In previous articles I have covered things to help you make peace with where you are so you are not working against yourself by releasing negative chemicals and negative programming that cause your body to want to hold on to fat and be unhealthy. I also presented steps to help you get clear on what you want and why you want it. The goal with these mental steps is to start the neural reconditioning process so your brain will be wired for success. And if your brain is wired for success then your body will soon follow–where your mind goes your body follows. Although, one of the things that can halt someone even after completing these mental steps is lacking the belief you can achieve your goal.
Somewhere along the lines you were most likely taught how things were supposed to work in regard to having a healthy and lean body–like how much cardio and weight training you are supposed to do and how much (or how little) to eat and drink. You might also have learned something in regard to was possible for you and your body from someone who didn´t know any better (like a parent, a sibling or a peer)–information that isn´t really coming from an evolved place. You might have learned something like how people in your family or people in your condition don´t lose weigh easily. Whether it was someone you looked up to for advice, something you learned from some media outlet or something you decided for yourself about how things are supposed to be done, if it feels bad to think about, it is a belief that is going to hold you back from getting to the goals you have set. Any time you have a belief about your body that is limited in any way and you feel negative when you think it, you cause a negative reaction in your body similar to that of the reaction when you thought about your body in a negative way.
Every truth you currently hold now was a belief before it was truth. Every belief was nothing more than a practiced thought. Every thought is something that has a basis of interpretation to it and if you remember (from previous newsletter – http://thethoughtdiet.com/layout3/newsarticles/February09tuning) all interpretations can be changed to a different one. The goal now is to figure out how you feel about your belief of having what you want and using your emotion to identify what your limiting thoughts are and work to shift your thoughts to improve your belief.
If you have worked through the other tools in previous newsletters you know what you want you and you should also have set a date for when you would like to achieve this goal along with having an understanding as to why you want this goal (what would having achieved this goal provide for you in your life that you don’t have already?). Take a moment to review these things and then ask yourself how much you believe you can have what you want by the date you want it by. On a scale of zero to ten (zero being complete disbelief and ten being certain that it will happen) rate where you stand. If you are a seven or higher (hopeful to knowing) then simply reflect on why you feel this way. Your thoughts surrounding this high level of belief will be useful information to help you anchor in more positive thoughts surrounding you achieving what you want. You can also use the beliefs from this to add to your previous exercise of finding your evidence of your desire (http://thethoughtdiet.com/layout3/newsarticles/july9findingevidence).
If you are at a six or below you want to challenge your belief in one of two ways. You could simply change the date to something that is more believable and then set some smaller goals in the place of the previous date or you can challenge why you feel the way you do. The first one is the easiest way to create relief and help you ease up about getting to your goal, which will help your body move in the right direction. The goal here is simply to find a date that you feel comfortable with. You can also add smaller, more achievable goals to the original date. One thing that must be considered is whether you have a need to accomplish this goal in a certain time (like a wedding, a reunion, a vacation or big birthday). If this is the case, then you want to challenge your belief. Challenging your belief is my preferred path regardless as it is a great way to investigate old habits of thought that might be affecting other areas of your life.
To challenge your limiting belief simply ask yourself "why" you feel this way. For example, if you are at a five, which would be something like pessimism, you want to ask yourself why you are pessimistic (use whatever word best suits your belief–you can also use the emotional ladder to help you find an appropriate emotion = http://thethoughtdiet.com/layout3/newsarticles/February09theemotional). Once you have your reason for feeling your emotion (in this case, pessimism) you want to ask yourself where or who you learned that from and if that person had the knowledge about how their mind affected their body (the information in all the previous newsletters about how our thoughts affect our neurochemistry, body programming and gene expression)–whether this person was giving you information from an evolved perspective or if they, like most people who have not learned this type of information, gave you limited information (most likely with the best intentions of course).
For example, let´s say you are pessimistic because you have never have had success before. In this case, since you decided this by yourself you want to ask yourself if in your past endeavors to change your body or your health you considered the mental side of things. If not, simply remind yourself that your lack of success in the past could simply be because you had unattended thoughts contradicting your efforts. If your reason for feeling the way you do has something more to do with something you learned from someone else–like you have bad genetics or you have to some crazy amounts of exercises you don´t like—then you would simply apply the same question there. Did the person who taught you that understand how the thoughts and emotions affect every living part of our body (including our genes and cells) and how they are expressed? If not, you could simply dismiss what they taught you as information coming from a limited place. Another way to challenge this belief is to follow the Four Questions in the next article (add link here). One last thing that will help is reviewing the finding evidence exercise (http://thethoughtdiet.com/layout3/newsarticles/july9findingevidence) and use past successes with your body and other areas of life where you are or have been successful as proof that what you want is possible.
What ever method you choose to change your level of belief understand that the goal here is to find a way for you feel hopeful, optimistic or have positive expectations. It is in this state that your body is most efficient to change naturally and with the least amount of effort.
