Week 10: The Positive Mindset

. Bill Phillips talks about the power of a positive mindset. I know for myself I occasionally (sometimes often) have negative thoughts. I know how unhealthy it is for my mind and my body. I like how Bill not only talks about it's powerful effect but also gives us 4 techniques to help bring about a postivie mindset. So here it is:

Bill Phillips says, "Unlike the physical body, the mind is very fluid and it can take on a new form in an instant. We can be confident, believing in our ability one moment, doubtful and uncertain the next. This can be especially true when taking on something new and challenging like this transformation process. In order for us to successfully reach our goals with this work, we must know how to set and reset the mind in a positive direction . Here are 4 tried-and-true techniques to transform your mindset in minutes:
1) TAKE ACTION
The longer we procrastinate and avoid taking action, the tighter the grip of fearful and apprehensive thoughts becomes. There's a surefire way to put an end to that. It's to get up, get moving, and as Nike says, just do it.
2) FOCUS ON WHAT'S WORKING;
We  always tend to get more of what we focus on in life. It's true. This means it's vitally important to be mindful of where our attention is. If we have a habitual pattern of looking at what's not working, according to this tenet, we'll be getting more of that-more of what's not working.
Please remember that energy flows where your attention goes. So focus on what you love, what makes you smile, and what makes you feel healthy, and alive! In doing so, you'll soon have even more to be happy about.
3) THE POWER OF WORDS
The words we say to others and ourselves directly influence our mindset, health and actions for better or worse every single day. Positive language has been demonstrated to improve scores on aptitude tests, boost physical performance, and even strengthen the immune system. And negative talk can do just the opposite.
To harness the positive power of words and put them to work in your own life, you simply start by being more mindful about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and what effect it's having on others as well as yourself. Then speak often of inspiration, love, gratitude, health and healing, and how you're transforming, improving, and making good progress. The more you do , the more you will.
4) ENVISIONING SUCCESS
Another effective way to shift your mindset is to envision a successful outcome. Many people who do well  with their personal transformation make a daily practice to see, in their mind, where they're going before they get there. They envision, with crystal clarity, what their renewed body and improved life will be like. For many this becomes a very powerful practice.
Please consider making a few minutes of quiet time each day to sit in stillness and hold an image in mind of how you want to be, how you want to look, how you want to feel. When you do, you may very wheel be surprised with how rapidly that inner vision becomes your external reality.

Action step:

1. Empowering words and phrases that I will utilize in my daily communication with others and myself include:

2. A description of the future self I envision is:

3. Three empowering, healthy thoughts which are aligned with my transformation objectives are:

Chapter 9: Accepting Responsibility

Note: All quotes used from this post (and my previous posts) are from Bill Phillips Transformation book.

I will be honest..... I've made excuses as to why I'm not losing weight, or why I'm not motivated, or why I'm constantly eating junk food and gaining back the 10 pounds I lost 3 months ago. When I read this chapter it hurt to realize that I am the only reason I'm not moving forward. Fortunately I also felt rejuvenated and inspired. Because I know that I can take that control back in my life. I can take responsibility and move forward. Today is a new day and I will focus on where I'm going. Focusing on the past can hurt and sometimes bring out the worst in us. This morning I woke up feeling lousy and sad. I know it's because I went overboard in my eating of junk food the past 2 days. I started to think of how I totally blew it and what was the point of trying today. It's so hard.  It's going to take a lot of effort to get back to where I was. But I stopped myself because I could see a spiraling downward mindset. That kind of mindset can bring about feelings of despair, worthlessness, sadness, and can lead to depression, anxiety, and behaviors that are degrading and unhealthy.
Today you can take responsibility of your health.

Bill Phillips says it right when he said, "Most every great transformation I've witnessed over the years was preceded by a dramatic increase of self-responsibility. The moment you truly decide to accept ownership of your health, happiness and life is the moment when everything begins to change. When you stop blaming others, give up the victim stories, and you accept responsibility, it's then and only then that you can harness your true power and ability to take control and make remarkable changes for the better."

"Unfortunately, in our society today, we're conditioned to do pretty much just the opposite. Not happy? It's because of the people in my life. They're the ones making me miserable. Not healthy? It's the genetics I inherited. Darn ancestors! Crummy job? It's because of the government and how they screwed up the economy. Haven't been able to consistently eat right and exercise? That's because all the so-called experts make it so darn complicated and difficult for me; besides, I don't have time because everyone else expects me to take care of them first."
"One of the telltale signs that we've given our power away (either knowingly or unknowingly) is by the excuses we make. By their nature, excuses deny our responsibility. Those who've taken control of the things they can in their life choose to share the reasons why things are the way they are, even when those reasons might not always make them look good."

"When we make a resolute decision to accept responsibility for our own health and happiness we are, in effect, becoming a 'no-excuses person.' This is not an action, it's a mental shift. In this stage, we're conditioning our minds, or rather un-conditioning them, to reflect the reality that we're in charge of our own well-being. In this stage, you might wake up and you really don't feel like doing your workout. Rather than making an excuse that you don't have time today, we learn to see in that moment we simply don't want to do it. That's fine. The fact is, I rarely feel like exercising when I get up in the morning but rather than making an excuse, I say, "I'm choosing to take control of my health today and so I'm going to exercise even though right now, I don't really want to."

"Knowing what we have control over and accepting responsibility for it is remarkably empowering. When you reach that point, you really can become the pilot of your life and make it better and brighter than it's ever been. When you do, you'll have more life energy and strength to unselfishly give to others."
ACTION STEP:
 Three specific excuses that I've used multiple times to avoid taking responsibility for my own condition are:

Three things I'm talking control of, starting today, are:

Three actions I'll take this week to demonstrate that I'm accepting responsibility for the things I've written about are:

Three things I realize are beyond my control which I surrender are:

Week 8: The Big Forgive

I wish I could share the whole chapter with you but I'll share some excerpts.  Even just holding the intention of forgiving someone has been shown to have great benefits.
"Those who forgive are those who choose to forgive. There's nothing random or unintentional about it. ...Forgiveness is not done out of weakness; it is an act of strength and courage."
"The price of unforgiveness is high and can include depression, a hot temper, anxiety, emotional pain that takes hold in the physical form (headaches, backaches, fatigue) and toxic amounts of stress. The benefits of forgiveness are many and include improved heart health, brighter energy, emotional well-being, decreased risk for disease and expanding spiritual awareness.."
"Another unfortunate thing about deeply held and suppressed anger towards someone is that it spills over and interferes with our relationships with everyone else. It can make us feel like we're always victims, and there is injustice in even the most insignificant daily incidents. ...The more we dwell on hurtful events, grudges and vengeance, the more anger will take root in our minds and hearts. Before long, negative feelings can crowd out positive ones. Until the anger and bitterness are released, they will continue to leak poison into virtually all areas of your life, and can even destroy families, careers and friendships."
"Forgiveness is something that happens inside of you. It doesn't mean you're saying what happened to cause a resentment wasn't wrong or that it didn't matter. What it means is that you're saying, "I choose to let go of this negative feeling towards the person whom I perceive has hurt me." After neutralizing the emotional charge behind the grievance by letting it go, you may very well file it away in your low-priority memory storage. It's not necessary to work on forgetting it altogether."

1. After some introspection, these are three incidences and people which I've identified I hold some resentment towards:

2. How I rate the emotional impact, on a scale of 1-10, of each of the grievances listed above is:

3. Three feelings I would enjoy if I were able to completely eliminate this resentment from my mind and heart are:

4. Three ways my health and life would improve as a result of completely forgiving the offender and letting go of this resentment are:

5. My Big Hurt story which expresses how I perceive the hurtful incident goes like this:
(In your own words, write out what you are feeling. It can be two paragraphs or several pages; it's up to you. )

6. A nonjudgmental, unconditionally supportive person I can talk through my Big Hurt story with is:
NOTE: After you complete one act of forgiveness from start to finish, please consider setting yourself free from the other two resentments on your list.

Week7: Progress Not Perfection

This is Collette here! Carrie asked me to post for the next few weeks. This is a great week for me to post. I need this as I'm sure many of you do. Bill Phillips talks about a girl who lost 15 lbs but would look in the mirror and just see failure. Because she had an ideal of perfection, like a swimsuit model on the cover of a magazine. It became her exclusive focus and each day she'd get up, look in the mirror and see that she wasn't there yet. She didn't even see the amazing progress she was making. She convinced herself that she was a failure and then she quit. "What happened is she got caught in 'The Void.' The Void is a dangerous place we can wander into if we measure our progression based on what hasn't happened rather than what has. The Void can zap your self-confidence and send your self-esteem tumbling, making it impossible for you to feel good about yourself. Hanging out there can also lead to full-time frustration, which can permeate every aspect of your life."
So how do we change that and avoid The Void? WE focus on PROGRESS instead of perfection. To do that we must start focusing on what we have achieved and accomplished instead of those things we haven't.
Progress is a step in the right direction: it's any action you can take which moves you further away from your point A (where you were at the beginning of this process) and closer to your point B (where you decided to go).
So go back to your goals from the beginning and make sure they are specific, clear, measurable, AND REALISTIC. If not, then go back and please revise your goals if necessary. Making sure they are not ideals (looking like a swimsuit model) will ensure that you can feel good about your progress and take you away from the mindset of perfection.

As I thought about this week's goals I also thought about how it applies to us in other aspects of our lives. As a Latter-Day Saint I could focus on how I don't read my scriptures every day like I'd like to and I could feel like a failure. Instead I can focus on my progress: I say my morning prayers when I roll out of bed, or how I read scriptures with my kids most days of the week.

As part of this Transformation group I could focus on what a failure and bad example I've been. Or I can focus on the progress I've made. Last week I didn't write down the healthy spaces makeover but I did clean out my son's room 2 weeks prior because I had read that chapter and felt like his room needed help. I donated a couple of bags to Goodwill and threw away a bag of misc. toys. And today I threw away a couple of lonely socks because I was thinking of last week's assignment. There is PROGRESS!!!! Certainly far from perfection.

As a mother and housekeeper I can choose to focus on how I failed to give my bathroom a good scrubbing. Or I can focus on how I mopped my floors today and helped my kids clean up the basement. I can choose to focus on what a rotten mom I was when I exploded at my children today; wondering where that demon came from or I can focus on how I brought my kids (and nephew with autism) to the library today and patiently waited and helped them complete 3 crafts.

Which way will make YOU happier? Always focusing on progress rather than perfection. But it is a choice, and it's a choice that we have to make EVERY SINGLE DAY when we wake up in the morning and when we go to bed at night. So I choose happiness and progress.
Here is this week's assignment:
Action step:
Five things I can do between now and the end of the day tomorrow that move me in the direction of my goals and intentions are:
Example:
1. Exercise intensely for 40 minutes.
2. Eat six nutritious meals that are nutrient rich and calorie sparse.
3. Encourage someone else who's also making healthy changes.
4. Check in with my community support group.
5. Restock my kitchen with a dozen healthy fruits and vegetables.

Week 6 Assignment (Healthy Spaces Makeover)

1. Three places which empower and support my efforts to become healthier and happier are:
2. A place I've recently been that does not support my transformation intentions and which I need to steer clear of in the future is:
3. Three people I can stay in contact with throughout this transformation program who will have a positive influence on me are:
4. A person, or the kind of people, who may not empower or support my efforts to transform is:
5. A place I can do a Healthy Spaces Makeover this week is:

Week 5 Assignment (Lifetime Intentions)

I hope you are making the most out of each week!  

FYI:  Sometimes you'll lack motivation, sometimes you'll just plug along, sometimes you may even hate doing this challenge, and hopefully sometimes you LOVE pushing yourself and achieving your simplest goals.  If everyday felt the same, well, than we would be robots.  And...as far as I'm aware...I don't know any robots.  So, you 'humans' are going to have your ups and downs and even further downs and amazingly great days!  That's okay...lets just see what you'll do with this week.

Get out your NOTEBOOK.

1. I feel inspired, energetic, confident, and alive when I'm engaged in these three activities:
2. Moving my awareness into the future, seeing myself when I'm old and gray, healthy and wise, the answer I'll give to explain why I'm so grateful, happy, healthy, and content is:
3. Looking at the other side, envisioning my future life as unhealthy and unfulfilling, my most painful regret would be:
4. This is my mission statement which clarifies my lifetime intentions:

I would LOVE it if you'd share with me your personal mission statements.   Work hard!

Week 4 Assignment (Finding Support)

It's a matter of math...taking in less calories than one would burn would result in weight loss.  It really doesn't matter where those calories come from to lose weight, but it matters mountains in how one would feel.  A pop tart is 200 calories, and so is a 4 oz chicken breast with 1 cup of vegetables.  When taking into account lasting energy, obviously the protein and veggies are going to house a lot more sustainable energy than a pathetic sugar filled pop tart.  Just wanted to share a tidbit of nutritional information.

This week the focus is finding a network of support in reaching your goals.  It's much easier to meet goals with friends or family helping you reach those goals.  Luckily we have the Internet which provides online forums.  Body for Life, Transformation.com, Weight Watchers among others offer great information and a network of friends to help buoy you up!  We are also here for you as a team, and are here to support you in whatever goals you have made.

Get out your NOTEBOOK!

1. Three people I can count on for unconditional, nonjudgmental support throughout my transformation are:
2. Someone I can call at 3:00AM to share something which is weighing on my heart is:
3. Someone who is working to achieve their transformation goals whom I can count on to keep me accountable, in a caring and respectful way, and encourage me to do the work I need to do to achieve the results I'm working towards is:
4. A support group that I can be an active participant in to give and receive heart-centered support and encouragement is:
5. A community where I feel a sense of belonging and kinship with others because of our common intentions is:
6. Three people who can count on me for unconditional and nonjudgmental support, anytime and no matter what are: