Scale It Down

The power of the mind is an incredible tool we all have available to us. It seems simplistic enough, but we tend to forget it's there half the time, ready and willing to be called upon at a moment's notice. Take a moment to reflect upon all the times you have set your mind firmly and continuously upon doing something. Can you think of any instance when your goal didn't come about with the right mindset in hand? If you can earn promotions at work, run in marathons, improve your outlook on life and accomplish a host of other things within your mind's eye, why not apply that same skill to the task of weight control?

I have a wonderful experience to share with you about goal setting. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend an all day seminar slated by the top motivational speakers in our country. It was called, Summit 2001, and it was truly a turning point for me. The presentations were as diversified as the speakers, from Les Brown talking about getting "hunnnngry", ( a metaphor on creating passion for whatever you do), to Anthony Robbins - need I say more? One of the best presentations I saw that day was made by Brian Tracy. Mr. Tracy is one of the foremost (if not the best) speakers on the art of salesmanship and business skills. He presented a simple exercise for short term goal setting that was both thought provoking and easy to do.

What you'll need to get started:
2 sheets of paper, a pen and your brain

On the first sheet of paper, list the top 10 things you want to accomplish within a year's time. That's any thing you'd really like to achieve or attain - regardless if you currently think it is silly, impossible, improbable, etc. When you write them down, do so in the present tense. For example: I am debt free. Not, I want to be debt free. Once you've penned all 10, review your list and circle the one most important thing on the list, write that item across the top of the second piece of paper and then file the top ten list away in a safe place.

Now that you've set your most important short term goal, it's time to go to work on it. Ask yourself, "How?", and keep asking yourself 'how' you're going to accomplish this goal, writing down every notion that pops into your head until you've got a wealth of ideas to work from - which should at least fill the page. Make a plan to do something everyday from these ideas. Think about it and talk about the goal all the time. This is truly how you start the wheels of motion churning - especially when personal changes are involved. Continual and daily attention to something is a strength promoter for change. A little bit at a time, all the time, builds into great strides before you know it and makes reaching your goal less stressful and easier to attain.

Mr. Tracy presented this exercise on the premise that if you followed it as directed, you would absolutely be able to retrieve your top ten list after a year's time and realize the one most important goal you circled had come to pass.

I did this exercise while at the Summit - me and thousands of other people, profusely writing down our goals in little notebooks. Can you guess what my one most important goal was? ' I am a size 8'. Up until that time, I had been pretty happy with a 30 pound weight loss, which put me into the high end of a size 10 - a very good number in my mind. The thought of myself in an 8, seemed so improbable that when I wrote it down that day, there was no way in hell that I believed it would ever become reality... kind of like the thought of driving a Cadillac when you've always owned a Chevy. But, I told myself I would try to follow Mr. Tracy's philosophy…the Summit was in June and by December of that same year, I found myself asking for new clothes in a size 8 for Christmas. Incredible!

When creativity becomes a common factor of weight control, motivation follows. For help in getting your creative juices flowing, Mr. Tracy suggests the exercise of Mind Storming.

With paper, pen and noodle in hand, list the first 10 things that comes to your mind in answer to your 'how?' Then pick 1 out of the 10 and think of another 10 things you can do to bring about that item. Keep repeating this process until you have, at the very least, a sheet of paper filled on both sides. The results will provide you with a wealth of things to try each day to achieve the changes you want to make.

As long as you keep asking, "How?" you will eventually find resolve. For every obstacle you believe prohibits you from accomplishing change, there is always another alternative you haven't thought of or tried out yet.