“Sure Win “New Year Resolution -Part2

This blog is in continuation of my earlier blog on “sure win “New Year resolution .If you are contemplating on a “sure win” health & fitness goals, here are few more points that you should be aware of to achieve the goals.

Important bridge: Many of us SET the goals but only few of us ACHIEVE the goals. A goal stays as a dream for ever when it is set but when it is not achieved. The distance between setting goal and achieving goal is miles apart. Your ACTIONS based on the set goal act as a bridge between setting a goal and achieving a goal. When the actions are not taken, the set goal started as a dream, continues as a dream and ends as a dream. The desired results of the goal come in reality only when the appropriate actions are taken in time.

Important Mechanisms: Your action or inaction is based on your thoughts from your mind. Mind has two important characteristics that need to be used for achieving the goals.

1.       Mind operates like an auto servo goal machine. Mind revolves around your ideas and your interests. If don’t have a real vested interest on the set goals then most likely the mind will be focussed on something else and hence your actions that follows will have a different focal point. So, it important for you to have a GENUINE interest on the set goals. The best way to develop interest is to have a kind of vision board in your visibility. Vision board portrays the pictures in advance the desired end results of your goals.

2.       Mind what it focuses on that gets expanded. This is the power of focus. Say for example, if you focus on losing the weight and as the mind starts to think in that direction, the world related to losing weight expands. This could be in the form of meeting the relevant people who help in solving your problem, seeing the fitness equipment’s, spotting fitness related articles in the newspaper etc. So, focus on the goal for it to open up a new world to you.

Secret formula: Here is the secret formula for you to stay on track in achieving the goal. I have learned and experienced this technique personally myself. The biggest drive for us to take ACTION is the motivation. Motivation comes by the REWARD of your action. It is important to activate the reward center of your brain to stay on track in achieving the goals. The best strategy is to split a goal into micro goals that are CERTAINLY achievable based on your current available resources. The small rewards of these micro goals compound together in hardwiring your brain to achieve the bigger goal. So, make it a point to keep a journal in writing at least five small progresses that happened in a day by your actions for the micro goals to generate a compounding effect in achieving a bigger goal.

So develop the habit of not only setting the goals but also achieving the goals.

“Sure win” New Year Resolution

Each New Year passes by and so our New Year resolution as well. Do you wonder why your resolution at the beginning of the year gradually loses its momentum with the passing months? Do you need some ‘’sure win’’ strategies to make things happen in your favour for your growth? I suggest some of my strategies which I follow for years which work like a charm. Feel free to follow these simple procedures if you plan to have certain goal for your Health & Wellbeing or any other goals in other areas of the life.

Be kind to yourself: Set a goal which is realistic based on your available resources. After all, you have only 365 days in a year. If you plan to lose weight then it is ideal to target for 10% drop in weight in comparison to an unrealistic 40% drop. Each one of us has infinity power and anything is possible if we really progress our goals mindfully. Your goal should neither be easy nor difficult.

Out of Comfort Zone: Whenever you set a goal, be prepared to come out of the comfort zone. Brain works in the least resistant path. Any new change drives you out of your comfort zone and it is not an easy for the brain to handle the change at the earlier stage. Mind throws “stories and excuses” for you to buy those so that you continue to stay in the comfort zone. You need to make a conscious decision to overcome the stories given by the mind. Remember that your growth is in direct proportion to the extend you move away from your comfort zone. If you go by your old habits, doing the same things in life and meeting the same kind of people but expect a different result then it is an utter ignorance from your part. So, break this pattern to achieve your goal.

Create the right ambience:  We, human being are influenced by the external circumstances. We become the victim of circumstances when we don’t know how to manage the circumstances. So, it is important to design a suitable ambience for your resolution to nurture. If your ambience is setup to have a negative influence then you encounter a setback. For example, you may want to lose weight but if you have an ambience without the right kind of people, workouts plan and the equipment’s then you won’t progress very well on your goal. The ambience has to be carefully designed to have a positive influence on your goal.

Role Model: Pick the right role model who already exceled in the field where your goal is targeted. This person has already seen the ups and downs, used all the trials and errors to achieve the goal. Simply, model his pattern and you will become successful. The best strategy is to paste his picture in some easily noticeable areas such as your desktop screen, mirror and your workplace so that he becomes a source of energy for you to achieve your goal.

Coach/Mentor:  Be prepared to travel in the new path the moment you set your new resolution /goal. The fact is that you have not travelled often in this path. The surprise elements and disappointment pull you back to the point where you started. You need education, motivation and clarity to move towards your goal. So, wisely get a right mentor/coach to take you safely in the path less travelled by you.

Try the above strategies and let me know how you have progressed in achieving the desired result that you deserve.

Self Management Exercises

One can manage others only when he has the capacity first to manage himself. Self management is an art & a learnable skill. Self management is all about managing our body, mind and emotion. Thoughts come from the mind. Thoughts lead to action/inaction that gives rise to emotions. The emotions are expressed as feelings in the body.

Art of listening: You may want to touch your feet with your palms in a forward bend posture. This is your intention. But, the body may not be listening to your intention and you may able to touch only the shins or knees. Why the body is not listening? The simple reason is that we are not listening to the body. So, in order for the body to listen to us, we need to listen to the body first.

Exercise 1 : Mindfulness dynamic exercise such as yoga helps in developing the art of listening to the body. This is one such reason that why you see the practitioners of yoga do some fancy postures which a common men wonder about.  The simple guideline is to use the movement of your breathing as a tool to move your body. This way, one can feel the body sensations clearly with the body movement.

Mind & Emotions: Similarly, the mind when it is not managed gives rise to random thoughts. We are overwhelmed with the stream of thoughts and we eventually become the prisoner of our own mind. When emotions are not effectively managed, conflict arises which disturb the relationships with others.

Exercise 2: So, if we need to manage our mind & emotion, it is important to divert our awareness to the mind first. One can use some concentration exercise such as paying attention to the flow of breathing. Simply, become aware of the rise and fall of breath. The mind likes rhythm and the rise& fall of breath is a rhythm which silences the mind. With the silent mind, the emotions can be easily monitored as bodily sensations.

Exercises 1 & 2 help us in connecting to our body, mind & emotion.  We not only self manage but we get the ability to connect with others easily. We need this level of connectivity to really connect ourselves to our spirits. Without the connection to our spirit, it is difficult to identify the real purpose and meaning of life.

Self manage yourself by managing your body, mind & emotion so that you can connect to your spirit and the universe.

A Modest Mind shift to ease the enormous STRESS

We are solely accountable and responsible for the actions that we do in our life on a daily basis. There is no argument to this. When we cross the set limit and become over responsible and over accountable then the problem starts. You know what I am talking about? You live and take some heavy actions as if the entire world is operating just because of you. You operate as if nothing moves forward in this world without your presence.

Examples: One can see the above pattern especially when it comes to jobs, kids’ education, our own health and also the welfare of the children. When it comes to work, some of us take up the job and proceed as if he only can do the job in perfection as he believes in his own ability. He is worried to delegate the work to others because of the fear of the end result when it is executed by someone else. Similarly, parents overprotect the children when it comes to their welfare and literally lead the kid life in a direction that the parent’s desire and in that process they shadow the individuality and the freedom of the kid. When it comes to the health of the individual, again we use all the possible means to reach the ideal perfect health state but in the end we lead a miserable unhealthy state because we miss the simple art of listening to the body.

Fact 1: All these over accountability and over responsibility are simple acts of delusion.  The thought that leads you to cross the boundary is just there ONLY in your mind. It is valid only for you but NOT for others. You have created a world that exists just in your mind and it doesn’t exist anywhere else.

Fact 2: The plain fact in reality is that all things in life will be carried on and executed beautifully even without your presence. Even without you, the kid’s welfare will be taken care by default. In your work, even if you go on a month holiday and then after a month, you will be surprised to know that the work was done seamlessly even without your presence.

Fact 3: The greater fact is that the world was functional before you came here. It is functional as you live now. World will be FINE after you leave this place also. The simple thing, all that we need to do during your stay here in this short interval is to ask a  simple question,” what is the value that I can add up that transforms the life’s of others?”

Overstepping: How does one know that he has crossed his boundary? All that one needs to know is to see whether his action/inaction is causing the unnecessary worries, fears, doubts and anxieties. If you see any of the above symptoms then simply you know that you are crossing your limit. Don’t become over accountable and over responsible.  In fact, this is the main cause of the most of lifestyle diseases such as back pain, diabetes, migraine, etc.

One can drop tonnes of weight from his shoulder if one comes in terms with the above mentioned facts and that alone provides the right mind shift in him to blow out that unnecessary stress. Let us not the play the role of Hercules who carries the entire weight on his shoulder.

No Tension Formula:

Intention + Action = No Tension

Have a clear INTENTION in life and take the right ACTION keeping in my mind the positive outcome without any doubt then there is no tension in life.