How to Change your Beliefs

Do your Beliefs help you?

Are you happy with your life right now?

If not, what can you do about it?

Today I'd like to ask you to examine your beliefs. Now beware...Some of these beliefs may be hidden deep within your brain so you may have to ask searching questions and think carefully to find an answer.

Many people come to me for Coaching and need help with self esteem or confidence issues. They want steps that they can follow to build self esteem or become more confident. In Life Coaching we know that the most powerful changes that we can help someone make come from questioning beliefs.

What are you beliefs?

Ask yourself "What do I believe about myself?"
"What do I believe I can do well?"
"What do I believe I don't do well?"
"How do I believe others see me?"

"What do I believe is possible in my life?"

Self esteem is so important but before you try to boost yours ask yourself:

"What do I believe I deserve?"

When you ask these kinds of questions you must be very honest. You can easily fool yourself.

When you have discovered what your main beliefs are then you need to figure out which beliefs help you and which don't.

Once you know which beliefs limit you and hold you back preventing you from being happy or achieving your goals then you can do something about it.

The next step will be to replace those limiting beliefs by ones that help you move closer to living the life you want.

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How to be Happy

Millions Searching: How to Be Happy

Why So Many of Us are Looking for Answers

Do you know what over 45,000,000 people search for on GOOGLE monthly? Four words: How to be happy.  45,000,000 people. And that’s just on the main search engine.  As amazing as the number is, something struck me (after I picked my jaw off the ground): This number could potentially be tripled if you take into consideration that happiness seekers might word the phrase differently.  Some may search for ways to be happy or how to be happier.  Others may take a different approach and look for ways to snap out of a bad mood or how to overcome the blues.
As part of my web publishing business, I spend at least one day each month researching what people are researching.  It feels as though I”m looking over the shoulders of scads of people as they sit down at their computer and search for answers, solutions, tips, and…. ultimately, happiness.  In addition to contact forms, e-mail, and comments, this gives me a better idea of what people are actually looking for and what they’re actually interested in reading about.
Good stuff for a writer to know, right?
Why are so many people searching for the secret to happiness?
I can sum up the answer to that question with four phrases:

• Life's Tough
• The Economy
• Baby Boomers
• Google

• Sickness, death, empty nests, loneliness, and financial problems are cruel facts of life and each are more than capable of robbing even the happiest person of a little sunshine.

Starting with number 4 , Google – and the internet, in general – has made it so blissfully easy to find what we need, when we need it.  The information is amazing when you think about it! If we have something on our mind, BAM, we’re just a couple of clicks from advice, tips, suggestions, and much needed inspiration and motivation. So, Baby Boomers and their children head right for the most popular website destination of them all: Google! The trusty little box awaits their deepest concerns and in mere seconds, there are lists of answers waiting for them.
The economy, is blamed for just about every ill in the world right now.  The problem is, people have had a deep-down yearning for happiness long before the recent economic roller coaster. It’s an inborn desire. We all want to be happy – happy feels good!   Before I come across as the PR agent for the economy, let me admit that it adds to people’s list of woes.  We aren’t able to buy anything and everything we want (again, at the risk of sounding like a PR department, I”m not sure I’ve ever been able to do that). Tragically, many people ARE struggling. I read about people losing their jobs as well as their homes. It’s heartbreaking and it’s also easy to see why a lot of families are having trouble staying together. I guess it’s tough to stay together when you’re struggling just to keep it together.
Life’s tough.  Amen and amen. How often do things happen to us and one of the first things we think of is, “I thought this only happened to other people.”  When I got a call that my sister-in-law had been killed in an accident, it was as though life froze for a minute as my brain tried to process it. Is this really happening? This is like something you read about in the newspaper. When the story in the newspaper (there was one, of course) hits close to home, it’s almost surreal.  This woman had fought cancer and survived and she loses her life in an accident?
Loved ones die, they get sick, they do things we wish they wouldn’t and sometimes it seems they’ve completely lost their minds.  We often have to watch as bills pile up as money refuses to keep up (talk about an epic fail in supply and demand).  Many people had to watch, with tear-filled eyes, as people they loved headed off to fight in a war they hated. 

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How to Bring Change To Your Life

Are You Ready for a Change?

Commit to Change and It’ll Be Yours!
All of us – every single one of us – has at least one change we need to make in our lives. We know full well what change needs to take place, and we certainly know WHY we want it to come about. The WHY may be more money, better health, better relationships, or better organization. Whatever the details, the change will be one that we know will add happiness and harmony to our lives.
Seems simple enough, right? What person in his or her right mind wouldn’t do whatever needed to be done to bring more happiness into their lives?
Unfortunately, there’s a reason I wrote “Seems simple enough” rather than just “Simple enough.” Change is hard! Funny, we always look at people around us and ask, “Why won’t ____ just change?” or “Why can’t ______ just give up smoking? He’s not even trying!” Yet, when it comes to ourselves we fully recognize how difficult it is to change habits – many of which are habits of a lifetime. Trying to develop a new, better habit while trying to ditch an old one is like trying to create a new bike path, while ignoring the one that’s already there. It’s so easy to steer back to familiar territory, isn’t it?!
I wish there was an easy answer. If one existed, I’d be typing it out right now – happily letting my readers know the simple thing they needed to do to achieve all they wanted to achieve and to be all they wanted to be. I’ve given it a lot of thought and have done a great deal of reading and research (to say nothing of the trial and error approach I’ve had with my own habits!). I know I’m dangerously close to oversimplifying, but success really does come down to a single word: Commitment.
If we commit our mind, body, and soul to a one single, reasonable purpose – we won’t be able to fail. However, that commitment can’t come and go. We can’t be as strong as a lion on Monday just to weaken into a kitten by Thursday. We have to “roaring” with determination and commitment every day. It doesn’t matter if we’re battling a bad temper, our weight, an addiction, or procrastination – in order to come out on the winning end, we have to commit ourselves to the win.
Part of the solution lies in battling FOR something rather than just battling AGAINST something. Focus on the positive – how wonderful you’ll feel once you’re standing on the winning side, how proud everyone who loves you will be of you, and how you’ll be in a position, then, to help others. Commit yourself fully to the change you want to bring about and you’ll leave your habits with only one choice: To come around to your way of thinking.

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Start this New Year with a Bang - Acheiving your Goals

Start This New Year With A Bang!

Have you kept your 2012 New Year's Resolutions? Odds are you may have lost your way a little. Now it's time to get back on track and make 2011 the year that you achieve your fitness goals!

 

1st January, 2012- "From today onwards I will begin my journey to get strong and big/lose fat and will surely make it happen this year"

Maybe that was the New Year's resolution that you made to yourself in 2012. And probably by mid 2012 that was already a broken promise. You are definitely not the only one with this issue. I can safely say that 95% of all New Year's resolutions end up being unsuccessful. Barely 5% make it a success. Maybe you are guilty of making the same New Year's resolution every year and end up breaking it barely 21 days into the New Year every single time. Well if that is the case then you should realize that you need to plan well rather than just make a wish every 1st January and expect it to happen. Yes, all great achievements are, as they say, 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.

I can safely say that 95% of all New Year's resolutions end up being unsuccessful

Anyways, regardless of how many unsuccessful New Year's resolutions we may make every year, we still find a new source of motivation and hope with every 1st of January approaching. That is something that I truly love about the human spirit. So, if you are one of those who never say die and are determined to make this year your best yet, then let me help you make it special this year.

Common Training Mistakes

First of all you need to look at the mistakes that you committed in 2012 so that you do not repeat them this year as well. Here are some of the common mistakes that trainees make when they fail. You may have committed one or many of them - check out for yourself.

• Failed to consistently train.
• Pushed too hard.
• Pushed too little.
• Neglected proper nutrition. Ate mostly junk and refined foods.
• Rested very little. Slept no more than 5 hours on most nights.
• Failed to progress with intensity, weight lifted, and going faster in your workouts.
• Changed your workouts too frequently to not gain from any of them.
• Were so confused between losing fat and gaining muscle that you ended doing nothing much.

Of course there can be other reasons too that may have caused you to fail in 2010. So if you can identify with any of the reasons mentioned above or any that you may have detected then obviously first you need to get that sorted out.

A common mistake is neglecting proper nutrition

Let's move onto training in 2013, assuming that you will sort out the other problems like nutrition, rest, etc.

Fixing Your Training Mistakes

Frankly speaking the number one problem I see that most trainees make in regards to their training is that they do not train for quality. Just one example to prove my point, have you ever seen a guy make a dumbbell lateral raise into a compound movement using his lower back, legs? Yes that is a fine example of poor quality training. So this year commit to improving your exercise form. Remember what eight times Mr. Olympia Lee Haney used to say "when you do a rep properly, one rep equals to two reps".
Another thing, please promise me that this year you will listen to your body better. I can't tell you how many times I have seen trainees show complete lack of patience and push their bodies so that hard that working out becomes fruitless and something that they dread.
A good workout should leave your body flooded with endorphins, growth hormone, and testosterone. In a simpler language, it should leave you feeling on top the world! If your workouts leave you crawling outside the gym then you have pushed yourself too far.

A good workout should leave you feeling on top of the world.

Okay so now lets move on to the workouts. I will share 3 workouts with you in this article, one for bodybuilding, one for fat loss and one for size and strength training. So who should do the workouts that I will suggest, beginners, intermediates or advanced trainees? The workouts that I shall suggest should be done by anyone wishing to improve their body. It will work great for beginners and early intermediates. However more advanced trainees who have overtrained their bodies out of the progression mode will also find the workouts to be great to help restart their progress once again by allowing their bodies to start recovering from workouts and get stronger and fitter.

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Key to Success - Positive Thinking

Positive thinking brings inner peace, success, improved relationships, better health, happiness and satisfaction. It also helps the daily affairs of life move more smoothly, and makes life look bright and promising.
Positive thinking is contagious. People around you pick your mental moods and are affected accordingly. Think about happiness, good health and success, and you will cause people to like you and desire to help you, because they enjoy the vibrations that a positive mind emits.
In order to make positive thinking yield results, you need to develop a positive attitude toward life, expect a successful outcome of whatever you do, but also take any necessary actions to ensure your success.
Effective positive thinking that brings results is much more than just repeating a few positive words, or telling yourself that everything is going to be all right. It has to be your predominant mental attitude. It is not enough to think positively for a few moments, and then letting fears and lack of belief enter your mind. Some effort and inner work are necessary.
Are you willing to make a real inner change?
Are you willing to change the way you think?
Are you willing to develop a mental power that can positively affect you, your environment and the people around you?
Here are a few actions and tips to help you develop the power of positive thinking:

• Always use only positive words while thinking and while talking. Use words such as, 'I can', 'I am able', 'it is possible', 'it can be done', etc.
  
• Allow into your awareness only feelings of happiness, strength and success.
  
• Try to disregard and ignore negative thoughts. Refuse to think such thoughts, and substitute them with constructive happy thoughts.
  
• In your conversation use words that evoke feelings and mental images of strength, happiness and success.
  
• Before starting with any plan or action, visualize clearly in your mind its successful outcome. If you visualize with concentration and faith, you will be amazed at the results.
  
• Read at least one page of inspiring book every day.
  
• Watch movies that make you feel happy.
  
• Minimize the time you listen to the news and read the papers.
  
• Associate yourself with people who think positively.
  
• Always sit and walk with your back straight. This will strengthen your confidence and inner strength.
  
• Walk, swim or engage in some other physical activity. This helps to develop a more positive attitude.

Think positive and expect only favorable results and situations, even if your current circumstances are not as you wish them to be. In time, your mental attitude will affect your life and circumstances and change them accordingly.
Follow the tips and suggestions in this article, and prove to yourself the reality the power of positive thinking.
When you expect success and say "I can", you fill yourself with confidence and joy.

Fill your mind with light, hope and feelings of strength, and soon your life will reflect these qualities.

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How to Motivate yourself

Motivation has become a popular word nowadays. There are motivational coaches and speakers, and motivational books and articles. What is it actually, and why do you need it?
Motivation is a driving force. In order to accomplish anything, you need a driving force, otherwise nothing will happen. A wish is not strong enough to make you take action. A wish is a weak desire. Only a strong desire can drive forward, to act and accomplish aims and goals.
In order to get motivated, you need to know exactly what it is that you want, to possess a strong desire, and to be willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish your goal.
More than often there is lack of motivation or only a short-lived one. How many times have you started enthusiastically a weight loss program, began a bodybuilding or aerobics training program or started to learn a foreign language, only to stop after a short while? Few people possess enough willpower and self-discipline to go through to the end with what they begin (this is one of the reasons I have written the book "Will Power and Self Discipline").
It easier to show motivation in connection with a subject that is dear to you. If you desire something, but you don't feel motivated enough to act, this means that the desire is not important enough. To be motivated to take action and do something in respect to your desire, you need to possess a really strong desire.
Motivation has much to do with the emotions and the imagination, which means that if you want to increase it, you have to work on your feelings and imagination.
Tips to increase your motivation:
1. Think, meditate and find out whether you really want to achieve your desire, and whether it is worth the effort and time.
2. Make your goal very clear. Writing it down will help.
3. Think often about your goal or desire.
4. Visualize your goal as already accomplished, and close your mind to contrary thoughts.
5. Read books or articles about the subject of your goal.
6. Read about people who have achieved success.
7. Think often about the benefits you will gain by achieving your goal.
8. Visualize, and think about how you would feel after achieving your goal.
9. Repeat positive affirmations such as: "I have the desire and inner strength to achieve my goal". Repeat this affirmation often, with faith and strong feelings.
10. Start with doing something small concerning your goal. Success in small matters leads to greater success.
Motivation is the powerful engine that moves you towards success and accomplishments in every area.

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How To Overcome Fear

Anytime you’re procrastinating or not following through on something, it’s because you don’t have enough LEVERAGE on yourself.  You’re avoiding facing the truth and being 100% honest with yourself, so instead you say things to yourself like, “I can do it later” or “It’s not that important” or “I don’t feel like it” or whatever B.S. story you tell yourself.
It’s not until you say, “WAIT… that’s bullshit.  What will it cost me in my life if I don’t do this?  What’s the ultimate consequence?”
When you face that reality, you will have a rude awakening and get your butt into gear towards doing whatever you need to do.
We’re all driven by PAIN and PLEASURE.  We’ll do almost anything to AVOID pain, and anything to GAIN pleasure.
If you’re not doing something, it’s because you’re associating PAIN to doing it.  Instead, why not associate the PAIN to not doing it?  If you think about it, the pain of being over-weight and having low energy and getting a serious disease FAR OUTWEIGHS the temporarily pleasure and satisfaction you will get by eating that cookie.  But when you eat that cookie, you are only thinking about the pleasure, instead of looking at the consequences of eating it.
Here’s the questions to ask yourself to get leverage:
1. What will it cost me in my life if I continue living this way?
2. What is the ultimate consequence?
3. What will it cost me in emotionally, in my relationships, friendships, family, finances, health, spiritual life?
4. What will I have to give up or miss out on by living this way?
5. What have I already missed out on?  What has it already cost me in my life?
6. What will it cost me 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years from now if I continue living this way?
Alternatively, you can also ask pleasure-enducing questions to associate PLEASURE to doing whatever it is that you want.
Here’s some pleasure-enducing questions to get leverage:
1. What will I gain by doing this?
2. How is this going to move me closer towards my dreams and who I want to become?
3. How will doing this add to every area of my life?  My relationships? Emotional life? Finances? Health?  etc…
4. What will my life be like 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now by doing this?
The trick is to make sure that you’re consistently asking yourself these questions throughout the day.
If you find yourself still not consistently doing it, it’s simply because you’re not getting enough leverage on yourself.  I’ve had times in my life where I broke down in tears and experienced massive pain, until I hit what I call “Emotional Threshold” and that’s when things clicked and I transformed.
I didn’t hit emotional threshold by intellectually thinking of the pain or pleasure, instead I really made sure that I FELT IT at my core – I experienced the pain/pleasure fully, which is what propelled me to make the change permanent.
Today, there are things that I will NEVER AGAIN indulge in because it’s far too painful for me to go back – things like video games, sitting around watching TV, binge eating, depression, being lazy or procrastinating.
The truth is, you should be MORE AFRAID of those destructive habits than doing what you need to do.

The truth will set you free.

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How to Overcome adversity

Despite the challenges or obstacles that you’re going to inevitably face in this lifetime, it’s up to us to direct our focus and find the empowering meaning in whatever life gives us.  One of the best ways to do that is ask yourself empowering questions, such as, “What is great about this?”, or “What can I learn from this?”, or “How can I use this to grow and give more?”, and more importantly, “How can I turn this around?”

If you ask empowering questions, your brain will come up with the answers.

Life doesn’t happen to me, it happens FOR me.

There are also certain beliefs that really guide me through the most challenging times.  One of them is that “Everything happens for a reason and a purpose, and it serves me.”  I believe there is GOOD to be found in anything that life throws at us, it’s up to us to find it.  Every human experience can benefit us in some way.  We can learn from it, grow from it, and use it to give more to others.

Also, understand that nothing in life is permanent.  No problem is permanent or so pervasive that we can’t overcome it.  With that said, one belief I always use is I say to myself, “This too shall pass.”  And it always inevitably does.  Whatever suffering or pain you’re currently going through, it will pass with time.  Understand that this moment doesn’t define you.  Just get back on the horse, keep taking action and move your feet.  Eventually, you will come out the other side victorious.

If you’re going through hell, KEEP GOING.

I hope this blog post can really serve you in some way.  While things can be challenging in the moment, you have to keep your faith and see things better than it is.  Understand, believe, and know that things will work out and your life will turn out the way you want it to as long as you keep your eyes on the horizon.

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