By Dax Moy
I can hear people across the country groaning as they read the title above. "Get straight to the exercise and diet bit, that's what we want!" I hear them cry. Well, this is far too important to your success to skip it!
Instead we're going to look at the one area that is absolutely guaranteed to see your efforts shot down in flames if you don't pay it the proper respect that it deserves... your mind.
Now, before you conjure up pictures of men in white coats and the likes of Freud and Jung interrogating you at length about your formative years, relax. We're not going to be doing anything nearly so painful. In fact, if done correctly, this part of the POWER Principles will be the most fun of the lot! So, let's cut straight to the main issue.
What do you want?
What do you want from your body, your mind, your family, your friends, your career... your life?
If you're like many of the people that I work with you've probably got a very good idea about what you don't want in your life and yet you're hard pressed to explain exactly what it is that you do want. You're probably very focused on the problems that you face and what they mean to you and yet despite your best efforts to the contrary, you never seem to pull free from their 'gravitational field' and find success.
Take weight loss for example; you may work hard, eat 'clean' and count calories in order to get ready for a special occasion and yet as soon as your target is reached you begin the seemingly inevitable downhill slide toward the weight you've come to know and hate. The famous 'yo-yo' principle wins again!
Why does this happen? Well, depending on which theories you believe, it could be anything from set-point to self-sabotage that is holding you back. Yet, in my own experience and that of my clients, I often find that the reason is far more straightforward than many people realise.
Quite simply, you lack a strong enough reason 'why?'
Let's face it, dieting isn't fun, exercising can be hard and going without is a pain but as long as you have a strong enough reason 'why' you're challenging yourself you can cope with almost any 'how'. As soon as the reason why you're dieting and exercising is gone (holiday is over or Christmas party is old news) then so too is your desire to put up with the how. The trick is then, to create enough of a why to keep you moving forward all of the time.
If you answer the following questions fully and honestly, you'll be doing more for yourself than any diet or exercise plan ever will. I guarantee it! On the flipside, you can choose to write off the exercises as 'silly' or 'wishful thinking' and not do them at all. The choice is yours, but with so much to gain and absolutely nothing to lose you could be missing out...
Question 1
Imagine that as you sit here reading this that you hear the National Lottery roller results come up on the television. From the back of your mind you hear the first number come up - It's yours! Then the second, third, fourth and fifth - all yours too! You're on the edge of your seat when suddenly the sixth ball drops... You can't believe it. You're the winner of the largest lottery draw in British history. You'll never have to worry about money again for the rest of your life!
Now, what are you going to do with it?
- What things would you buy and why?
- Which places would you visit and what would you do there?
- What would you learn to do and why?
- Who would you spend time with and why?
- What would you like to accomplish? Why?
Please be as detailed as you can. Put in everything that comes to mind. Remember, we're creating a powerful why here!
Now, compare both lists and answer the following questions:
- What are the recurring themes?
- What strikes you as most important?
- If you could choose just one goal out of all of them what would it be? Why?
- What could you do now that would take you one step closer to achieving it?
- Why aren't you doing it?
If you did these exercises and answered the questions fully you should have a much clearer idea about what your true values are in life. You may have even surprised yourself with some goals that you may not have even realised you had!
As far-fetched and out of reach as some of them may seem they are actually all possible for you to attain. All of them. All it takes is for you to work out what it will cost you in time, money, education or effort and decide whether the cost is worth it or not. If it is, then the real question is, when are you going to start working toward them? Will it be today or 'someday'?
The Little Black Dress plan:
1. Little Black Dress diet: starting out
2. Week one: your mental gym
3. Week two: optimal alignment
4. Week three: water and hydration
5. Week four: energy balance - energy in
6. Week five: energy balance - energy out
7. Week six: recovery and regeneration
