07 FebFinding Your Weight Loss Motivators

After reading what is probably over 50 weight loss books in my life, they all equate to calorie restriction.  It’s quite true, most of us eat more then we need because we are either filling emotional holes, or eating calorie dense but nutrient less foods.  Both of these will compell you to eat more then you need.  My biggest issue is carbohydrates; which although are not bad on their own, are still a major over consumption in my life.  I cannot think of a day I do not crave donuts, pasta, Pepsi or chocolate.

Carbohydrates in the case of donuts, pasta, pop or chocolate are high in calories and very low in nutrients, in fact some contain no real nutrients.  Pop at a standard 355ml (can) serving is about 150 calories and contains absolutely zip in the way of vitamins or minerals.  Yep, you or I have just consumed 150 calories for no purpose at all.

What makes weight loss hard isn’t so much that your going hungry, but there is a fear that you are going to go hungry, it’s idle hands and not using your time well, or using food to deal with stress from relationships to work.  There is a lot to contend with.  I’ve had fits that if I didn’t have pop and if I had to drink something else I would demand a pop I would get upset and yes I’ve even cried.  That’s when I knew I had an addiction.  Not just to the caffeine but to the quick dose of sugar it would give me.

I know that no amount of scare tactics are going to be enough to make me lose weight, short of having an encounter with death.  You could be told that your chances for getting Cancer, Heart Disease, Diabeties or other complications from obesity can lead to your untimely death and it still won’t change.  That’s because they are not inline with your internal motivators.

There are benefits of weight loss that we don’ t always think about;  such as feeling healthier, being more energetic and even having better moods.  As well fitting into better clothes and having a better body image.  Some of us want to get hot and shock our boyfriends in to outer space.  Some want some definition and muscle tone to get toned abs or picture perfect arms and shoulders.

So what you need to do is find your weight loss motivator. Your motivators cannot be just a short term goal, such as slimming down for a wedding or reunionYou need to find a weight loss motivator that is a long term goal and motivator.

~~~~~~ CALL TO ACTION ~~~~~~

For the next 5 to 10 minutes write out all the reasons you want to lose weight.  You will either need a pen and paper, or simply open a notepad on your computer.

(Jeopardy theme plays…..)

So now that you have your list, remove any that are short term reasons.  I find that four solid long term motivators are key.  Too many and you risk confusing yourself, too little and you may find that reason isn’t so motivating today.

Here are my top four reasons:

  1. I want to be a personal trainer and weight loss coach.  Nobody is going to trust a chubby anything in those fields. [Career]
  2. If I lose weight, my back problems will be less debilitating.  This was on my doctor’s advice. [Health]
  3. Having boundless energy to tackle my day and be more productive.  Having excess weight is a burden on my body and my health. [Health]
  4. Having defined and lean muscles and accentuated curves.  So I might just turn myself on in the mirror. [Physical]

Now that you’ve discovered your weight loss motivators, pin them up, print them out and let it be seen.  Great to pin to a cork board or a dry erase board.  Make sure you see them and read them at least once a day.

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05 FebWhy Haven’t You Started Making Money

If you spend any considerable time on the internet you know that opportunities abound to make money.  The problem is that there is so much information out there that it may be paralyzing.  You may worry your not good enough to write your own blog or that you don’t know enough to write your own eBook, develop your own course etc.

There is so much demand for high quality information products that if your not making money your simply not putting forth the effort in one way or another.  I know because I once believed that there is nothing that I can say, that hasn’t already been said or hasn’t already been tried.  How can I possibly make money selling a product that has in one way or another been covered by some other clever person.  However, I’m here to tell you right now why you are paralyzed.

Feeling like you need to know everything first. Writing a blog, becoming an internet marketer or starting your own business all require learning.  But how long are you going to let yourself be stuck in the learning phase?  Did you realize that you are allowed to not know everything?  Do you think that I know everything?  Hell no, I’m here to learn as well.  But what I’m doing is accepting the fact that I can learn on the way, and that it is not possible to know everything.  On the internet, everything is a changing game.

Feeling like you need to please everyone. First and foremost in whatever endeavor you take on remember that you are doing this for you.  Not for anyone else; not for you sister your Grandmother or your Great Aunt.  You need to live up to your own expectations.  You need to define what success is for you.  For me it’s having enough money to have my freedom, for me that is the ability to have time, enough money to take on some personal goals and the ability to travel.  I think Bill Cosby said it best, “I may not have the formula for success, but I know the formula for failure and that’s trying to please everyone”.  You will find your audience, it just takes time and at the same time you will find your voice too.

Fear of Failure. What if I don’t make money?  What if people laugh at me?  What if I invest all this money and it doesn’t make me a dime? What if.. What if.. What if..  Again, I’ve been there.  But you have to take a risk in order to make gains.  I feel it’s a much larger risk to let your life be dictated by others, only to find yourself sad, depressed and feeling like you’ve wasted your life.  But what is risk really?  It’s just a choice, like anything else.  Besides if you fail, you’ll undoubtably learn a lesson.  As long as you can learn from mistakes, there is no TRUE failure.

Lack of Belief in Yourself. So many people just simply feel that something is too hard or too above themselves.  Which means you’ve cut yourself off even before you’ve started.  You’ve thought of a thousand reasons why you can’t do something or why it won’t work.  But you need to open up to accepting your talents and your voice.  You may have others telling you that you shouldn’t try or that you are a dreamer.

Fear of Picking a Niche. People are fundamentally afraid they will box themselves in.  The way I see it though, is that there is always a way to write what you want and tie it into your choosen blog topic.  There is always a story to be told from a different perspective.  A financial blog can talk about cooking.  I say write about what speaks to you.  If you open up and share stuff about your life, most people are not going to abandon you.  Because they may be entranced by your voice, your style and your unique point of view.  A perfect example is the author Tim Ferriss, made popular by his book the 4 Hour Work Week.

My best advice is make a commitment to yourself that you will post X number of articles per week and spend X amount of time promoting them.  Then you can gleefully focus on everything else in your life.

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