Mind over Muscle

Embarking on a physical training program brings rewards that can be achieved by little else. Whether exercising to stay fit, feel good, or just to look terrific, you can add power to your efforts by employing the insights and techniques used by high-achievers to obtain that 'look' you've always dreamed of!

Before beginning your journey on the road to fitness you must realise that you are in total control and therefore should have a real desire to be fit. A wishy-washy approach to fitness, or anything else for that matter, usually ends in failure. It is therefore wise to keep yourself motivated.

By realising that the power of your decision adds much weight to the acquirement of any objective, you should fire yourself with enthusiasm for the task ahead.

The first and most important factor to employ is to release any past failures from your mind. Dwelling on past failures will only have an adverse affect on your current training.

If such thoughts occur ask yourself the question "why did I fail?" Perhaps you set your goals too high and they thus became unrealistic. Or your time frame for achieving your goals was too short or too long. Or perhaps you were just plain lazy! Whatever the reason look at it in an objective manner and learn from your mistakes. Do it differently this time.

A major problem that is constantly rearing its ugly head is lack of enthusiasm. Almost every keep-fit enthusiast suffers from this dreaded state at one time or another, from championship bodybuilders to first-time aerobics students. There is only one simple rule to follow when confronted with this negative state of mind - re-motivate yourself!

They key to this is being specific in your goals. Have a clear vision of what way you want to look and feel when you have achieved your objective. Cut and tape a picture of your head over a picture of your ideal body type if you must, but be clear in your own head where you are going and what you will achieve.

Also set smaller goals that easily show you have been making progress. Make note of your goal achievements. Write them down. Once you are feeling a lack of enthusiasm then look back at how far you have come.

Visualise your objective often or at least twice a day. Tell yourself that you are doing well and reward yourself when you reach a goal. This will increase your self-esteem and keep your motivation high.

If some negative situation arises don't look at it as a problem but view it as a challenge. As you overcome your own inner and outer obstacles you will have proved that you are a success. Success breeds success so review your progress and modify your goals to be more challenging.

The potential to achieve anything is within you. Whether the end result of your training efforts is success or failure it is your choice. Give 100% and you will receive 100%.

Using Your Mind Power To Achieve Your Desires

All human Beings were born with a boundless and immeasurable power. It is this power that has made you what you are today, and it is the power that will make you what you will be in a year, two years, five years etc.

All things got started with a thought. And it is this thought that is the power in you. Personal Development practitioners call this power - Mind Power. Mere thoughts are so powerful that it can turn into something tangible. All you have to do is to focus your mind into thinking in the right manner and this can make you achieve what you want to achieve.

If there is anything you desire that you feel you cannot have, what you need to do is tap into your Mind Power. The boundless and immeasurable power of your mind is richly endowed to provide your desire, in a matter of time.

Your first step in achieving your desire is to develop a passion. How much passion do you have for the thing you desire. Thinkers say Passion is Power! Create a strong passion for the thing you want, in your mind and in your actions.

Be clear in your mind the exact thing you want. Be specific about it. If it is a car you want, you must be definite about it - the type, model etc. Focus your mind about the exterior, the paint. The interior décor, the steering wheel, the upholstery. Fasten your mind on these details.

Visualise your desire. Use your mind to see how the car moves. See yourself entering the car, starting the car and driving it round your town, and waving to friends and acquaintances. Feel the enjoyment you want in the car.

Believe all these visualizations. See yourself actually owning the car, and all these becoming a reality.

From time to time, during your visualizations you will receive a spark of message to do one thing or the other. These are Inspired Actions. Take these actions without hesitations. These are actions demanded by the Universal Supreme Intelligence, after your subconscious has communicated your passion to Him, and He has communicated back to your subconscious mind.

Take these inspired actions and in a matter of time your desire will come true.

Abu Aremu is an internet marketer and motivator. He writes on many topics including guides to positive mental attitudes and how to achieve greater heights in life. You can read life changing articles and resources from him at http://www.positiveselftalkguide.com and contact him to receive tips on how to improve your positive self talk by sending blank mail to abu@positiveselftalkguide.com

How to Adopt the Winner’s Mindset

‘Everybody here has the ability to do absolutely anything I do and much more beyond. Some of you will and some of you won’t. For the ones who won’t, it will be because you get in your own way, not because the world doesn’t allow you’ – Warren Buffett.

I start off with this famous quote by one of the richest man in the world – Warren Buffett, the legendary multi billionaire who accumulated his wealth solely through investments. How would you like to be in control of your life and the results you create? To be able to change the people around you, the results you produce and even how you feel? Sounds too good to be true? Certainly not.

Most people blame their external circumstances for everything that does not go their way. They tend to attribute their failure to reasons like ‘The economy has been down’, ‘Luck has been cruel on me’, ‘My boss doesn’t like me’. However, the truth is, in order to succeed, you have got to take absolute responsibility for whatever happens. Only when you take full responsibility for whatever happens will you have the ability to change it. This is the secret to putting yourself into a position of absolute power. Therefore, stick by this motto: The extent to which you take responsibility over something is the extent to which you have control over it.

Therefore, ask yourself this question now ‘What is the reason you are not rich yet?’ If your reasons are something like ‘I’ve got no time’, ‘I’ve got no luck’, its time to change your mindset. You see, there are two kind of mindsets people can adopt. The first is the ‘Victim’s Mindset’. People with this mindset will give excuses whenever they fail. They tend to blame everyone or anything else except for themselves. They give excuses like ‘If only I have more time’, ‘If only my wife can be more understanding’. Therefore, they are often in a position of helplessness and they are not in control of whatever happens in their life.

So, since adopting the victim’s mindset is indeed detrimental to one’s success, why do so many people still choose to adopt it? The reason is because playing victim makes one feel good. Sure enough, whenever you are complaining about someone or something else, you tend to win a lot of sympathy. Similarly, complaining will also justify your failure and make you feel better. However, what people don’t realize is that it also rob ourselves of the power to take charge and change our destiny.

Thus, what kind of mindset should one adopt? And what is the mindset that the most successful people adopt? The answer is, the ‘Winner’s Mindset’. People who adopt this mindset take absolute responsibility for all that happens in their life. Therefore, they are in control of their results and success. They believe that they create their wealth and success and hence they can change it. When things do not go their way, they do not blame their bosses or on the lack of luck Rather, they remain empowered and positive even in the most dire of circumstances and they seek ways to improve the circumstances.

Hence, always remember this important lesson: ‘For things to change, I must change first!’. The moment you acknowledge the fact that you create your fortune, it means you have given yourself power to take charge and start becoming rich now! When you go on to learn the strategies of wealth creation, you will learn you can indeed be rich at any age or with as little educational or financial background.

About The Author

Calvin Woon is a motivational speaker who loves to educate people on how to create massive wealth through tested and proven wealth creation programs. To find out more on how you can create massive wealth too, visit http://tinyurl.com/fbpy9

Mind Over Matter

Mind over matter could mean the difference between winning and losing.

To be a winner you must think like a winner and believe with all your heart that you are a winner.

If you have the slightest doubts as to your ability to win then forget about what ever project you are thinking about.

Your state of mind is the centre of your being, if you have a strong belief in yourself plus the desire to succeed you will succeed.

If you think you are beaten, you are,

If you think you dare not, you don't,

If you want to win but you think you can't,

It is almost certain you won't,

Mind over matter. If your thoughts run along those lines above you are a loser, and you will stay a loser, unless you take the decision to change your state of mind.

You might be at your wits end without a cent to your name and because of this state you are at a low ebb.

Your mind is telling you that you are finished and your life will never change for the better.

You must start off by realising that you have reached the bottom of the pit and the only way you can go now is up.

It may be slow, but it must be sure.

Start imagining that you have loads of money and work out what you will do with the money, straight away your mind will start lighten.

This is the day when you must take the decision to start on that road upwards.

You must desire something, and I mean really desire it. It might be a job, or a way to start making money, you need to get your self esteem back in order.

Start by believing in yourself, You are as good as the next person and if they can do it so can you.

Get a pen and paper and sit down and write a list of all the things you can do and the things you think, you can do.

One of the easiest ways to get started for a man who is out of work and down to his last cent is this. ( this idea just sprang into my mind)

First of all spruce yourself up. If you feel good about yourself it will show through. Walk out of of your front door and take a stroll about your local neighbourhood or even a bit further.

Take note of the gardens in the area, many of them will be in need of a bit of care and attention due probably because the owners are working full time or to elderly to work in the gardens.

Jot down streets and numbers where you think the owners might appreciate some help.

When you have a reasonable list go home and begin working on leaflet you can easily deliver by hand.

You just need to say you are available for keeping gardens neat and tidy or any small odd jobs that require doing.

You do not have to be a landscape gardener or have any experience, just general common sense and the willingness to work is all that is needed.

You could make a starting out offer that can't be refused such as two hours work for the price of one for the first job.

As you know everyone is doing just that in a bid to win over the competition.

You will not be in competition but it will show prospective employers that you are really willing and keen.

This may not be the start you imagined but remember from little acorns oak trees grow.

It could snowball and you could find yourself employing others to do the jobs while you sit at home doing the office work.

That is just an instance, an idea that sprang into my mind on how you could start from having nothing to building up a business.

These ideas can work if you really desire to become a man of substance, only you can make them work but you must have faith in yourself and believe you are a winner.

It is mind over matter, repeat these words daily till you really start to believe in them.

(My name is xxxxxx, I am a winner and I will succeed with anything I set my mind to, I am going to be a success and a leader of men.)

Repeat this to yourself two or three times a day until it is deeply embedded in your mind.

Keep looking at the list you have written on things you can do, or things you believe you can do and some idea will be born in your mind on what you should do

Remember that saying, from little acorns huge oak trees grow. What ever you start even if it is not the sort of job you envisaged, like cleaning windows, walking dogs, baby sitting, doing odd jobs, cleaning cars, any thing that can be started from scratch without a cent in the kitty.

It can grow into a big concern if you believe you are a winner.

About The Author

Sylvia White is a home business Mentor and webmaster of http://www.sylviawh.co.uk http://sylviawh.sirlook.com http://www.woweeitsfree.com

Are Poems Whispers From The Super Mind?

Have you ever noticed how much mundane chatter you have blitzing through your mind in a day?

Snippets of conversation from passers by, that infuriating one-sided dialogue from mobile phone junkies, the ever present jingle, jangle, jumble of inane advertising in all its incantations and the searing confusion that emerges from a myriad radios, tv's and ghetto blasters.

No wonder the walkman and now the i-pod have created such a revolution in personal listening behaviour. How much more preferable it is to choose the sonic space we inhabit, blanking out the audible spam of an increasingly alien world.

But how do you deal with this ever present assault once the earphones come out? How long can you stay cool, calm and collected before you start looking for an opportunity to push them back in for a quick fix of Vivaldi, Elvis, 50 Cents or whoever or whatever does the business for you?

The fact is that unless you've perfected the art of TM, Silva Mind Control, or something similar, getting through the day (and the night) in today's multimedia world can be a seriously stressful business.

Sometimes, somehow you just have to get outside it all and switch off. A quiet walk through some undisturbed place in nature can work wonders, but this is not accessible to all of us all the time.

And let's not forget those endlessly repeated fragments and phrases of inner dialogue that keep us awake at night, or worry the hell out of us as we emerge from what little sleep we are able to get.

You know the sort of thing; Why am I always screwing up in this area of my life, what is it about me that makes others hate me so, I'm just not good enough, how ever will I handle this imminent disaster?

We are all prone to fall prey to this kind of negative self-talk when life deals us a tricky hand and even the positive thinkers among us secretly admit that amidst the carefully scripted affirmations designed to give the mind a positive perspective to dwell on, there is invariably some crafty little devil with a megaphone attempting to gatecrash our inner peace.

So what's the solution? Is there one?

I think there is.

Poetry..

Poetry? I hear you cry. Poetry! Come on, that may be OK for those arty farty, intellectual misfits, who look down their noses at mere mortals trying to eke out an honest living to get everything in good enough shape to sleep nights. Poetry might work for the off the wall, strung out weird and wild among us, but Joe Public trying to make good in an increasingly unstable world? I don't think so.

And you know what? I don't blame you. Six months ago I'd have given it the thumbs down too. So what's changed?

Although I was pretty keen on poetry as a kid, I really lost my feel for it once I hit my twenties. For thirty years or so, it never figured in my life at all. Until a few months ago, that is.

I'll spare you the details, but let's just say times were rough and one dark and lonely night I stumbled across a book of verse and read it through. What it taught me was that poems speak to us from a deep place we tend to find when there's nowhere else to go. They seem to provide us with verbal impressions that sometimes echo what is in our own hearts and minds, providing some kind of inner map through the uncharted regions of the soul. They can be a place of sanctuary where they gather like old friends reunited. They can be fun and funny lifting our moods, or deeply introspective, hauling us through a hallway of mirrors of every shape and size.

What is constant about them is the way poems focus the mind and link it to the heart. They seem to speak with a deeper voice – a voice that maybe belongs to part of ourselves that some the higher self, or super mind.

Their true value lies in the place they take you to beyond the words themselves. Not necessarily more positive, or negative, just deeper and truer. So, next time you need to get away from it all, don't reach for the i-pod straight away. Try dipping into some verse, or better yet, jot down a few lines yourself. http://www.funnypoem.net

About The Author

Mario Salti first discovered poetry through a maths text book. Never overenthusiastic about mathematics, he was lucky enough to be presented with a textbook on the subject that headed up each chapter with a quotation from a poem that helped describe the mathematical concept in question.

So it was that Mario first encountered the poetic delights of T.S.Elliot, Shakespeare and a range of less familiar names through the study of numbers.

With the passing years the opportunity for reading and especially writing poetry gradually diminished, as Mario thrust himself into the commercial mechanics of daily life. Now, however, there is once again time to write and Mario has decided to embark on an unusual mission. You can discover what this is at; http://www.funnypoem.net

The 5 Secrets Of The Financially Successful Mind

Many people are at a loss when it comes to figuring out how to make supplemental money on the Internet. Perhaps you are one of those people who would like to get started but feel overwhelmed by how much information is out there. Not only do you have to find the information, you must determine if it is true, accurate, and worthy of your time. Just the idea of getting started overwhelms many people so they never take that first step. Are you one of those people?

That first step, even before you start your journey, is to have the right attitude. William James, a famous philosopher and psychologist, said this about attitude, "Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." He also said, "The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude."

Those are very powerful and true words! World-class athletes know that a competition is won or lost depending on his or her attitude. Now you know this too, and knowing this information you now have a very powerful tool. Yes, your attitude is a tool. Like a hammer, you can use it to build or tear down.

Here are the secrets to having the right attitude for success:

1) Know what you goal is. If you don’t know where you are going then how will you know when you get there? Write down your financial goals and review them often. Is it to make an extra couple of hundred dollars per month, a thousand per month, or even to quit your regular job?

2) Know why you have set that goal. Is it for your family? Is it to get out of debt? For a new car or boat? Knowing why you want something is just as important as knowing what it is you want.

3) Evaluate how you spend your time and ask yourself, "Is this moving me toward my goal?" Ask yourself this question every time you start a new activity. Ask it when you sit down to watch the television, play a game, go shopping, or surf the Internet.

4) Look at achieving your goal either as your second job or as a game. People are motivated differently. Some will be more motivated by telling themselves that their research time, their web site creation, etc. is their business and that they are working on building it up. These people are motivated by a feeling of accomplishment from the work they do. However, some people don’t like the idea of work when they are at home. For these people they look at building an Internet business as a game and the money that they make is their score. They find that this causes what was once work to be more fun. Both are acceptable attitudes so just pick one.

5) Be willing to purchase knowledge. There are many ebooks and courses on the Internet that can teach you some incredible things. You know that some are not worth your time but there are going to be those that provide those little gems that move you closer to your goal. Almost everyone is familiar with the phrase, "You’ve got to spend money to make money." Start with spending your money on the tools and knowledge that are going to help you succeed.

Follow this blueprint for success, stay focused, don’t get discouraged, and don’t give up. People are living their dreams and so can you but you must start with your attitude.

About The Author

Calvin Kuefer is a part time writer, full time Internet enthusiast and finds the best freeware at http://www.vbmark.com.

Mind Yourself!

The intention is good, I decide to take myself out for a walk in the beautiful woods surrounding the village where I live, to refresh my mind and get some exercise. It’s usually on the way back that I realise that I’ve hardly noticed my surroundings and have often been focused on the next activity in my day, thinking something along the lines of ‘I’ll just get this walk done and then I will go shopping”. Does this sound familiar?

Working as a cognitive therapist at my NLP, CBT and Hypnotherapy practice in Hertfordshire, time and time again I see this approach to life exaggerated in client’s with anxiety based disorders and depression. Specifically, individuals with anxiety and depression often struggle to appreciate the moment, as their attention is taken up with worrying about the “What If’s” or re-visiting past events over and over again.

To give you an example, one of my clients at my NLP, CBT and Hypnotherapy practice, Hertfordshire, has recently overcome his fairly long held fear of having a panic attack whilst driving on main roads, using CBT techniques. This client had been using the journey to our sessions to develop driving confidence and had really made substantial progress in overcoming this fear, which until a few weeks before had been an big problem for him. When I enquired as to how he found the experience of driving to our CBT session, in Herts, he realised that he hadn’t been able to appreciate his achievement as he had been ruminating about an event some years ago, the whole way over!

The tendency to not live in the moment isn’t only limited to people with anxiety or depression, as I regularly demonstrate to myself on my forest walk. However, living in the moment is something we can learn to do through the practice of mindfulness.

The practice of mindfulness, which has its origins in Buddhism, is now considered within cognitive therapy approaches, as a wonderful skill to be learnt to encourage relaxation and to stress proof your life. It is very helpful way of reducing anxious and depressive thinking. Mindfulness involves the purposeful direction of ones attention and awareness to staying with our experience in the moment.

For example, on my forest walk, to be mindful would involve concentrating on the colours and textures of the flora, the feel of the breeze against my skin, the patterns the clouds make in the sky, the sounds of birds and wildlife, or the way the ground feels beneath my feet. This purposefulness is crucial to being mindful. It allows us to fully experience and appreciate life in the moment, creating calmness.

All to often we proceed through daily life, only vaguely aware of our thoughts as they wander in an unrestricted way. For some, the mind can tend to indulge in anxious, depressive, self-pitying, angry or self-defeating thoughts, recreating and installing negative emotions. By practising mindfulness, and purposefully redirecting our attention towards our experience in the moment, you can learn to create space, calmness and contentment in your life.

Mindfulness can be applied to any activity from waking up, sitting in a comfy chair, brushing your teeth, breathing or eating. For example, when eating, being mindful would involve focusing on this activity without reading, talking or watching TV. Take time to really look at the colours and textures of your food, to notice the feeling you get from anticipating the taste. Also notice how the food feels and tastes in your mouth, the different flavours, temperature etc. A tip is to approach your experience as if it’s the first time, with curiosity, getting rid of the “been there done that attitude”.

Becoming mindful is similar to relaxation techniques in that it takes time to discipline our minds to remain in the moment, and practice is required. It’s fine to start small with perhaps just five minutes at the start and end of each day and build up. It’s certainly something that I am learning to do alongside my clients!

About The Author

Karen Hastings is an occupational therapist, master NLP practitioner and Hypnotherapist. Karen uses hypnotic techniques alongside NLP and CBT to help overcome emotional and behavioral problems. Karen is based in Hertfordshire and also offers home-visits in Herts and Bucks. Visit http://www.karenhastings.co.uk for more information.