extremely important to focus all your thoughts on what you want to achieve, not on what you want to avoid. This is mere semantics; it’s a very important distinction. If I ask you to close your eyes and NOT think about chocolate, you’ll (mentally) see chocolate everywhere! You can’t NOT think about something! You either think about something or you don’t. And you always move toward what you think about the most, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative.
All day long we carry on a mental conversation with ourselves. Psychologists estimate that we think up to 60,000 thoughts a day and that 98% of these thoughts are the same ones we had yesterday….and most of them are negative. In a year that’s almost 22 million thoughts!
Just imagine how this is effecting your subconscious mind……it’s staggering!
I want you to take this weekend or the next few days and really THINK about what your goals are and then I want you to WRITE them down…….everywhere. The more places you see them and say them the better! Be sure to write them in the Rev Health Program book so I know you have done this homework……it’s for YOUR own good!
I will follow up with part two to this soon where I will give you some ideas on how to start changing negative thoughts and statements and I will help give you some self affirmations to start canceling out your negative ones! You can start with simply writing your goals and saying them out loud everyday!
Hope you all are having a great weekend and I expect you all to set your goals and reach them! If I can help with anything please feel free to contact me! Have you set you goals? Shoot me a comment and let me know if you have written them down and if you are saying them out loud!
Train Hard & Expect Results,
Deb