This is where it all starts. We must put our focus in the right place or we are doomed to fail. This as our opportunity to focus on what we can do right now…focus on abilities, not disabilities. No matter what condition you are in, no matter what health challenges you are facing, you CAN improve the situation. But in order to do that you must change your focus to what you are able to do.
The other part about focus is to visualize the person who you will be, the body you will have, because of the steps you are taking today and every day moving forward.
This is so critical to our weight loss success. Still, a lot of people choose to focus on what they have not been able to do in the past. For example, a lot of people say, “I can’t meditate.” I understand…I’m not great at sitting cross legged on a pillow with incense burning, eyes closed, droning “ooohhhhhmmmmm” either. The question is, is that what meditation is? Instead of sticking to our old idea of meditation, let’s shift our thinking and ask, what is the purpose behind meditation? It is to clear our minds, to relax our bodies, lower our resistance to change, be open to possibilities, to stop negative mind chatter. We could go on and find other benefits to meditation, but that gets the ball rolling.
Now let’s come up with other things we CAN do that will give us some, or all of the same benefits. Petting our pets, listening to music, walking in nature, reading a good book, looking at the clouds and seeing castles and dragons and other things…these are all ways that we can get those same benefits. So maybe meditation doesn’t have to be all Zen like, after all.
Apply this same process to anything that is stumbling you in shifting your mindset to a healthier you. Any time you hear yourself say “I can’t ___” that is your opportunity to change your focus on “I CAN.” Be open-minded and flexible enough to figure out other ways you can get the same benefit and then do that.
Come up with a couple different things you can do…you don’t have to do them all every day…it is good to have an arsenal of ideas so when one doesn’t work as well for whatever reason (like it is 100 degrees outside so maybe the last thing you want to do is walk in nature) you have other things you can fall back on. By having a couple tricks up your sleeve you increase your freedom by having flexibility and you make it manageable for a variety of situations.
