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I was looking at my bookshelf and I was amazed at the collection of diet books I have managed to amass over the years, I can honestly say none of them ever did me any good, in fact all they did was confuse me. In some of the books they prove without a shadow of a doubt that eating carbs will make you fat, other books say that eating meat is wrong, others say the way to go is low fat, so is pasta ok now or not..hmm not sure, and what about potatoes???
You know the only way I finally managed to lose weight is when I decided to ditch the diets and get my head in gear, I set some goals, made losing weight a priority, sorted out my mindset and then I followed 1 simple rule as far as food is concerned. This one simple rule that I stick with is this, you can eat anything you want, whenever you want, as long as it is whole, in other words it hasn’t been mixed up with anything else, if you want to mix it up you have to do it yourself. That cuts out most unhealthy, fattening food right away and it doesn’t really limit your choice much either. You don’t really have to think about it much, it simply means that you are not buying anything boxed or packaged that has been laced with strange sounding chemicals and preservatives. It means you can eat any unprocessed meat, any vegetables, any fruit, you can even eat cakes and cookies if you like….but you have to make them from scratch – and everyday time constraints put a limit on that.
It just works, I don’t know exactly why, it could be something to do with the lack of chemicals, it could be something to do with the lack of restriction you are imposing on yourself, it could be something to do with eating real food in a normal way. If nothing else, at least it is a healthier way of eating.
By now you probably know the importance of setting goals when you want to lose weight [if not check out my article on goal setting for weight loss here]. One of the most difficult parts of goal achievement is simply getting started. It’s easy enough to dream and plan, but many people get stuck in this phase indefinitely and avoid taking action. Planning and dreaming might make you feel like you’re doing something about your goals, but if you never actually take a step forward you’ll never achieve them. In order to see measurable progress, you have to step out of your comfort zones and take action.
When you finally do gather your courage and begin moving forward, what usually happens? You realize it’s WAY harder than you thought it would be, right? It feels like you’re trying to run uphill. You keep tripping over obstacles, facing setbacks and delays, and fighting a daily battle to stay motivated.
It’s during this difficult phase that most people give up. They decide that ‘it isnít meant to be’ right now, so they set their goal aside, vow to try again later and carry on just wishing they could be thin.
Have you done this? Most people have!
However, this doesn’t have to be the end of the story. You can pick up your goals, dust them off and try again. But this time you should know about a little something called Momentum.
You see, the difficult phase I just described is what happens at the beginning when you’re trying to gain momentum. Most people quit during this phase because they think it’s ALWAYS going to be this hard. What they don’t realize is that every effort they put toward the achievement of their goals will build on the previous efforts. With every step forward the process gets easier and easier. Finally, they’ve put so much energy and effort into the process that momentum begins to take over. Suddenly they realize that they don’t have to push so hard to keep moving forward. It becomes fun . . . even easy to achieve their goal.
This same experience can be yours! All you have to do is keep moving forward. Keep working toward your dreams and never quit. Don’t quit when success is just around the corner because you will have to start again, do the hard work again, and never reap the rewards. Momentum WILL take over eventually, sooner than you think.
Given the importance to your life of establishing goals, you would think that libraries and schoolrooms would be full of goal-setting rule books. They are not, and unfortunately that is one of the biggest handicaps in our educational system.
The concept of goals when it comes to achieving results is also one that is often either overlooked or overworked in personal change programs. Yet even among those who write about or teach goal-setting techniques, few understand the necessary strategies and systematic approach required for maximum effectiveness.
There is little question that goal setting works, and once you learn how to power up your goals with the necessary strategies, you can create a level of accomplishment self discipline and control over your life that at this point may be beyond your imagination. In fact, you can become so good at generating goals that it will be necessary for you to be careful what you plan or ask for because you will most assuredly experience it.
Goal setting is as important to the successful operation of your life as eating or sleeping. The only difference is that your life won’t end if you don’t set goals. However, without goals directing your life, you will miss out on much of your potential for experiencing the positive emotions of excitement, aliveness, enthusiasm, joy, and even happiness. Without goals, you can end up living from problem to problem instead of from opportunity to opportunity. Setting goals will steer you toward opportunities while enabling you to overcome the obstacles and break through the barriers necessary for their accomplishment. Running your life without goals is about as effective as attempting to drive your car from the passenger’s seat. To be effective in the goal-setting process, you must go far beyond the usual ideas of how to set goals.
Forget Excuses And Start Making Choices!
• I don’t have time to set goals. I’m too busy.
• I don’t set goals so I won’t be disappointed.
• I’m really not sure what I’m after.
• I set goals but they just don’t seem to happen.
You have the right to make excuses, but excuses won’t produce results. In reality you have one of two choices: you can design and direct your future by setting goals and working to achieve them, or by default you lose the opportunity to create and control your own life. In the latter case, you allow not only your future but also your present to be controlled by other people, events, and daily pressures, all of which produce plenty of stress and frustration but not a feeling of accomplishment.
But when you set goals, they become your navigational tools, guiding you toward a predictable future or destination despite the sometimes not-so-predictable events that may occur along the way. And as you begin to define your life in terms of goals, you automatically increase your level of excitement, aliveness, enthusiasm, self-confidence, and self- motivation.
I’m working on a free goal setting program specifically for people who want to lose weight – look out for it soon.
Bye for now.
Dianne
This is a big topic but I will try to condense it for this short article.
We all have within us an incredible ability to achieve whatever we set our minds to, the one main obstacle standing in the way of you achieving your goals is you – or rather, your subconscious mind.
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