Archive for the ‘Personal Development’ Category

Well I am still off and relaxing after what was an awesome season of The Biggest Loser. Again Ihave got a guest post from Scott Williams, Owner Succeed Personal Development, so sit back relax, and enjoy the read on the importance of the mental aspect of fitness.

I promote and teach the 3 phases of fitness to all my clients. Many are unaware of what the three phases entail. If you fall into this same category…let me take this opportunity to enlighten you.

The 3 phases are the Mental, Physical and Financial aspects or phases of fitness. This is a concept I developed a little over two years ago and have had great success with improving client’s mindsets. Let’s look at how each of these relate to your health and fitness.

Mental fitness: Everyone has a fitness “script” or mindset concerning fitness. This is what is instilled in each of us at an early age. It is how our parents, teachers, loved ones, and society as a whole views health and fitness. Just like most beliefs we posses… they were learned.

I like to call it a fitness script.

Most scripts have been formed from the experiences in one’s life. This script is what is keeping people overweight, unhappy and full of excuses.

Speaking of excuses, in order to fulfill the “I am not worthy prophesy,” clients will sabotage their potential success with reasons why exercise will never work.

You see, they do not actually want to succeed.

Achieving their goals would mean they are abandoning the script; the script for failure.

No matter how much weight some people lose, they will eventually start to gain it back because they are “destined,” in their minds, to have big hips, thighs and buttocks.

There is also the added pressure of keeping it off, lifestyle changes, ridicule and judgment from the family.

Making excuses relieves the pressure. Actually, people become pretty good at it. The more excuses they make, the more they will believe them too. It becomes reality.

A lot of the excuses are based in fear as well.

When he or she attempts a weight loss program the fears begin to surface.

“What if I fail?”

“What if I lose weight and then gain it all back?”

“How will people look at me …judge me?”

“This will take up a lot of time.”

 “I would rather go down the traveled road…the easy road.”

All of this thinking is based on someone’s blueprint or script of fitness and of success.

Much of failure in life is rooted in fear.

The good news is anyone can edit the script at any time. They can discard the old ways of thinking; the thoughts that belong to someone else anyway – the reasoning that has lead to being overweight, unsatisfied and miserable.

When clients make up their minds to develop their own script for fitness, one that involves proper exercise, eating habits and respect for their body, then they begin to write a “happy ending “ for themselves.

Proper fitness knowledge, affirmations/positive self-talk, support partners and friends are all tools to re-set the mental aspect of fitness and to get it moving ahead.

When it comes to meeting fitness goals, you first must change the inside before the outside follows. Your mindset will affect how you approach health and wellness. It will make all the difference in your fitness desires.

Looking and feeling good should be something you desire to do; not what you think should be done.

Beyond achieving goals or ‘resolutions’, proper health should be a way of living. If people would just make it a priority, then being fit would not be such a struggle per se.

One of my clients, we will call her Joan, tells her story this way:

“I am a busy mother who put work and family above my health. After talking with you I decided to make my health a priority; not a time-consuming one, nonetheless a priority. I don’t really set goals. I just make sure I do something everyday for at least 20 minutes. Sometimes that is 7-8 minutes here and another 10 minutes there, but I always find time to exercise… it is never a matter of if, just when. I have a passion to look and feel great. By making exercise a part of my day, no matter what, it has made all the difference. I am a better mom, better accountant and better person for it.”

You see, it does not take extravagant routines, flashy routines or expensive gyms memberships to be fit. The main thing is that you do something to stay healthy. For me, (and my clients) it begins with the mind. Train your way of thinking. Write your own script on what the “healthy you” looks and feels like.

Find routines that make you feel good about you.

Create a new script based on good, solid health and fitness information; this, alone, will have a huge impact on your fitness results.

Take home points:

Begin any program focusing on your mindset and getting the inner self prepared.

Prioritize: make exercise a must… for you.

Do some type of exercise everyday. This does not have to be time consuming to get results.

Don’t believe what others have told you about exercise and fitness.

Develop your own fitness script based on good health information and positive experiences.

Focus on improving how you feel about yourself and how that affects the world around you.

Having a fitness lifestyle is not just about the exercises you do; it is about how you view exercise and its ramifications on your life that makes the difference.

“A wise person will be master of his mind; a fool, its slave”.

Scott Williams

A guest blog post on, success advice that applies to your fitness quest as well as all areas of your life, from the owner of Australia’s current PT Business of the Year – Scott Williams.

1. Do whatever works, whatever is useful. Formulas and systems are helpful to provide structure and action plans. But if they become sacred cows and are followed even after they stop working, the system inhibits creativity and guarantees mediocrity. Do what works for you. Getting results is more important than blind loyalty to a “system” or “guru.”

2. There’s no failure, only feedback (results). As long as we are taking action in pursuit of our goals, we cannot “fail” – we simply produce results. It is up to us how we interpret those results. “Failure” can be valuable if you reframe it as a great learning experience. The only way you can really “fail” is if you quit. Keep at it, and keep learning.

3. Consistency is king. Even a super strategy will be sabotaged by inconsistency. It’s not what you do once in a while that counts; it’s what you do repeatedly day after day that counts.

4. Keep your plan flexible. The person with the most flexibility is the person with the greatest power. The person who believes there is only one way is the person who is the most limited.

5. Find out what works, and then keep doing that. If what you’re doing is not working – do something else! If what you’re doing is working, don’t second guess yourself – stay your course and do more of whatever is working – regardless of what anyone else tells you.

6. “The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity.” If you follow the herd, you’re going to have to step through a lot of manure. Have the strength and courage to trust in yourself and follow your own path.

7. Choose your friends wisely. You will become just like the people you spend the most time with. Get out of negative and draining relationships like you’d get out of a burning house. Avoid the “energy vampires.”

8. Be the best YOU that you can be, forget the others. Don’t try to be better than others, be better than you used to be. Success isn’t beating someone else. Success it is the satisfaction that comes from knowing you did the best you could with what you have.

9. Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want. What you think about, talk about and thank about, you bring about. If you focus on what you don’t want, more of what you don’t want will be attracted into your life. As Thomas Troward wrote, “The law of flotation was not discovered by the contemplation of the sinking of things.”

10. To grow, you must step out of your comfort zone. The easiest thing for a human being to do is to stay with the familiar and to pull back into the safety of their circle of comfort. Nothing great was ever achieved by staying inside the comfort zone. All great advancements occur by stepping outside of your comfort zone. You are either moving forward, or you are moving back…

11. Work hard and earn your just rewards. There’s no such thing as something for nothing. There will never be any scientific breakthrough or magic bullet that can replace hard work. Continuously seek more knowledge, increased efficiency and better ways to do things, but avoid the quick fix. You can have anything you want in life… just pay the price and it’s yours.

12. Balance stress & work with recovery. Stress and intense work are not bad things. They are essential for growth and advancement. Non-stop stress however, will ultimately cause a breakdown. Don’t be afraid to push yourself very, very hard, but balance that stress with rest, and recovery.

Scott Williams

Owner, Succeed the current Australian PT Business of the Year

A blog post about the fact that we do all have decisions in life. What decisions will you make?

How do you approach decisions? I used to dread decisions, labouring over the outcomes and flopping back and forth: should I…or shouldn’t I?

 Sometimes I would feel frozen by fear: what if I make a mistake? What if I fail? I would make decisions looking at the current circumstances and resources allowing that to dictate whether or not I would do something. The bank balance, education, calendar, experience…the circumstances drove the decision. What I really wanted and why I wanted it was not in the picture.

What was I doing wrong? I had soft decision making muscles. So I studied and emulated successful decision makers.

Napoleon Hill interviewed 500 highly effective and successful people in all fields and found that they had a common trait: successful people make decisions quickly and seldom, if ever, change them. They develop a clear image of what they want then take action toward that goal or image.

The word “decision” comes from the Latin “de” (from) and “caedere” (to cut). We must commit ourselves to a result and then cut ourselves off from other outcomes.

Does the decision and outcome scare us? Are we afraid we might fail?

Who was a strikeout king in baseball? Babe Ruth struck out 1330 times.
Who holds a record for missed shots in the NBA? Michael Jordan.
Who said “…you miss 100% of the shots you do not take.” Wayne Gretsky

We all make mistakes and fail. That doesn’t make us a failure. That is how we learn and gather what we need to achieve goals. Mind and universe require order before action. Decision brings order to our mind and allows it to focus on the actions that move us toward our goal.

As the contestants from The Biggest Loser House leave week by week, they have many decisions to make.

 They have to decide to continue on their journey they have started in the house. They have to make daily decisions on what they will eat, whether they will train or not, but ultimately they have a decision as to whether they will keep the weight off (or lose more weight), or decide that it is all too hard in the real world and give it all up.

Achieving is a decision.
What is your decision?

Leave me a comment below and let me know your path and the decisions you have made that have got you where you are today?