10 STEPS TO A HAPPIER YOU!
By Ken Weisner, C.P.T.
“If you can’t fight and you can’t flee, flow,” stress researcher Robert S. Eliot once wrote. On a scale of 1 to 10, what is your flow meter registering during this holiday season? Is it fairly comparable to your everyday “go with the flow” meter? Stress can be a great motivator, not to be confused with distress, which destroys our best laid plans.
Motivation gets a kick start from a shot of good old “get up and go stress.” The movement motions us forward toward worthwhile goals. Once accomplished, happiness is a rewarding by-product of being in the flow. The following 10 steps have contributed to my success in achieving various personal and professional goals. I’d like to share them with you during this holiday season:
1. Take responsibility.
Take responsibility for your own actions. Responsibility means not blaming anyone or anything for your situation, including yourself. All problems contain a seed of opportunity, and this awareness allows you to take the moment and transform it to a better situation or thing.
2. Overcome your distracting thoughts.
Are your thoughts jumping ahead to the future demand or lingering over past experiences? Our minds are filled with endless chatter. Take a minute to slow down and listen. Remind yourself of how precious your life is. Live for the moment, not in the past and not in the future. Be a human being!!
3. Keep an open mind.
Do not force solutions on problems. Allow things to be as they are. If you rigidly attach your self to an outcome you will lose sight of the endless possibilities of the outcome. Your life experience will be much more enjoyable if you remain open minded to all possibilities. Think out of the box.
4. Visualize a Healthy you.
Envision yourself, as you want to be. A perfect you!
5. Talk back to the gremlins.
Do you often tell yourself, "I'm out of shape," "I'm fat," I've tried this before, it never worked," or "I'm too old"? Talk back to those "gremlin" voices. Say to yourself, "I can do this one step at a time. I am stronger. I can stick with this program." Every time you hear the negative self-talk, challenge it.
6. Recommit to your goals.
Activity levels greatly impact your physical ability, risk of disease, stress response, energy level, appearance and attitude. Remind yourself that positive habits are created one choice, one moment at a time. Keep your focus on your goals. Even if you choose not to work out today, make a commitment to get back on track tomorrow.
7. Learn from your mistakes.
Don't make the same mistakes twice. Learn from mistakes in the past.
8. Listen to yourself.
Are you choosing activities you like or those you wish you would like? It's true that sometimes you choose activities when you simply do not feel like it, but if you are not getting any enjoyment from your activities, you may need to look for activities that better match your personality and interests.
9.Start a journal.
Reinforce your commitment to yourself by keeping a journal. Spend a few minutes a day writing down your thoughts.
10. Be happy.
Ken Weisner, C.P.T., is a Certified Personal Trainer and owner of One On One, Inc. on Hilton Head Island, SC.