Crossing the Abyss
isn't necessarily a one time thing.

It's not what happens in our lives that shapes us, it's how we respond.
A positive mind-set is absolutely essential to success on BFL.
If you believe it, you will achieve it.
If you don't, you won't.

Key steps to maintaining a positive mind set and your motivation are

1) Become an Optimist-
thinking with a positive attitude........
look on the bright side of everything,
find the lesson to learn, there are a ton of quotes that express this idea

2) Be Aware of Self-Talk-
Most of us have a constant dialog going on in our heads, that makes an impression on our sub-conscious mind
Become aware of this dialog and guard against negative self-talk, see steps 3 & 4

3) Ask Better Questions-
Whatever questions you ask your brain, it will answer.
Rather than asking your self questions that have the potential to pull down your self-esteem:
"Why does this always happen to me? Why am I so stupid? Why do I always do this?"
ask your self in a way to build your self-esteem
"What can I learn from this, so it doesn't happen again? What can I do to make it better? "

Ask yourself these questions on a daily basis

1) What am I most happy about in my life right now? Why?

2) What am I most excited about right now? Why?

3) What am I grateful for?

4) What am I enjoying most right now?

5) What am I most committed to? Why?

6) What do I need to do today to achieve my long term goals?


4) Use Positive Affirmations -
Simply put, a here and now statement that has emotional intensity behind it.
I am healthy and strong! I am building My Body for Life!
Just don't use negative words like "never" or "not", be creative.
Keep it short and simple, with personal meaning for you.
Believe it!


5) Set positive goals-
Goals create a "success cycle" achieving them, makes you feel better about your self, when you feel better, you achieve more goals (Keeping self-promises!)

Use positive terms
"I enjoy eating frequent, nutritious meals."
not
"I won't eat sugar, fat, ice cream, comfort foods, etc."

"I will hit 9's & 10's in my workouts!"
not
" I won't skip my workouts, even though I don't feel like going"

Make your goals realistic. start with daily, small, achievable goals (the success cycle) little things add up to big successes! Be specific, in long term as well as daily goals. What body fat % or measurements are you aiming for?
State it in the present tense! Behave as if it is a done deal! Visualize yourself already there!
*If you have a hard time seeing yourself there, find a role model with a similar build to yours and imagine looking like that. Take your before pic, and using photo editing tools, squish it! Resize it! It's you!*
Don't forget that daily question "What can I do today, to make my goals reality?"
Make that daily list of 5 Things To Do! And Do Them!

6) Laugh!

 

Crossing the Abyss
pg. 31 Body for Life

 

 

Keeping a journal does more than give you a place to keep your goals, nutrition and workout records, your measurements or body fat %'s, and your progress pics. It's a place you can look back on to see how far you've already come! To reinforce your future vision, your goals. Celebrate every achievement, you've worked hard and you earned it! It's your success, and NO ONE can take it from you!
Part of keeping motivated, is enjoying what you're doing, being excited about what you're doing. If you're not enjoying some aspect of your program, take a good hard look at WHY. What can you do to change that? Do you need some more variety? Look at the alternatives available to you and choose something that gets you excited again! New recipes, different cardio, rotating your exercises, re-evaluate your goals, set new ones! Find your inspiration and go for it!
Whatever your "Abyss" lists hold, they are important to you, keep them close to your heart! Don't ever let anyone tell you you can't! Believe in yourself and your abilities! I've said it many times and I'll say it many more =0)
YOU ARE WORTH IT!!


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