In Odds With the World III. - The Power of Our Thoughts

As little as our mind can work with the negative, so powerful are the positive imagines our mind holds. Sometimes we don’t pay our thoughts, inner visions and feelings the attention they deserve. They are nevertheless crucially important, whether we are aware of it or not. They work for our brain like programmes work for a computer. They determine what we will say, how we will behave and what habits we are forming.

There is a powerful law of the mind, saying that

 whatever image our mind holds, it strives towards realisation. 

In simple words: the more you think of chocolate, the more chocolate you will eat. And because the mind cannot visualise the negative, the more you think of not eating chocolate, the more chocolate you will eat nevertheless. The more you think of exercise as a nasty task, the more you are going to avoid it. The same principle is true for any other thing you can possibly imagine.

We need to watch out what we think, because what we think will form the basis for all our thoughts, all our actions and all our habits. It is like a pyramid:

Life 

H a b i t

A  c  t  i  o  n

W    o    r    d    s

T    h    o    u    g    h    t    s


In our society, a lot of emphasis is put on actions. When talking about weight management, it is actions that we get recommended: eat less, eat differently, go to the gym, go jogging, go under the surgeon’s knife and get your fat removed. However, there is no action in this world which has not been a thought before. You literally cannot do anything that has not been as a thought in your head previously, even if only on the subconscious level.

For example, even if we take the resolution of doing more exercise and eating more healthy, but we keep our old thoughts, nothing will change. To achieve lasting change, we have to learn to think differently. Will-power alone will not get there, because as the famous hypnotherapist, Emile Coué said 

whenever our will-power and our imagination (thoughts) are in conflict, it is always our imagination that wins.


Therefore, what we need to do first, is to know and to imagine how our healthy life looks like. Day-dream about it, put the picture of your ideal figure on the fridge, feel how good it all is. Feel it as if it’s already there. It works: if you’re somewhere in the mind, your body will follow. This is true if you want to lose weight just the same as if you want to improve your sports performance.

The Classic Work on Self-Hypnosis by Emile Coue

FROM »YOU MUST…« TO »YOU CAN…«

Often, when we want to change our habits, what holds us back is a kind of fear of the unknown. For example, we might want to do more exercise, but we are shy about going to the gym. We imagine that everyone in there will look like a fitness model or will be an accomplished, if not world-class body-builder. We might be afraid of what others will think of us. Worse: laugh about us! Similarly, we might be afraid of not having enough time for other things. In such cases, it is important that we change our thoughts to the positive and keep telling ourselves encouraging things. For example, we might tell ourselves that no serious person at any gym would laugh or think badly of someone who’s taking up exercise! Or: All that time we invest into exercise, we will get back by being so much more effective throughout the day.

Think like this: You have a body that is more sophisticated than anything else in the world. Exercising it is not a dull duty, it is a privilege and a birth-right to use that body.


FROM »YOU ARE…« TO »YOU ARE DOING…« 

Whenever we say “You are…” or “I am…” it feels like things are set in stone. It seems if we say “I am unfit” or “I am fat”, that is part of ourselves, when in reality, these things are only our habits and the results of our habits which we can change any time we wish to.

No one can be, for example, slim and fit without the thoughts and the fit lifestyle of a slim person. Being fat or slim is a choice, but not a one-time choice, rather an ongoing choice we make every moment of our lives. When we have the choice between walking up the stairs or taking the elevator, we are making the choice of being slim or fat. When we have the choice of walking or driving to the nearby store, we are making the choice of being slim or fat. When we have the choice between spending Sunday afternoon watching a movie or going for a good long walk to the woods, we are making the choice of being slim or fat. When we are have the choice between going on holiday to lie on the beach or hike in the mountains, we are making the choice between being slim or fat. And yes, when we have the choice between eating an apple or a chocolate bar, we are making the choice between being slim or fat.


But how do we program our minds to make right choices?

First, by starting to feel good about it. Feel good about the things you want. Feel good about the changes you are making. Feel good about your body. Feel good about discovering your natural desire to move and to enjoy life by being active. By making the right choices (eating the right food, doing the exercises), remind yourself that those are the things that will make you happy for the rest of your life. A bite into an overly sweet food might give you a brief sense of satisfaction for 5 minutes, but turned into a habit, will make you miserable for years to come. Remind yourself of the long term benefits you are getting.

Become aware of your body. Our society, while obsessed with body shapes, ignores the body in many ways. Many of us think of our bodies as if they had no other function than carrying our brain. No surprise that the body is losing its natural shape and most of its fitness. But your body wants to move and to love, to walk in forests, and swim in lakes. Howl at the Moon. Connecting with your body is like connecting with your own wild self. It is what can and will make you healthier, fitter and not just looking better but feeling better. Try to get outdoors as much as you can.

Empower yourself. Learn what motivates you and stick with that. Find out what frustrates you and get rid of it! For example: Does it frustrate you to measure your body weight on a scale? Bin the scale! Should it really be determining whether we have a good day or a bad day what the number shows on the scale first thing in the morning as our body weight? It might be useful if it helps you setting a goal and monitoring your progress. But the best thing to do with the scale as soon as it becomes a source of frustration, is to get rid of it. Charity shop, garbage can, present to your enemies… to hell with it! A true process of personal change is always feels empowering. You want to find and feel your own power, not making yourself feel guilty or miserable.

Make the right sort of friends. Whenever we want to change something in life, the best way to do it is to ally with people who have the lifestyle we want to get or share their styles and goals. It is tremendously motivating to have a trainer or a friend to train with or to begin with, even joining an exercise class. Make sure you go to a trainer or class you enjoy. Some might love to exercise to music, some might love the challenge of a circuit training, others might prefer to do something in  a pool, some might love run outdoors, others are just happy to get a friend play badminton with them in the warm. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you keep going!

Make it easy on yourself. We all are human and we all do ourselves a favour if we organise our lives to our benefit. We eat what we buy: it’s much easier not to eat junk food if we don’t keep it in the house. It is much easier to go to the gym, class etc. if it’s on our way home. If we lead a busy life, it is much easier to do sit-ups (or something like that) and go for a walk every day, as opposed to long gym sessions. Fit it around your lifestyle, and most importantly, like always,

enjoy it

and remember, there is exercise out there perfect just for you.