Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail!

I'm going to make this a quick one because I think the point has been beat into everybody by now.

We all know what we are SUPPOSED to eat, right?

Likewise, we all know what we are NOT SUPPOSED to eat, right?

If that is the case, then why do we start to feel guilty every time we "cheat" on our diets?

Very simply put, it is because we do not prepare well enough ahead of time when it comes to our nutrition. We fail to plan and thus, we plan to fail.

You can throw every statistic in the world out there about how vital our nutrition is to our goals. Personally, I believe that it weights about 80% of whether or not we achieve those goals for a variety of reasons. Namely:

• Food is fuel, and if we do not fuel ourselves properly throughout the day, it triggers responses in our body that force us to make some not so wise choices towards the latter part of the day.
• The type of food we out into our body dictates whether we have enough energy for our workouts, or just to get through our day. We wouldn't put diesel in a Ferrari would we? (Hint: No.)
• There are varying schools of thought which say eat 5-6 small meals a day, and others that say that you should eat when your hungry. You have to try both and see which works for you and make it sustainable.
• We just don't plan.

I consider myself to have a very good diet. There are days however, when I do not plan to bring enough food to work with me. I find when I come home, I tend to feel lethargic and just want to put anything in. As such, I tend to look for the quick, easy fix, and that is when my own diet starts to take a dip.

Sound familiar?

Don't feel bad. It is perfectly normal. Everyone does it. The key factor here is that now we know that we need to plan out our meals for the day to ensure that we do not get caught in this "quick fix" trap. Figure out whether you need to plan the night before, or give yourself adequate time in the morning to get it done.

Try it for one week and see the results. Food affects our mood, our energy, our stress, our body composition and even the way we sleep. Taking a few minutes in our days to plan out our fueling strategy can and will make the difference between success and failure.

Goal Setting is for the Birds!

 

(Note: Not "pigeon")

I first participated in hot yoga a few years back when it was just getting popular in North America. I figured, Stretching, Sauna...No problem! My friends and I walked into the studio with beach towels and had to rent mats. The girls behind the counter knew FOR SURE that this was our first time. I found one open spot in the room, not realizing it was directly under the window in the ceiling until it was too late. That was in August. Live and learn.

Rewind.

I started playing football at the age of 14. I'll admit that I was pretty green about the game, its rules and so forth, but I remembered growing up in Hamilton and seeing the Cathedral High School football team gearing up for training camp. I knew I had to do it.

As I grew older, I realized that I had quite a bit of size, and a modest amount of athleticism to go with it. So when universities from across Canada began calling me and asking me to play football for their teams while receiving a university education, I figured, I should probably start working out. If schools were willing to pay a portion of my tuition, this would help my family save money (which was very important). As my high school years drew to a close, I committed to a Bachelor of Arts program at St. Francis Xavier University, and with it, an opportunity to play for the X-Men.

It was during training for the football season, and the upcoming seasons that I progressively got bigger, stronger and faster by focusing on one or two aspects of my performance at a time. Over the next few years, my coaches and fellow teammates would tell me that I had a "raw talent" and "natural leadership ability"; things that would help me get to the next level (Canadian Football League) after I had graduated.

So I continued to hit the weights and the books year after year, making sure I did all the right things to graduate and set myself up for success. In 2007, I graduated St. FX with a Joint Advanced Major in History and Sociology, and the Hamilton Tiger Cats drafted me in the 6th round. I had achieved two goals that I had set for myself many years earlier.

And therein lies the point of this post.

Since the age of 14, I had consciously and unconsciously been setting little goals for myself, whether it was in the weight room, hitting the books, or on the playing field. These "little" goals had time spans ranging anywhere from one play in a game or a night of cramming for an exam, to a week of prep work for the upcoming weeks game, semesters for school, seasons for football and even 4 years plus when it came to wanting to become a professional athlete!

All these little steps that I had taken had gotten me to my ultimate goal which was to play professional football. It is when we make those tiny daily ripples of success on a continuous basis that we eventually create a tidal wave of success. 

 I'll never forget a game against Winnipeg when I came down the field on kick-off, and made my one and only tackle in my professional career ever. While some may look at that and say, "It was JUST one tackle", I prefer to quote one of my coaches, mentors and best friend's father in saying that "It's in the record books forever."

My football career has been over for awhile now, and I came to terms with that long ago. When that happened, however, I was confused as to how I would train going forward. I no longer had a season to look forward to. I no longer had an ultimate goal that I was working towards. For some time, my training took a bit of a dip, and for someone who was used to performing at a peak level, that was incredibly frustrating.

It was during conversation with a colleague of mine that I realized consciously that I had no goals! And perhaps somewhere in the depth of my brain, that memory of being in the hot yoga studio under the August sun came to the forefront of my mind.

Flexibility is something I have never taken seriously, and my body's tightness shows it. I realized that correcting this issue was in fact a goal of mine. Specifically, my glutes were very tight. One pose in yoga known as the "pigeon" is a glutes stretch that I had an unbelievably difficult time doing.

So I set a new goal for myself (amongst many others) to work towards. I decided this was important to do because I do not want to grow older, become tighter, lose mobility in my hips, shoulders etc. and thereby decrease my quality of life. While that may not seem like a big thing to some, optimal health throughout my life is an ongoing goal for me. I had to make the reason for wanting to do the goal personal, and meaningful.

Goal setting applies to anything, from business relationships, to personal fitness.  

IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING, HOW WILL YOU EVER GET THERE? 

Try the following steps:

1. Figure out WHAT your ultimate goal is. What do you want? What do you want exactly?
2. Figure out WHY this is important to you. Why do you want it so bad? What happens if you do not get it?
3. Set daily, weekly, monthly, and annual goals that actively work TOWARDS your meaningful want. Self-explanatory but I figured an italic sentence here keeps things consistent.
4. Write it down. Doing so makes it real.
5. TELL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS SO THEY HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE. Nobody wants to disappoint those they love, and those they love do not want to see you disapointed. You have an unbelievable network of support, including your local gym. You just have to ask!
6. GO! Commit to doing whatever it takes to get to your goal! You are either doing it, or you are not! It is that simple. Trying is lying. YOU MUST COMMIT!

When I meet someone who asks for my help, these are just a few of the basic steps I take to get them actively moving in the right direction towards a better life. At the end of the day, we are talking about looking and feeling GREAT!

Today, I took the block away from underneath my hip for the "pigeon" pose. I'm now one step closer. 

The Paleo Solution

I'm currently sitting inside a room at the Renaissance Hotel in the Skydome (yes it's the Skydome!) about to embark on 3 days of Fitness Manager bootcamp along with 17 other new FM's from across the country. I'm looking forward to the learning experience and working on my personal development in order to be a better teacher and leader to those I affect directly.

It's now been one week of my Paleo challenge against my friend Patrick and I can honestly say, this time I think it is going to stick as a lifestyle.

Let me elaborate.

I've tried a couple times to go "Paleo" in the past. I read a bit of Loren Cordain's "The Paleo Diet for Athletes", but it was too technical. I went solid for the month of February and fell right off halfway through March. Come to think of it, it was right around the time I accepted the FM position. Hmm...stress leading to poor eating habits? I may be on to something!

It was Robb Wolf's "The Paleo Solution" which really got me interested in it. Robb writes in an easy manner. I don't want to say "layman's terms" because there is a lot of technical stuff in there that can be quite hard to understand. After reading Robb's book, I read Art De Vany's "The New Evolution Diet" and everything began to click.

To be honest, I don't even see it as a competition anymore. And I don't mean that from the "I don't care about winning or losing" perspective. Simply, the purpose of the competition was to be able to have a reason to stick to the diet. I was using excuses, saying that it was too hard to not eat grains when it is everywhere around us. So, we made a competition with an end point and a reward at the end. And I stayed true, until Friday night when I decided to experiment and had some nachos.

Needless to say, my stomach felt like crap, I got a headache, and the experiment was done. It's obvious that I have reset my system, and putting "food" that isn't healthy in me just doesn't make sense anymore.

It would be ludicrous to presume I will never have another grain again. However, as Agatsu CEO Shawn Mozen once told me during a kettlebell cert in Toronto, "Just think about what you are putting into your mouth, and what it is doing for you." Putting "food" that we know is crap into our body is serving some sort of emotional function. The trick is to rewire your brain into getting that same end without turning to food. Some people chew gum. Some chug water. Some exercise.

My trick: 1 shot of tequilla, mixed with soda water in a tall and 3 limes. Stir, and enjoy.

AmeriCanuck Paleo Challenge: Do or Do Not...

For those of you who don't know, my dear friend Patrick and I decided last week to partake in a little nutritional challenge between April 3rd and May 8th. I've really been on a Paleo kick lately, but find my commitment to it wanes from time to time. Turns out, grains really are an addiction!

Why are they so hard to give up? Well let's be honest: we've grown up thinking that these were good for us, that we needed "carbs" in order to function and so on and so forth. Old habits are hard to break, as are previous mindsets. Recent studies by Paleo gurus Art De Vany (http://arthurdevany.pro.subhub.com/), Robb Wolf (http://www.robbwolf.com) and Loren Cordain (http://www.thepaleodiet.com), have shown otherwise.

In a nutshell (pardon the pun), the Paleo diet means no grains, no dairy, no legumes or sugar. It means plenty of lean meats, quality vegetables and fruits, and healthy fats as well as some nuts. (A simple google search will answer the rest of your questions). Protein, carbs, fat. Simple right? Sure. How long have you gone without break, rice, and pasta? Not as easy as you think. The more I educate myself however, the more I realize that this is really doing nothing for me. Why would we put garbage "food" into our bodies? You wouldn't fuel a Ferrari with diesel would you??? (Hint: No. You wouldn't.)

Back to the challenge.

My friend wants to shed some pounds. I'd like to work on my discipline and if it means some aesthetic qualities show up at the end (ie. abs), I'm not going to complain about it. We've set goals for ourselves, taken pictures on day 1 and taken measurements. We've told our friends and family on a Facebook group what we are doing so that we can hold ourselves accountable.

It's been two days and I feel great. Did hot yoga on day 1, and had a great workout in the evening today. What's driving me is not necessarily the end goal, but the process and the commitment to eating right, and fueling this Ferrari with some high octane fuel. It also helps that my buddy down south is doing the same. And if in turn, it makes you think about some of the stuff you are actually putting into your body, and makes you really THINK about it, then hopefully it will help you along your path too. This is why I do what I do (blog name! They do this in movies all the time!)

To finish, I read a tweet today from @_robin_sharma today: "The translation of "I'll try" is "I'm not committed."

I think a little green dude in Star Wars said something similar once.

Trigger Happy

How Anchoring Can Help you Achieve Anything.

Have you ever watched the movie Jaws? Do you remember the feeling you got every time you heard the rhythm of orchestra music just before the shark would appear? The producers planted it early in the movie, and every time that music began, you just knew that the shark was about to appear somewhere, scaring the daylights out of you. I was a child when I first watched the Hollywood epic, and vividly remember my heartbeat increasing as the music did. Unbeknownst to me, the director and producers of the film had put the image of the shark and the sound of the rhythmic heartbeat together on purpose. That purpose was to create the feeling of foreboding amongst the audience, and it did a fantastic job doing so. What the film did, was create a neurological link between what I was watching (the shark), what I was hearing (the music) and the way I felt. This link, or “trigger” as some would call it, is but one of many examples of neurological links that surround us every day.

Think about seeing a red light while driving. You know from learning and experience that this visual external input automatically causes you to take your foot off the gas pedal, and apply it to the break. Similarly, hearing a siren signals your mind that an emergency vehicle is coming through, and that you are to pull over to the side of the road. How about the way a certain blanket feels? Does it bring back fond memories of past times? Smells are potent too, ranging from memories of past loves with types of perfume to the smell of…ugh…tuna (for some of us anyway). Personally, having a bad experience with gin does not allow me to smell or taste the alcohol again.

What each of these experiences do, and there are literally millions of triggers that surround you every day, is bring back a certain internal representation (IR) that you have of a past experience, whether it be positive or negative. These IR’s have a direct effect on your current emotional state (happy, sad, motivated, stressed etc.) which in turn have a direct effect on the physiology that you take on and vice versa. We have all seen public speakers or singers get up on stage at some point of our lives. At least once, you may have seen them freeze up. A picture enters their mind, their muscles tense and before you know it, they are heading off stage in total embarrassment. Being bored at work may create a similar chain reaction for you. Boredom may cause you to slump in your chair (thinking about being bored or tired à de-motivated state à slump in chair). The combination and synergy of your IR, state and physiology at any given moment works instantaneously to produce a behaviour that you then act out.

These triggers work within us every day on an unconscious level. We have been conditioned to respond to them much like that of Pavlov’s dog to the sound of the bell ringing, (food was on the way). The amount of neurological links that we have in our heads is quite the intimidating number, and goes to show just how powerful the connection between our mind and body truly is. Fitness professionals across the board constantly refer to the mind/body/spirit connection. But how many of them actually work with their clients on the mind aspect? Sure, we would all love to easily be able to change our behaviours (what we do) in order to serve us better towards our goals. However, because all change occurs at the unconscious level, often times, we miss the mark by just a little bit, whether it is standing in front of a crowd, or finishing a set with the utmost strength and confidence that we could possibly have.

When it comes to fitness, or what our definition of fitness is, this could have a profound effect on our stress levels, counteracting all of our progress to a great degree. No doubt, there has come a point in your life when you have been the center of the universe at any particular moment, be it standing in front of the classroom doing a presentation, going over numbers in the boardroom with your superiors surrounding you, or standing on stage being scrutinized on your physical appearance by a panel of judges. Maybe it has been something as simple as making a toast, or going for a personal best on the bench press. Not all of us are necessarily comfortable when it comes to these situations. We may be experiencing unresourceful states at that given moment, lacking the resources to be completely successful.

Creating Resources for any Situation

As much as we are affected by unconscious triggers, there is a way to consciously create a neurological link in order to bring out a resource that is needed for any occasion. Personally, I was never comfortable standing in front of a crowd of people public speaking. I am most certainly a confident person. Somewhere in my past, whether it was in a personal experience or one I witnessed somewhere else, I must have seen a presentation go completely awry, forming a trigger which made me feel nervous or anxious at the mere thought of public speaking! What I needed was the ability to empower myself when I was the center of attention. This was done through a process in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) known as Anchoring.

An anchor can be created when an individual is at the peak of recalling an experience, during an intense, emotional state. When a specific external stimulus is applied, a neurological link between that emotional state and the stimulus is created. This technique allows us to access past states and can connect the past state to the present or future events. In turn, it allows us to become empowered at any given time by consciously using our own trigger.

In my case, I recalled playing football at the university level. I went back in my memory to a game when I felt totally and completely empowered, confident and unstoppable on the field. I remembered a specific game, a specific quarter, a specific play that defined the situation in which I was the center of attention. I was able to visually recall with total clarity what I saw on that day, from the colour of the grass on the field, to the uniforms of the opposing team. I evoked the sound of the crowd cheering, the cadence of the opposing team’s quarterback. I recalled the smell of grass and sweat around me. I remembered the most surreal feeling of confidence as the ball was snapped, bodies smashing together in those four to six seconds of fury. I had made this internal representation so vivid, so powerful, that I was told later by someone working with me that I had begun to breathe a little deeper, my face had become more relaxed and I was standing upright; the same posture typically associated with someone exuberating total confidence and power. At the peak of that experience, I applied my chosen stimulus, and an anchor was created that gave me that unwavering feeling of power, confidence, and patience whenever I needed it.

Weeks later, I was asked to do a presentation with a colleague on NLP for the rest of the trainers in our region. I thought I had left presenting behind in university! The thought of presenting a topic to a group of highly respectable trainers created a slight feeling of anxiety, and so when the day came and I was standing in front of the room with all eyes on me, I applied my anchor, and held it for several seconds (possibly even a minute) behind my back. Lo and behold, very quickly, that feeling of anxiety and nerves had regressed. I was standing up tall, speaking with an unwavering tonality exuberating confidence and acting as if I had done this my entire life. By firing my anchor and testing it, I was able to get through a tough situation and it works to this very day.

You do not have to have a presentation or a show going on to be able to create a resource for yourself. A resource is anything that can help you achieve your desired outcome, make you stronger and help you through a challenging situation. Resources can help you develop a belief in your potential to reach your fitness goals or improve your sports performance by having you focus on areas in your life where you have enjoyed that success previously.

There are four keys for this technique to be successful. First is the intensity of the experience. You must, must, must be fully associated in an intense state! The more intense the experience, the better the anchor will stick. Secondly, the timing of the anchor is crucial. Ensure that you are at the height of your experience before you apply it. Third is the uniqueness of the stimulus. Remember, it should not be something that you would do on a normal day to day basis. Fourth, the anchor has to be repeated and reinforced in the same way from time to time. Practice makes perfect. Finally, repetition of applying the anchor, like everything else we do, will ensure its effectiveness.

Anchoring

First, decide on an anchor. Ensure that whatever you choose as your anchor is unique. Second, and most important, know what resource it is that you want! It may be motivation, happiness, confidence, security, patience or strength. Whatever resource you need, you can create an anchor for yourself and fire at will in order to rid yourself of the negative states you are currently experiencing. We all have had an experience in our lives in which the particular resource that we want occurred and can be engaged. If you cannot think of a specific situation, I encourage you to think of a role model who has the required qualities you desire. It can be someone you know, or someone you have seen and heard on TV. Once you have thought of a time or a role model, you will need to fully associate yourself into that experience.

Take a few deep breaths and really relax…disassociate yourself from your conscious mind and float right back into your body, to that time when you were experiencing your desired resource in totality…see what you saw…hear what you heard…and really feel what you felt…take your time with this. Really get into the experience.

This is important. At the very peak of your experience, when you can feel your state and physiology changing and mixing in with that internal representation, apply your chosen anchor and hold it for anywhere between five and fifteen seconds. In this time, you will be creating that neurological link between the internal representation, state and physiology and the anchor you have chosen to apply. When you are ready, open your eyes. Take notice of how you feel. Change your state by doing some pushups or jumping jacks and clearing your mind. Now, test your anchor by applying it again for fifteen seconds with your eyes open and totally conscious. Are you able to experience that same feeling from your past at that very moment? If you cannot, you may need to start the process over again and really make the picture bigger and brighter. Make sure you turn up the volume of any sounds associated. If you were successful, then you have just given yourself a resource to help you out in any situation you so choose in your future.

I have been very fortunate to have been allowed to help a variety of people out with this technique in and out of the training room. The ability to empower someone to anchor resources that they were previously lacking in their personal and professional lives has really benefited their health on a total scale. The difference between a client who is upset and slouched coming in for a training session, and one that is smiling, upbeat and positive will do wonders for their ability to achieve the results that they desire. Likewise for yourself, find out what resources you want and when you want them, and give yourself a gift that will make you feel totally empowered any day, any time, anywhere. Remember, whether or not you are able to do something is dependent on the way you use that machine between your ears. Whether you think you can or can’t achieve something, you’re right.

Adam is a certified Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner recognized internationally through the INLPTA. A former professional athlete in the CFL, he currently trains full time out of GoodLife Fitness in Burlington, Ontario.

WAKE UP!!

This article is long overdue, both in terms of my writing it, and your reading it. You can call it a sound off, a call out, or a reality check. Or you can call it the cold, hard truth. For some, it's something you already know. For others, it's something you know but choose not to regard. Either way, this article is going to tell you EXACTLY why you are not getting what you want in life. When people use the old adage "the only thing keeping you back is you", they are 100% right. The only way you will get anything you want, is by using your BRAIN.

The more people I encounter both in the gym and on the street, the more visible this truth has become. I constantly hear people complaining about why they cannot start a fitness program or how they are not hitting their goals (and I'm not just talking in the gym either!) The bottom line is this: if you are not getting what you want, it's nobody's fault but your own.

In our industry today, it is now more clear than ever before that the mind and body are connected as one. Everything we do is the result of a thought process. We are all the same human organism. We're all made up the same way. However, in studying Neuro-Linguistic Programming with Master Practitioner and Coach Pamela Rigden, I've personally learned that although we are made up the same, our experiences are vastly different.

Any one event that two people see is represented differently in their mind. Certain information is deleted or distorted, it is generalized and then filtered through memories, experiences, beliefs and values, decisions, language and attitude. It then creates an internal representation in our minds which affects our state at the time and our physiology which then forms our behaviour.

What does this have to do with the article?

Although we all have different internal representations of any event, we also have the power to control our behaviour through the action of decision. I know you are doing the best you can with the resources you have available. But that is my belief system about you and I may not even know you. The question is, do YOU truly believe that you are doing the best you can, or do you know that you could be doing better? Have you made a conscious choice to do that one thing better, or have you deemed it too hard, or unimportant?

What we're talking about here is RESPONSIBILITY. You and only you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Any decision we have made and any decision we will make acts upon what Anthony Robbins refers to as the "Pain Pleasure Principle". Any decision we make is made either to avoid pain (ie. not lifting weights, procrastinating, not going to the gym period!) or to elicit pleasure (ie. working on your fitness, eating foods we know are not good for us but we enjoy and sex!).

Undoubtedly, you have experienced something in your lifetime which has forged your decision making abilities to create mass generalizations about certain things. If you've ever had just 1 near death experience swimming, you may never go into a pool again. Do cookies make you feel better after a long day at work? That's been conditioned. Maybe you had one bad gym class when you were a kid, or maybe you were picked last and have been turned off exercise altogether. Do any of these sound familiar?

I'm here to let you know that IT STOPS HERE. You do have the power to do anything you want, as long as you claim responsibility for it! You must CHOOSE to be the cause in your life, and not be the culmination of the effects in your life! You can choose to eat the unhealthy food that you enjoy, or you can find a healthier alternative that will give you the same pleasure. It really is as simple as it sounds. Even as you read this, you're making a choice whether to take it seriously, or consider it just another trainer sounding off on something he doesn't understand. Think I don't have hardships in my life? Think again.

When you become the cause in your life, you empower yourself to do anything. A fellow colleague of mine and I shared a conversation along these lines not too long ago and he emailed me a excerpt from a book. I'll share that excerpt with you now:

So many people out there aren’t willing to make the sacrifices necessary to be in the best shape they could possibly be in. As a result, they assume everyone else must be cheating. People often make comments about me like “Oh, he must be doing steroids” or “He must be on some type of drugs”. That’s a self-esteem issue – for them. I’ll tell you what they’re really saying: “I don’t have the where-withal to endure the pain that it must take to get into that kind of shape. Therefore, he had to cheat. Because if he didn’t, that means that he’s more focused, more determined, more ambitious, and more aggressive than I am, and I can’t accept that. So I’d rather say he cheated”.

That is such a cop-out. It’s like saying the class valedictorian had to have notes written on his shoe, that there’s no way someone could have studied all night and skipped sleep and crammed and gone on the Internet and researched everything in order to get those grades. He had to cheat. That’s unfortunate because people who excel academically really do put in the work, the same way I rock the weights.  Before sitting down to write this, I trained for 45 minutes in the gym at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. That may not be remarkable – only I was up at 4:30 this morning, in a car by 5:00, on a plane by 7:00, flew 6 ½ hours goin’ back to Cali, had two important business meetings once I arrived – and then did that workout, which had my heart rate racing from beginning to end. And in a few minutes I will head over to Jimmy Kimmel Live to perform five songs on national television.

Would I have rather gotten some sleep and bailed on my workout? Are you kidding me? Of course! But the key to this whole thing is doing what you’re supposed to do even when you don’t necessarily want to. That’s discipline, and discipline creates consistency, and consistency breeds success. That 45-minute workout I just did means nothing if it’s only done once, but think about how you’d look if you did that every day for 6 months. Just that! And just ate halfway decent. So are you willing to put the cake down, the ice cream back in the freezer, and the fast-food burger back form where it came? I’ve never seen a single person with abs of steel eating a doughnut, have you? When you’re no longer willing to tolerate what’s in your life, you can get it out of your life. Taken from - LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout, 2006

Make a decision right now for yourself. Choose to stop making excuses! Choose to stop playing the blame game on everyone but yourself! Get rid of that victim mentality! Stop making reasons and excuses for things that have gone wrong in your life and realize that you made a decision somewhere in the past that led to it! Choose to take responsibility for all of your actions and choose to finally have the power and the ability to do whatever it is you want in this life! I made mine a long time ago and to this day, I dictate my destiny.
Try this formula for success. First, know what it is that you want. Do you even have an idea right now? What are your fitness, financial or relationships goals? What is this want going to do for you?

Now envision it clearly in a big, brightly coloured box exactly how you want it. Take in any audio you may hear. Turn the volume up. Notice how you feel in this moment. Feel how just this power of THOUGHT is already making your pulse heighten! Is there a smile on your face? Your brain just changed your physiology and state!
Next, figure out how to start and maintain this course. Can you do it by yourself? If not, then with whom, and how? What resources do you have available right now to get you what you want? What is standing in your way? How do you break that down? What do you need to go out and get in order to get those resources? Figure out when you want your desired outcome and set a deadline. Write it down! It becomes real when you do!
Figure out what you want to keep from your current behaviour. These are the things you are absolutely not willing to change. If some of these are things that hurt you, think of alternatives that will give you the same outcome, but without the negative effect.

It is so easy in our day and age to just "go with the flow". Many times, we just let our environment dictate the decisions that we make. The media has a massive effect on us, but you can change that! Open up your eyes and your ears for clues!

The world around us is constantly giving us little hints as to how to get what we want. Ask yourself, is this worth the cost to me? Do I see the value behind what I want? Do I understand the benefits of what I will get with what I want? Is it congruent with my beliefs, my values, my sense of self or identity?
If you've done all those things, you've now forged a brand new path ahead of you! You've made a decision towards pleasure! Think of it like a car: it's pretty hard to see where you're going if you're always looking back. Instead of saying "I want to lose weight", say "I want to be slimmer!"

Know what you want. Figure out how to get it. Make a decision and finally, ACT NOW!

Nothing worth doing ever came easy. Nothing worth having will just be given to you. It may be a long, hard road, but as long as you keep your mind focused on what it is exactly that you want, you will find that your mind, like the great leader Hannibal once said, will either "find a way, or make one."
This is your wake up call. Take responsibility for your life. No longer will you play the victim. No longer will you blame others, make excuses or give reasons.

No...not anymore.

You now have the power. You now have the control. You now have the ability to do WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU WANT!

Because whether you think you can or you can't, you're right.
- AK

Adam has completed a 4 day introduction to NLP programming and is currently working towards becoming an NLP Practitioner through the INLPTA. To date, he has helped clients lose weight, reduce inches, increase strength and muscle, reduce depression, get off blood pressure medication, prepared women for motherhood and changed entire lifestyles. His style of training is holistic, meaning you will reap the benefits of training with him in body, mind and spirit. Catch Adam on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ackania

Reframing and the Transformation of Meaning

I tend to read a lot of books. Typically, I’ll read 2 or 3 at a time to give myself a little variety, like changing the channels on a TV. One will be a book I’ve chosen for entertainment, and another will be one on how to improve myself or help my clientele out. Passing over this section in Introducing NLP: Psychological Skills for Understanding and Influencing People by Joseph O’Connor & John Seymour, I felt it was something that would be appropriate to share with you on I Will Act Now. The following is a word for word excerpt. See how it can apply to you, in any and every aspect of your life:

Reframing and the Transformation of Meaning

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

- William Shakespeare

Mankind has always searched for meaning. Events happen, but until we give them meaning, elate them to the rest of our life, and evaluate the possible consequences, they are not important. We learn what things mean from our culture and individual upbringing. To ancient peoples, astrological phenomena had great meaning: comets were portents of change, and the relationship of the stars and planets influenced individual destinies. Now scientists do not take eclipse and comets personally. They are beautiful to see and confirm the universe still obeys the laws we have made up for it.

What does a rainstorm mean? Bad news if you are out in the open without a raincoat. Good news if you are a farmer and there has been a drought. Bad news if you are the organizer of an open-air party.

Good news if your cricket team is close to defeat and the match is called off. The meaning of any event depends on the frame you put it in. When you change the frame, you also change the meaning. When the meaning changes so do your responses and behaviour. The ability to reframe events gives greater freedom and choice.

One person we knew well fell and injured his knee quite badly. This was painful, and meant he could not play squash, a game he enjoyed very much. He framed the accident as an opportunity rather than a limitation, consulted a number of doctors and physiotherapists, and found out how the muscles and ligaments of the knee worked. Fortunately, he did not need surgery. He devised an exercise programme for himself and six months later his knee was stronger than it had been, and he was fitter and healthier too. He corrected the postural habits that had led to his knee becoming weak in the first place. Even his squash improved. Hurting his knee was very useful. Misfortune is a point of view.

Metaphors are reframing devices. They say in effect “This could mean that…” Fairy tales are beautiful examples of reframes. What seems to be unlucky turns out to be helpful. An ugly duckling is a young swan. A curse is really a blessing in disguise. A frog can be a prince. And if whatever you touch turns to gold, you are in big trouble.

Inventors make reframes. There is the well-known example of the man who woke up one night with the sharp end of a rusty spring in his old mattress digging into him. What possible use could an old bedspring have? (Besides depriving him of sleep.) He reframed it as a stylish egg-cup and started a successful company on the strength of the idea.

Jokes are reframes. Nearly all jokes start by setting events in a certain frame and then suddenly and drastically changing it. Jokes involve taking an object or situation and putting it suddenly in a different context, or suddenly giving it another meaning.

Sleight of Mouth Patterns

Here are some examples of different viewpoints on the same statement:

“My job is going badly and I feel depressed.”

Generalize: Perhaps you’re feeling down generally, but your job is OK.

Apply to self: Maybe you are making yourself depressed by thinking that.

Elicit values or criteria: What is important about your job that makes you think is going wrong?

Positive outcome: It could make you work harder to get over this particular problem.

Change outcome: Perhaps you need to change jobs.

Setting a further outcome: Can you learn something useful from the way your job is going at the moment?

Tell a metaphor: It’s a bit like learning to walk…

Redefine: Your depression might mean you are feeling angry because your job is making unreasonable demands on you.

Step down: Which particular parts of your job are going badly?

Step up: How are things generally?

Counter examples: Has your work ever gone badly without you being depressed?

Positive intention: That shows you care about your job.

Time frame: It’s a phase, it will pass.

Reframing is not a way of looking at the world through rose-coloured spectacles, so that everything is “really” good. Problems will not vanish of their own accord, they still have to be worked through, but the more ways you have of looking at them, the easier they are to solve.

Reframe to see the possible gain, and represent an experience in ways that support your own outcomes and those you share with others. You are not free to choose when you see yourself pushed by forced beyond your control. Reframe so you have some time to maneuver.

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