If You Can See Yourself Fit, You'll Be Fit.
The Power of Mind Control
The mind is a very mysterious yet powerful force. It holds the thoughts behind all of the actions we commit to in life. Before we can do anything, it first has to be thought of. One of my favorite quotes that I live by is...
“Whatever you hold in your mind on a constant basis is exactly what you will experience in your life” - Anthony Robbins
This quote has held true to everything I have accomplished with my fitness and my journey as a fitness entrepreneur. Everyday, I visualize positive thoughts that haven't even happened yet. Everyday, I talk to myself to help me succeed in any task I'm trying to accomplish. You may think I’m some sort of escaped lunatic but the mind is a really powerful force when you learn to manipulate it in your favor. Once you understand that the body responds to what your sub-conscious believes, you can create magic every day.
"What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?"
When you were in grade school, a very common question that you were asked was “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Whatever your answer was to that question, whether if it was a nurse, firefighter, police officer, a chef, or a limo driver, you had to visualize yourself in that costume and see yourself doing whatever that version of you was doing.
If you wanted to become a doctor, you probably were really good or loved playing the game "Operation". If you wanted to be a chef, you probably had fake plastic food toys that you used to pretend to cook and eat! If you wanted to become a teacher, you probably had stuffed animals seated in chairs teaching them the ABC’s. For however long you planned on being that future version of yourself, it influenced everything that you did, right?!
Of course as we grow older, life experiences and maturity tend to change and alter our thoughts but still; whatever we planned on being, you've visualized it and it influenced everything that you did!
The Sub-Conscious Mind Listens to What You Think
The sub-conscious mind doesn't know the difference between what is real or what is fake. This means that what ever thoughts you think of, positive or negative, your sub-conscious mind will believe them and command your body to follow those thoughts.
Here's an example of a negative thought. "I can't do a pushup."
ONCE that thought is registered by the sub-conscious mind, it will literally make your muscles limp, you may lose all sense of body positioning awareness, and find it to be the hardest thing in the world to do. Your mind needs to be fully connected with your muscles for optimal movement. That one negative thought will DESTROY every connection bridge to those working muscles. Long story short, if you say you can't do it, guess what, you never will.
Here's an example of a positive thought. "I can do a pushup."
Just by saying the phrase, you can probably already feel a difference. Your sub-conscious now believes that you really can because you told yourself that you can. Your muscles now properly engage, you have much more body position awareness, you become much more alert and attentive, you become focused, and most of all, no matter what, you will do that push up. Just because you told yourself that positive affirmation, your sub-conscious believed it, and in return you will. Also, nothing beats that huge boost of self-confidence, right?!
Now Lets Play Some Mind Games!
Now that we understand a little bit more about the powerful forces of the mind, lets manipulate it to get you fit!
Step 1: Find a place where you can feel calm and relaxed. I'd recommend a quiet room in your house or outside where you can hear the natural sounds of nature, preferably without the sounds of cars driving or honking.
Step 2: Close your eyes and relax. Focus on breathing deep and calming your mind. You may put on some calm music in the background if it can make you more relaxed.
Step 3: Stimulate all senses as best as you can. Visualize yourself looking fit, lifting weights, looking lean and strong. Feel the heat radiating off that body and see sweat rolling down the skin. You can smell the intensity that you are giving off and you can feel that heart-pumping energy! The more vivid this vision looks, the more senses you can activate, and the more senses you can activate, the more your sub-conscious mind will believe it is reality.
*Some visions may not be clear at first because you have never done this before. A helpful tip to stimulate a clear vision of yourself is to look at an old picture of yourself of when you were once healthier and stare at it. Look at how your were feeling in the picture (hopefully happy!) and simulate that feeling. Having this picture to look at before your visualization exercise will leave an imprint as soon as you close your eyes and then from there you can stimulate all of those senses.
Step 4: Repeat this every day. At first, it is normal for negative thoughts to bounce around but those thoughts are not real. They're made up by your old self. Ignore them and newly create positive affirmations like "That butt looks incredible!", "Look how defined those arms look!", "That is a sexy stomach!" You can even visualize people you'd like to impress saying these affirmations to you! It's your visualization picture; have fun with it!
Step 5: This is an extra step but if you can do this it will make your mind fit much faster. Write a positive affirmation on a post-it note and put it somewhere where you can see it and read it everyday like inside the drawer of your work desk or your bathroom mirror. Once it becomes believable, it will consume you, and dictate everything that you do until you ultimately become that person!
I put my affirmation on my phone lock screen so every time I unlock my phone I see it and most likely I will always read it. The more I read it, the more my sub-conscious will believe that it is true. The affirmation I keep on the lock screen of my phone is...
"I am the creator of a fitness brand that will solve America's obesity epidemic through science, faith, love, and belief."
If You Believe It, You Become It
Creating a strong mindset requires no weights or vegetables and it will take you further in your journey than anything else. It literally requires you, your mind, and your five senses! You can't beat that!
"Our brains become magnetized with the dominating thoughts which we hold in our minds, and, by means with which no man is familiar, these "magnets" attract us to the forces, the people, the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts." - Napoleon Hill
