I’m constantly blown away by how powerful our thoughts are.
How what we think dictates our health, happiness, and sense of fulfillment.
So much so that it’s often said, “change your thoughts, change your world“.
Seriously – are our thoughts really that powerful?
They answer is yes, – like crazy powerful.
Mindset Shift
I’d call bullshit if it wasn’t for the fact that a mindset shift (four to be exact) I recently made has increased my own personal health and happiness and of those I serve and work with.
I’m amazed how just changing our mindset can impact our lives.
As I look back over the last 15 years of working with clients from all over the world, I feel confident in saying there isn’t anything I would have done differently or focused on, except for this one thing.
Creating A Winning Mindset
Mindset is something I wish I would have spent more time on, for myself and for my clients.
When it comes to helping others achieve their health and fitness goals, I’ve confident that I can and will help them achieve their goals, regardless of what they are.
There’s never been a situation or a goal I’ve come across that I felt I couldn’t devise a plan for and help make it happen.
I’ve always poured my heart into each and every plan I’ve created for my clients to help them achieve their health & fitness goals.
The one (and biggest) piece though that I failed to focus on and address from the beginning was mindset.
Mindset.
What we want.
Why we want it.
What we tell ourselves.
And what we focus on.
These four questions that address mindset are four questions that for years, I didn’t address for myself personally and for my clients.
Where I Failed
Did I pour my heart and soul into every plan I created? I did.
Did these plans get the people I worked with results? Occasionally.
Was it because the plan I created sucked? I don’t believe so (I hope not).
Was it because the person didn’t fully commitment to the plan? Yes and it’s my fault (I’ll explain shortly).
Was it because we did not create a winning mindset from the beginning? 100% yes.
The right plan means little to nothing without the right mindset to see it through.
As much as it bothers me to say this, for years, I fucked this part up.
I’m sure my clients would disagree with me, because they’re awesome like that. Their constant praise, gratitude, and thankfulness is incredible.
I was so excited to help make a difference, devise a perfect plan, and go to work, that I missed addressing and creating the most important part of it all… a winning mindset.
What’s A Winning Mindset?
A winning mindset begins with asking ourselves these four questions I mentioned earlier…
What do I want?
Why do I want it?
What are my stories and believes?
What am I focused on?
I’ve been blown away (shocked really) at what focusing on this simple mindset shift has done for me and my coaching clients.
The difference it’s made in helping me achieve my goals.
The difference it’s made in helping me to help my clients achieve their goals.
The level of success I’ve witnessed my clients achieving in these last four months after making these four mindset shifts is crazy.
Four Mindset Shifts
1) The Right Type of Goals
Goals such as “to feel good” or “have more energy” or “be happier in my skin” are all subjective goals, goals that sound great but can’t be measured.
I mean, how do we measure “feeling good“? The answer is, we can’t – feeling good is subjective.
I use to welcome these goals from my clients until giving it more thought and realizing that there was no way we’d ever know if and when we arrived at achieving such goals.
Part of human happiness is making progress and when we can’t measure progress because of subjective goals, goals that can’t be measured, we never know if and when we’re actually achieving our goals.
I use to think this wan’t that big of a deal, that feeling good about exercising and just getting it done was all that mattered and the rest would take care of itself…. wrong.
Shifting our mindset from subjective to objective (measurable) goals gives us the ability to know exactly what our goal is, track it, and see the progress we’re making.
When we do this, we increase our happiness and sense of fulfillment as we see progress occurring.
It’s no longer “I want to feel better“. It’s now “I will lose X amount of weight.“
It’s no longer “I want more energy” but instead, “I will exercise every morning.”
It’s no longer “I want to feel comfortable in my own skin” but instead, “I will fit into a size 6 again.”
Measurable (objective) goals versus vague (subjective) goals.
It’s our first huge mind shift and first on our list for good reason.
It lets us know exactly what we’re after and leaves nothing to chance or misinterpretation.
My Goals
I use to think and say to myself “I want to help and serve people“. That was (and still is) one of my goals.
The problem with this goal however, is how exactly do I measure it?
How do I know if I really am helping and serving people?
That’s when I shifted my mindset from a subjective goal such as “helping and serving people” to more objective goals such as responding to every email I get and offering a 30 Day Wellness Coaching service.
Concrete goals that I can measure and see the progress being made.
This has been a huge mindset shift for me.
Not only helped me with being able to help and serve others more effectively, but it’s also provided me with a greater sense of fulfillment as I hear back from others letting me know how much my email response helped them or seeing the results and progress my 30 Day Wellness Coaching is creating for those I work with.
This mindset shift continues to benefit me personally and thankfully others as well… everyone from family and friends, to clients and complete strangers. It’s awesome!
2) Identify The “Why”
“Reasons come first, solutions come second.”
Wise words from my mentor, the late Jim Rohn.
Understanding why we have the goals we do and why it’s important for us to achieve them is a must in order to see them through and achieve them.
Simply having goals isn’t enough to make them happen.
Understanding the “why” behind each of our goals is what matters most. It’s what keeps us going, keeps us focused and relentless in our approach, especially when the going gets tough, and it will get tough… it always does.
It takes cutting through all of the surface reasons, “I know it’s good for me” or “I need to do this” or “I just want to feel good again“.
These are not deep rooted whys.
Whenever I’m working with someone now who’s looking to lose weight, we clearly identify their deep rooted “whys” for wanting to lose weight – something I use to never do until making this mindset shift.
“I want to set a good healthy example for my children.”
“I don’t want to pass away early in life as my mom or dad did because of an unhealthy lifestyle”.
“I no longer want to shower with the lights off so that I don’t see myself and my body in the mirror.”
“I’m tired of not being able to enjoy life and be the best I can be for myself and my family.”
These are what I call deep rooted whys.
It’s these why’s that’ll keep us going when we don’t want to keep going.
It’s these whys that’ll get us out of bed in the morning when we don’t want to exercise.
It’s these whys that’ll help us make the hard choices and sacrifices along the way.
This mindset shift alone has the power to propel any one of us from just having a goal, to having a calling, a purpose, a mission where there is nothing we aren’t willing to take head on, overcome, and see it through.
My Whys
I have lots of goals and a huge vision for The Wellness Bucket.
Along with these goals and vision to help make a lasting difference in the world long after I’m gone, comes lots and lots of hard work.
Consistently, commitment, sacrifice, perseverance, tears, loss, failure, fear, faith, determination… it’s all part of the process.
As much as I am committed to helping and serving others, without having strong, deep rooted whys myself, I’m not quite sure I could or would be willing to endure all of the emotions I just mentioned above.
So why do I do what I do?
Why do I write into the wee-hours of the night, maintain a consistent schedule per week for my Motivational Monday Message videos, weekly blog post, and Friday newsletter?
Why do I commit to multiple Skype sessions and mastermind calls per week?
Why do I immediately respond to every email I receive asking me for help and advise on everything from health, happiness, and life in general?
Here’s why:
1) I want to know and believe that my life matters, that I’m making a difference.
2) I want the world to be a better place because I was here.
3) I want my dad and grandpa to be proud of the man they raised even if they’re no longer here with me physically.
4) I want to make people smile and see joy, hope, and happiness in their eyes because of something I have said, written, created, or personally helped them with.
These are just some of my deep rooted whys.
This is what gets me up in the morning when it’s so much easier to stay in bed.
This is what keeps me going when I don’t want to keep going.
When I’m tired, overwhelmed, and questioning if what I am doing and creating is even making a difference.
This mindset shift has been a game changer for me and for those who I am fortunate to work with and serve.
3) Stories & Beliefs
Within our mindset, there’s a series of stories and beliefs we’ve created for ourselves over the years.
These stories and beliefs are shaped by our experiences, what we’ve seen and been told, both good and bad.
The power behind our stories and beliefs is incredible, ridiculously incredible.
When the answer to what we want is sitting there right in from of us and we don’t take action, there’s only one reason – we’ve created a set of beliefs that tie into a story we’ve created.
A story of why it won’t and can’t work.
“It’s only for the rich, the thin, the lucky, the happy in relationships”.
It’s these stories and beliefs we have that define us and they’re either working for us or against us, depending on what our story and beliefs are.
Whenever I’m working with clients who want to lose weight and I hear phrases such as “I’ve always been curvy” or “I have an athletic build” or “I’ve tried before but can never manage to stay the course“, I get an immediate glimpse into what their story and beliefs are.
It’s these stories and beliefs that have kept them from losing weight.
If someone believes they’re “curvy” or that they have an “athletic build“, then that’s their story and whether they know it or not, they’ll do whatever necessary to maintain and stay congruent (aligned) with that story.
People act in accordance with who they believe themselves to be.
That is why addressing what our story and believes are from the beginning is so crucial to achieving our goals because if our belief and story is “I’ve tried before and always fail“, I think you can guess what the outcome will be.
No athlete or sports team goes into a match thinking, “we lost to this team last time so we’ll probably lose again“.
And if they do, there’s a good chance they will lose again.
Since making this mindset shift with those I am fortunate enough to serve, it’s been awesome to see what the results have been.
When people believe themselves to be someone who’s committed and does what they say they will do, because of me or others telling them that’s who they are – they begin to believe it and act in accordance with this new belief.
I know – crazy right… but it’s true!
People will act in accordance with who they believe themselves to be and that is why it is so very important to addressing mindset when it comes to our stories and beliefs right from the get go.
My Stories
My stories and beliefs use to be that my work, what I do, and all I create was average at best.
And because this was my belief and the story I told myself, you can imagine the type of work and results I would always generate for myself… average at best.
My results were average, my impact was average, my financial rewards were average, my relationships were average.
When I finally made the mindset shift from “I am average at best and so is my work” to “I’m always at my best and the work I do is my best work” – everything changed.
I began giving my best effort, not just an average effort, to everything in my life because my new belief was that’s who I was, someone who was always at their best and did their best.
The results (because of this mindset shift) have been and continue to be awesome.
4) Focus On The Process
We can stare at a scale for as long as we want although that won’t help us lose 50lbs any faster.
We can stare at a bank statement although that won’t help decrease debt or increase savings.
We can read all about the beautiful places in the world to travel to and see but that won’t get us there.
Whatever the goal may be, identify it, write it down, and get to work.
Focusing on the goal itself won’t get us an closer to achieving that goal.
Focusing on the process however, the daily commitments necessary to achieve the goal, is what will get us there.
A football team can stare at the score board all they want, that won’t help them put points on the board necessary to win the game.
What will help them win the game is staying focused on what they need to do each and every play throughout the game.
Whenever I work with clients now who are looking to lose weight, we weigh in at the very beginning and then not again for another 30 days.
Instead, we focus on the process, the daily health commitments necessary to achieve the goals we’re out to achieve.
Proper food, exercise, water intake, stretching, vitamins, sleeping, etc. – all part of the process and what we focus on day in, day out.
Not weight, not the scale, not how much we’ve lost – we remain focused on the process.
The results I have seen from clients since making this mindset shift has been some of the best results I have ever seen in all of my years of working with clients.
I can honesty say I’ve never seen this many clients successfully losing weight in just 30 days.
It’s not that my plan is this amazing, different, one of a kind plan – it’s more so that we have made the plan our focus, our process, and that is all we focus on and are committed to, nothing else.
Make The Mindset Shift
Any one of these mindset shifts alone can and will begin to help change your health and happiness.
Incorporate all four of these and and oh boy – you’ll be on cloud nine as I’ve been with how simple yet effective these mindset shifts really are.
I probably wouldn’t believe it myself if I hadn’t made these changes and experienced the results I have – for myself and for my clients.
Even if you have set out to achieve your goals before and didn’t succeed and are now reading this and thinking, “yeah whatever” – I ask that you give just one of these mindset shifts a try.
You have everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose in doing so.
And if you think you can’t do this, your right.
And if you think you can, you’re right as well.
Remember, we act in accordance with what we believe.
Beginning thinking you can, and chances are – you will.
Cheers!
Mike
‘I’m always at my best and the work I do is my best work’ LOVE IT!!
Thanks Ellen – this mindset shift alone has changed everything. Thanks for being here… you’re awesome – Cheers!
Awesome Mike thanks for this post! You are right it is mindset and the stories we create – that we can’t do it. Love what you do!
Thanks Dorene, I appreciate you being here and your words. I really am perplexed by how powerful our thoughts are… and also very excited about the fact that we’re the ones who control what we think so ultimately, we control our destiny… how awesome is that?! 🙂
Great post and approach to life! I’m a firm believer that mindset is everything – and the four aspects you touched on are key.
Thanks Denise – I appreciate your words. No question whatsoever.. mindset IS everything. We are, do, and become what we think. Thanks for being here… you’re awesome!
Great post – absolutely agree that you are what you believe about yourself and our beliefs are shaped by so many different factors. Most people go along with their beliefs and never challenge or question them – this is the starting point for transformation.
Hi Glenda – thanks for being here and sharing your thoughts with me as well… I appreciate it. Questioning what we believe and whether or not our beliefs are serving us or hindering is definitely a huge part of transformation… no question.