The Risk
It was a risk worth taking but I thought I would take a chance and post the most grossest article I could about dietry behaviour. The response was mixed but I am glad I took the risk as some people have said that the Shit Diet article opened their eyes to food in a whole new way. Yes I heard some people were disgusted and even called my professionalism into question and others couldn't look at the attached picture of what appeared to be either chocolate or shit on the tongue of someone's mouth. The article in my view simply creates a negative connection with a diet out of balance in brown or beige foods, it encourages the use of more colour to be added to a diet. The feedback from those it hit hard was really good to hear with emails saying how true it was, a couple of people asked me to do the same with smoking too, which is in the works. Sometimes people need a different approach and this down to earth and gross tactic worked well for some people, with that in mind I know I can write articles which will have the intended affect. After all, how rubbish would it be to worry about upsetting a few people if I knew that some people would benefit from me taking a risk? Here is the original article if you wish to have a read. (just don't eat chocolate at the same time....) Click here
2012 Intentions for a Better Life
Many of you will be looking at January 2012 as a time to make some big changes in areas of your life which need a bit of a kick up the butt.
The problem is though that some of you won't stick to the changes not because you don't want the change but simply because of a lack of a strategy. Some others will simply give up because the mind is that clever at going back to what was comfortable.
Here are some strategies, perspectives and points to remember when it comes to making changes with the intention to better your life.
Don't give panic your unconscious with too large a goal. If you intend to lose weight for example then saying to yourself lose 3 stone can seem like an unconscious mountain to climb. Break it down into smaller parts by starting with goal for each week or fortnight.
Learn to calm down and relax your mind, even if it's for a few minutes at a time as stressed minds find it hard to keep focus and make good decisions on best intentions.
Drop the caffeine if stressed or anxious. The caffeine triggers the flight or fight response which is the last thing you need to help you with your goals. It does't perk you up as believed so don't fall for that old myth.
Stop being hard on yourself as it just stresses out your mind and lowers your self esteem which in turn leads to your mind seeking comfort from old habits you want to let go of. The amount of clients who slag themselves off in the mirror then pop out for cake is a great reminder of why having a go at yourself just doesn't work. The intention is usually to motivate but it just ends up creating the opposite result.
End all criticism, this includes to yourself and others, it's shallow and dishonest as it doesn't look at the bigger picture at all. It just makes the mind stressed and creates defensive reactions which just makes life much harder for all involved.
Use encouragement to bring the best out in your and the people around you. This motivating approach helps your mind enjoy reaching the goals you are setting.
It's ok to step off the path now and then towards your goal. You are not perfect and now and then you will slip up. Your encouraging attitude will help you make an extra effort and pay back what you have done to yourself. An example being, if you eat too much one day, eat less the next and maybe pop to the gym, this is much better than simply giving up.
If exercise is on your intention list and you are unfamiliar with gym equipment then book a session which is usually free with your gym to work out a plan for the best way to optimise your time there. I often see people wandering from machine to machine with no clue what they are doing and no strategy to follow. This is a waste of time and becomes de-motivating as results desired will not show. A personal trainer is an even better idea even if it's just a few sessions to give you some ideas of exercises you can do to help you get fit, healthy and lighter.
Something that smokers or over eaters often forget is the legacy they are going to leave behind. This isn't criticism but a simple honest look at the future. I am sure no-one wants their family to go through the pain and suffering caused by watching a loved one slowly die from the most painful suffering due to poor lifestyle choices. I still meet people who years later are grieving painfully over the loss of someone close and due to that grief have had their life made that much harder. Do you really want the people you love to be left with your legacy of pain and suffering? The sad thing is that letting go of the lifestyle choices is perceived to be much harder than it is or the habit gives many illusionary benefits when it certainly doesn't. Invest now in letting go once and for all as life's too short not to and that's not just for you either.
Make your intentions fun to achieve and get support from your family and social network to encourage you to reach them. The more you enjoy it the more you are likely to reach your goals.
If you don't have a strategy then you could fail as the mind loves direction and a plan. If you need one then find someone who can give you advice on what options there are for your strategy.
Get some mind coaching therapy if there are things in your past you need to work with and let go of which will help you reach your goals. Your past conditioning can prevent the progress you deserve which is frustrating and really annoying as it can feed low self esteem and feelings of being a failure.
A vision board can be motivating as it contains images of your desired future but chunk it down to create a board of images which represent the next month or so. If for example you have a millionaires yacht or home on the board your mind can simply see that as too far ahead or impossible.
Your unconscious is like a dog who will go fetch whatever your project from your mind into the future. Wagging its tail it will bring back with no judgment what you were focusing on and will draw your attention to anything related. Great for positive and proactive future thoughts but really quite rubbish for anything negative and un-proactive.
Nutrition is vital for a healthy body which helps to maintain a healthy mind, feeding yourself lots of sh*t food (all brown and beige) will just make it that much harder to succeed. Of course you can't eat brilliantly all the time but around 80% great with 20% whatever is much healthier balance.
Get hydrated! Your cells shrivel when dehydrated and that makes it much harder to have the clarity and energy you need for your life as they can't function properly.
The key to your success is to work on developing your inner resources such as confidence, strength, self esteem, focus, willpower, determination, calm, clear and proactive mind, plus anything else you have within. Helping them flourish is the most rewarding investment you could ever make.
I am here to help too, having mind coaching to reach your goals cannot be underestimated. Good luck and make this work for you the best way you can. Life's too short to give up when it feels too hard when the reality is that your mind may simply just need a tweak here and there. Contact The Life Doctor for more help.
Training to be allergic
It is that time of year again where people start complaining about symptoms of runny eyes, sneezing, sore throat and itchy skin. They blame various things for their symptoms including pollen, dust mites, cat hair and now volcanic ash. Some new age and natural health forum sites are full of people saying that they can feel symptoms increasing due to the volcanic ash now in the air.
Powerful suggestions in the media and on these natural health sites are telling people what symptoms to expect and guess what?? They do!
Studies over and over have shown that when we expect to or think we will have symptoms from something that may cause an allergic reaction, we begin to develop them. People in some studies were exposed to a spray with a toxin which they then were told would cause rashes, sneezing, runny eyes, nose and sore throats. Suddenly the sneezing started, hives, rashes and other symptoms followed which increased by the minute. Another spray was introduced and they wee told this would counteract the allergic reaction and sure enough it did with people in the study feeling better very quickly.
Both sprays were just water and the scientists were studying the Nocebo effect which is the manifestion of negative symptoms through being exposed to a substance which would have no effect unless there is a pessmistic or negative belief that it will do so.
Our minds are so powerful and really do create what we focus our attention onto.
You can remove these old patterns of belief through various techniques and I treated my own allergy to pollen through self hypnosis, NLP and EFT a while a go. Sometimes the mind thinks it's phobic to a substance when it simply is not. I have treated lots of clients to let go of beliefs like this so they can enjoy the outdoors, foods, pets or whatever they feel allergic too.
So if you notice powerful suggestions that you will experience a negative reaction, be aware that you do not have to and could do something about those symptoms by using the power of your mind.
Another poweful suggestion by the way is how hard it will be to let go of habits like smoking, this is training the mind to act that way when it comes to thinking about letting it go. No wonder some people find it so hard to let habits go when they tell themselves it will be near impossible to do so.
You can train your mind to release those brain patterns which hold you back and create new ones which make life a lot easier!
