Advise To People That Don’t Lose Weight Or Never Get Wealthy

Aright! In my last post I wrote I about losing weight and get rid of some small debts.

I would love for you to follow me on this journey. I promise to inspire and motivate you.

I now weigh 210 pounds (mind you I carry this weight really well) and would like to go down to 190.

I have about 4600 dollars in silly debt which I will eliminate ASAP, but I will also create an emergency fund AND I would like to buy a second house in Florida. Woot!

Not too difficult right?

As someone who writes regularly about making life changes should be a piece of cake.   Right?

Let’ see how it goes.

I’ll give you a glimpse of what’s working and what isn’t.

So come along for the ride. I’ll be using the tracker and all the My Life Changes tools available to help me.

And if all else fails it will be time to make THE PLEDGE!!

THE PLEDGE is all tested and ready to go.

DO you need a pledge? Think about it.

Admit it ….you do.

Create Habits That Are Important And Make You Happy

Are you doing the things in life that are most important to you? Are you doing the things that make you happy? That bring you joy?

What are the habits or rituals that give your life the most meaning and purpose?

The more you put your habits on autopilot the easier life gets.  Think about it.

In my life I have a number of important habits that are automatic for me.

• I don’t keep sugary snacks in the house because I don’t buy them at the grocery store.
• I listen to self development audio books in the morning traffic because it keeps me calm and I learn something new every day.
• I try to write in my blog every day because I believe that the meaning of life IS to give something back. And if you are reading this I’m giving.
• I bring a banana, yogurt and keep dried apricots at my desk because every bite I put in my mouth will affect my future health.
• I listen to meditation tracks every morning because I want the day to begin in a mindful and calm way.
• I have regular automatic deposits of money into my retirement fund because I don’t wish to worry about money later in life.
• I envision my dream life every day so I am always driving towards it.

I don’t really have to think about these habits, they automatically happen.

What automatic rituals or habits can you develop to distract you from negative temptations?  What kinds of immediate gratifications are stressing you out? Are you over eating? Over spending?

Get your healthy habits on autopilot.

Take control of your life.

How To Envision And Build Your Dream Life

Welcome all you new subscribers to www.mylifechanges.com! You are joining thousands who have already begun the journey to success, love and happiness! This website will make you think. Thinking is good! Here are the three easy steps towards leading the life of your dreams.

1. Who are you?

First, you need to decide who YOU are. Are you an entrepreneur, father and athlete? Or are you a philosopher, businessman and wealth builder? Are you a combination of a few of these? Understanding your overall roles in life is absolutely essential to who you are and what kind of life you wish to pursue while on this beautiful planet.

2. What are your core values?

Why in the world would anyone start goal setting without understanding your core values? Your core values drive your emotions, feelings and moral compass in life. One of my core values is freedom. I envision a life of freedom. Freedom from debt. Freedom from any money worries. When I think about freedom I also picture myself getting up in the morning and working on what I love to do, never worrying about money and enjoying nature, family and friends. Of course I want that core value of freedom in my life! It’s incredibly beautiful and liberating! Now you are ready to set goals according to who you are and what core values are especially meaningful to you.

3. What are your goals?

Take your most important core value and set a goal that will help you live accordingly to it. If your value is happiness, your goal may be to start the morning off with a smile. It’s simple but goals don’t have to be complicated to have a huge effect. Don’t set too many goals. It will be too difficult to reach a bunch at the same time. Kind of hard to quit smoking, lose weight and meditate all at the same time.

Track your changes

Use the color coded tracker to see how you are doing. I made the tracker as visual and simple as possible to make it easy for you and I. You are now on your way to making incredible life changes. Congratulations!

And don’t forget to read my articles for inspiration!

Meditation And Why It Reduces Only Some Stress

The best meditation techniques I’ve learnt about is from Pema Chodron.  Meditation is the foundation to living in the present moment and reducing stress. I’ve written about the meditation technique I use here. I believe it is the simplest and clearest explanation I can give you.

However, it’s all fine and dandy to believe meditation will erase life’s problems and bring you into an enlightened state requiring no further action. Wrong.

Meditation is wonderful to reduce the useless chatter in your life. Meditation trains your mind to come back to the present moment and immerse yourself in the beauty of the world around you. The more you practise meditation the more you get better at reducing anxiety, silly worries and most stress.

The key here though is MOST stress. Meditation will not make you lose weight. Mediation will not get you out of debt. Meditation will not help your dreams come true. What WILL help all these things is to take action. To make a major life change you have to take action. There is no simple way of getting around it.

So here is the deal. Decide right here and now on what aspect of your life you need to take action on. Write out what the problem is and write out the solution. There. Now you have an action plan to change a key aspect of your life. You have made a decision, drawn a line in the sand and chosen to act.

Now you can meditate. Let go of all those silly worries and chatter in your head. You have a plan, you will take action , the rest is of no importance. Learn to be at peace. However, when it comes time to take action, TAKE ACTION! If you don’t, your life will never change. No matter how hard you meditate.

Are you ready to live a life of Zen and make a significant life change?

The Real Secret To Making Life Changes.

It isn’t will power that enables people to make life changes. Most people fail at their New Year’s resolutions. They are fooled to think that they can overcome their emotional mind.

The rational mind is the one that decides that we need to lose weight or start saving money. It begins with good intentions. Lose 20 pounds, cut out sweets, and reduce your alcohol consumption.  Our rational mind always figures what is best for us in the long run.

The emotional mind is the one that usually convinces the rational mind to give up and let go. Just have that one piece of cake, I can pay my credit card off next month, one more glass of wine can`t hurt, I deserve it after a day like today.

Most of us give in to the sweet lullaby of the emotional mind and never reach our goals, especially when it comes to reducing debt or losing weight. Our emotional mind almost always finds a way for the rational mind to let go. Once the rational mind lets go the battle is lost.

So how do we fight the emotional mind?  We fight it be shaping the world around us. We fight it by fool proofing our surroundings so we aren’t tempted. Very simply if you want to lose weight don’t buy sweets from the store and keep them at home. Don’t keep your money easily available. Lock your money in a registered retirement plan and make it horribly painful to take it out. Walk past the sweets aisle. The emotional mind and temptation go hand in hand.  Eliminate temptation.

I rarely bring sugary sweets home from the grocery store. I contribute to my retirement plan each month and never touch that money.   I have shaped the world so my emotional mind cannot access my temptations. It’s the only way for me. It is probably is the only way for you. Try it. Get in the habit of fool proofing your world so your emotional mind has no options.  This is the way to making long lasting life changes.

How do we say it? Out of sight, out of mind. Pretty soon you will be losing weight and saving money. Pretty neat huh?

Have You Been Creating Memorable Stories With Your Life?

Lately I love writing about creating memories.  The quality of your life is dependent on how you remember it. The quality of your life is a collection of stories interwoven together from a lifetime of memories. When you talk about the stories of your life are you feeling happy or content? Do your stories create sparks of joy? How about when you talk to yourself about your stories? Are you proud about your stories?

Sure you can stand around the water cooler on a Monday morning and talk about the BBQ or recommend what novel you are reading. But what about the stories that make your heart skip? What about the stories that tested your courage?

A friend of mine once gave me a plane ticket to fly to three cities in Europe. I landed in Zurich and was also allowed to fly to Sweden and Finland as well. It was a fabulous gift. I decided to include side trips to Italy and Estonia. A week before leaving, I took out my Let’s Go Europe book, highlighted a few choice youth hostels and took off. When I think back to that experience I’m amazed that in three weeks time I walked, took trains, ferries and flew to some incredible places.

I got lost in Italy at 1: AM searching for my youth hostel, shared my cigarettes with a Russian bus driver (I was the only customer) in Finland, and shared tea in Helsinki with a British art critique and an American improving lives of orphans in Russia. In Sweden I stayed on a 200 foot sailboat and went to a lingerie fashion show (poor me). My courage was tested a few times during that trip, but the memories will last a lifetime.

Staying in and experiencing the present moment is an amazing habit to find peace and even joy, but ultimately the overall quality of our life is governed by our memories and stories . This is your remembered self.

How do you remember yourself? Are you making life changes so that you think back upon your life with happiness and pleasure? What stores stand out in your memory? Are your glued to the Internet and television while the world passes you by?

Maybe it’s time to make new memories, and create a few new stories. There is a whole wide world to explore.

Reference:  Daniel Kahneman – TED – Ideas Worth Spreading

Stop Complaining, Whining Or Making Lame Excuses And Start Living

I have been working incredibly hard to make meaningful life changes for years. I have changed my fundamental relationship with money (I wanted to be a millionaire by 30).I have settled into two challenging careers and am content with both. I have struggled with back issues but have more or less come to terms with this. I’ve tried to build deeper and more loving ties with family and friends.

We all have life changes we want to make. The biggest life change I’ve made BY FAR is to appreciate the fact that I’ve been given the privilege to live on this blue planet, which slowly twirls around in the middle of an infinite universe. Every single day I think about this. Everything else is insignificant. Lots of money, a powerful career or fame will not bring you a deep joy or heartfelt appreciation. If you think they will you are either incredibly ignorant or our consumer driven society has continued to suck you in and spit you out.

Go take a look up at the sky. It’s going to rain whether you like it. It WILL be cloudy some days (unless you live in Arizona). There is absolutely no point in wishing otherwise. You are just wasting energy and your time hoping for a change that is beyond your control. Learn to enjoy the day and whatever the planet serves up.

The sun will rise and it will set (it only hides behind the clouds). This has not changed since the beginning of time. Enjoy this day because you will never, ever see it again. It is May 09 2010 today. At midnight this day will have passed….forever. Are you going to enjoy it? Or are you going to spend time complaining, whining or making lame excuses?

Sometimes I sit in traffic and fume after some asshole that has cut me off. If he is driving a big Mercedes SUV I may get judgmental and hope something bad happens to him…or her. But in the end these silly incidents don’t matter. I just let it go. What really matters is that I’ve been born onto this beautiful planet and have had a few years to share it with many extraordinary living beings. And even though we are seriously fucking it up with oil spills and raping the forests, I’m eternally grateful for my time here.

I look out at the sky from my car window. I picture this magnificent blue planet circling the sun with a trillion stars winking all around. I remember how damn lucky I am to experience this miracle surrounding me. I feel a deep felt joy. I hope you learn to as well.

Make a life change to enjoy every waking moment you have here. It won’t cost you a cent.

Related posts:

Choose To Be Happy

Lead A More Meaningful, Peaceful And Happy Life

An Amazing Yet Simple Life Changing Lesson

I’ve taken a bit of a break from writing (for health reasons) but am back in the saddle (but writing from bed, so no real saddle), and would love to share a major life changing method. This method will now be the cornerstone for me (hopefully for you) and a perfect addition to the website tools. Ready?

Use a 6 x 4 Note card to break or create a new habit or goal

Once you have defined your goals using the tracker, choose one goal and write it down on an index card.

Writing your goal down on an index card and carrying it with you at all times creates a solid awareness of the change you want to make. This awareness of your goal will be strongly reinforced if you pull out the card many times during the day. Make yourself pay attention to your goal. It will remind you of how important the goal is to you. The statement on the card may be as simple as these examples.

• Get more exercise and be physically fit.
• Stop smoking, feel better and save money
• Be more loving

Getting more exercise doesn’t just mean just joining a gym. It means taking a walk. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Walking the dog. Riding the bike. The note card should be pulled out whenever you have the urge to fall back into a bad habit or routine.

Being more loving can apply to family members or the cashier at grocery store. Pull that note out and you are suddenly aware that you can be a more loving person. Who knows, it may even help you find love!

Once the behavior is now a habit, you just throw the note card away (or keep it for sentimental reasons).

So you don’t need an iPhone to make a major change. All you need is to take your time defining your goals and then a simple index card to create a steady awareness of that goal or habit.

I can’t think of a better method and it works great for me!

Related Posts:

How To Quit A Bad Habit Using An Index Card

How To Overcome Addiction

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5 Tips To Create Your Best Life For 2010

Happy belated Christmas and all the Best in the New Year!

You are about to find out my best life changing lessons not only from 2009 but also from hundreds books, blogs and tweets over the past few years. These methods are useful, helpful and are here to solve your problems.

• Defining your core values and living by them RIGHT NOW is possible. If you define freedom as a core value you can step out of worrying about the future and live in the present moment right away. Just stepping outside and looking up at the sky can be an amazing experience. These simple moments can bring perspective to what’s important really important to you. I take in the morning sky every day before hopping in the car. We live an amazing and free life if we choose to!
• Using an index card to create awareness of a new habit IS one of the best life changing tools you can use. Define your values you wish to live by and write down a goal on an index card. Carry that card with you and look at it 20 times a day if you have to. The message may be “Create healthier body “or “Am I being a loving person today?” These messages create a continuous awareness deep inside you. Look at that card often until you live your new habit every day.
• Live in the moment. Living in the moment and not dwelling in the past or future is one of the best life lessons I have learnt this past year. Living in the now will enrich each moment of your my life as worries fade away and you learn to enjoy the simpler things in life.
• Let go of money worries and live a life of freedom and happiness. Why cannot we be happy right now? Isn’t happiness just a choice? Isn’t happiness just a conscience decision? Of course it is. You can choose to be happy or miserable today. You can get up in the morning and embrace the new day or let your worries take over. Money has nothing to do with it. It’s all in the mind.
• Step out of your emotions, worries, fear and stress. Open your heart to living the best life you can right now. When you close your heart your mind closes and all kinds of worry creep in. Keeping an open heart gives your endless energy and allows you to be a loving person. It isn’t about an emotional love but choosing to be a loving person. When you choose this path people will choose to treat you with kindness and compassion as well! Isn`t this life you want to experience?

People! – Make One Freaking Life Change At A Time Please

Stop trying to change everything!

The problem is that most people get freaked out about ALL the life changes they wish to make AT ONE TIME. Lose weight, save money, find love, find balance, less stress and of course all the issue surroundings the environment.

Change one thing and make it stick!

I cut out bread at lunch. We have a fabulous deal at lunch and the bread is included. I decided to not have the empty calories of bread on my plate. Hey, I’m in good shape, quite healthy, but I have made a conscience decision to not include bread in my lunch. I eat enough carbohydrates at lunch, bread is unnecessary. Wow, what an exciting blog post – how I cut out freaking bread!

What is the point?

Most successful life changes are done one baby step at a time. When we try too much we can easily get overwhelmed, frustrated or discouraged. Decide what is most important to you and attack that with a passion. Take action! Love yourself! I know you can do it. You CAN make a serious life change. You ARE in the driver’s seat! Life IS too short. Let’s get going right now! Decide what change you can make right now. For me it’s less bread, less empty calories and a healthy weight loss. I’m happy with that.

You CAN do it! Let’s start…right now.

Related posts you might love

6 Ways To Lose Ugly Fat And Get Healthier With Quick Results

Goal Setting And Sensational Success – The Cutting Edge Series

There Is No Excuse For Not Living The Dream

If you enjoyed this post today, please do me a big favor and use the “Twitter” button down below (click on the + sign) to share it with your Twitter friends and followers (You can also share it on Facebook, Digg, or any of the other sites you see below as well).

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