Kat Millar

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How to Develop a Success Mindset – Part 2

In Part 1 of this article "How to Develop a Success Mindset", I talked about how, like any muscle in our body, the ability to create a success mindset needs to be worked on.

This ability is in fact one of the most important ‘muscles’ to train, because it gives you the confidence and ability to apply and act on all the knowledge you have about health, fitness and wellbeing.

In this article, I cover 2 further points to help you develop a success mindset:


Remember your ‘why’

 

Why

A great way to develop a success mindset is to list all the reasons why you want your goal.

Anything that we do in life, we do for a reason or a desired final outcome. It’s so important to remind ourselves of the reason why we should workout and lead a healthy lifestyle.

"You can't exceed your wildest expectations without first having some wild expectations." – Oscar Wilde

Grab a notebook or sheet of paper and start listing all the benefits you will derive if you stick to a healthy lifestyle and exercise regime.

For example:

'To feel fit and strong, look great in my new red dress, have more energy in the afternoons, find a partner, have energy to play with my kids, wake up feeling refreshed' etc.

When your motivation starts to waver, pull out your list and rev yourself up to continue to take the necessary actions.

You won't always like the actions you need to take, but you will like the result!

In order to achieve the results you want, keep the vision of the ‘future you’ fresh in your mind.

Also, write down the answer these questions:

When I achieve my desired outcome:

What will I see?

What will I hear?

What will I do?

How will I feel?’

It doesn't have to be a big list; just a simple statement is fine.

This type of thinking and imagining can get you wanting to spring into action to get you to that place!

My final point when it comes to developing a success mindset, is to:

Become mindful of limiting and negative self-talk

The words we say are extremely powerful. Our words build our world.

Do you have a healthy positive vocabulary or do you sometimes speak negatively to others or yourself?

The danger with some of our thoughts is that we attach meaning to them. From that meaning we derive our stories – and sometimes our stories don’t help us move forward.

"Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results" – Willie Nelson

Are you saying things to yourself like:

"I can't be bothered today, it's too hard. It's not working so what's the point, I can't understand why it’s not working for me, I don't know why I always sabotage myself”

...or other non-productive statements?

Even if you’re just thinking them and not saying them out loud, they can wreak havoc on the success mindset you’re working to cultivate.

Some examples of negative and limiting phrases:

"I'm so fat."

“I always fail”

“I’m really weak”

“I never stick with anything“

“I am happy being comfortable”

"I'm stuck in this situation and have no choice."

“It’s just the way I am”

At times, we tell ourselves certain phrases so often that we well and truly believe them.

Instead, you can choose to become mindful of when you say these phrases to yourself and replace them with more healthy and helpful ones.

Some helpful, positive statements to embrace:

“I choose to / I want to / I get to”

“I enjoy the benefits of exercise”

“I deserve to take care of my body”

“I’m in control of my choices”

“I’m capable”

“It’s possible for me”

“I am bound for success”

“The best time is now”

“I am unstoppable”

“I have everything in me that I need to succeed”

When we repeat these positive phrases in our minds, we start to attract more and more of what we need and want into our lives.

Having a success mindset is not some inherited trait that some people have and others don’t. It starts with a choice and like most skills, it needs to be practiced and put to work.

The best time to start, is now!

Do you have any questions about health, fitness, mindset, nutrition or simply how to make your life more awesome?

Email me to ask me anything: info@katmillar.com

If you’d like to know more about how to achieve your health and fitness goals, please visit my services page here.

I also offer a 15 minute mini-session to help you strategise your action plan to take you closer to your health and body goals.

I’d love to connect!

To your Health and Happiness,
Kat

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How to Develop a Success Mindset – Part 1

Do you ever wonder what the real secret is to getting the body you want? Do you focus on eating right and exercising, but still don't seem to be able to get and keep the results you want?

In 2003, I started working as a Personal trainer helping people get healthy, fit and in shape. I loved seeing the changes that people were making in their bodies and their lives.

Over the years, I started observing what made some people successful and others give up. I began to realise that achieving success was so much more than just physical behaviours and disciplines.

Mindset

For many years, I’ve been on a constant quest to learn about the science and wisdom behind creating lasting change. What I’ve discovered, is that a major missing link in many body transformation plans, is a focus on how to develop a success mindset.

The mind is a powerful magnet and attracts to it what it wants. When we develop a success mindset, we start to naturally attract the results that we want physically. 

Like any muscle in our body, the ability to create a success mindset needs to be worked on.

This ability is in fact one of the most important ‘muscles’ to train, because it gives you the confidence and ability to apply and act on all the knowledge you have about health, fitness and wellbeing.

As Dr. Stephen R. Covey said:

Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition – such as lifting weights – we develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges.”

Regardless of what you’re wanting to achieve right now – be it shooting for a personal best or simply surviving the day without tearing your hair out, the good news is that you have within you right now the power to build an unstoppable, powerful mindset!

You have what it takes to achieve the kind of life you really want by cultivating the right thinking.

Let’s face it. We all have things that we want, that we currently don’t have.

Not all of us want to go out and be champions; most of us have no reason to aim to win a competition. But we all have a deep desire for growth – for being the best we can be.

Creating the health, the body and the life that you want is more than simply achieving a physical goal. It's about the mindset behind that and who you become in the process. 

Many people I’ve worked with have told me their greatest feeling of victory was conquering their fears and doubts and changing habits that made them feel proud.

I believe success is about discovering what you’re capable of, overcoming challenges and showing yourself that you can do things you never thought possible.

Mindset

So, why work on developing a success mindset?

1. It will help you overcome your fears, doubts and challenges

2. It will help you increase your confidence and self-image

3. To make your life more fulfilling and meaningful

4. To influence those around you in a positive way

5. Because it makes life more fun!

Creating a strong and powerful mindset will also help you not only achieve your goals faster, but sustain your new behaviours and maintain your results. 

Master your thoughts and you will master your destiny” – Dr John Demartini

So, how do you develop a success mindset?

In this article, I give you my first tip. I give my second tip in part 2 of this article. 

Focus on what you want

Instead of trying to be more disciplined or have more willpower, we need to firstly focus on what we really want. Whatever you focus on and give attention to, is what will transform.

Focus is a really important word when it comes to our mindset. Our brain gravitates towards what we focus on.

If we focus on all the ways we are capable of achieving our health and fitness goals, we will start moving in the direction of creating those results. If we focus on all the ways we have failed in the past, we start to attract those kinds of results instead.

One of the best ways to develop a success mindset is to focus on the feeling of what you want - and keep this fresh in your mind daily.

You can have anything you want - if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose." - Abraham Lincoln

Remember, our minds find it very hard to process negatives.

If right now I told you NOT to think about something, it would be virtually impossible.

e.g. "Don't think about a yellow car. Don't imagine a yellow car. Don't think about it!" - What do you start thinking about? What do you see in your mind if I say don't think about a yellow car?

Because our brain struggles to process negatives, if we are focusing on what we DON'T want (e.g. extra weight or fat) then we will have weight or fat on our mind all the time. 

We get what we expect. So to get what you want, remember that your expectation dictates what that will be.

The clearer your expectations are, and the more you demand those things from yourself, the more likely you will be to achieve them and succeed.

I'm not sure that we always realise just how powerful this is, so oftentimes we fail to act on it.

Get into the habit of focusing on and speaking about what you want, not what you don't want.

In Part 2 of this article, I give you my next tips to developing a success mindset.  

Ready to make a change?

I have spent thousands of hours helping people get great RESULTS and I know I can help you too. 

Take the next step and click on the link to email me. 

Let’s start a conversation today about how we can work together to get you feeling great. 

Click Here to email me

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How to Get your OOMPH Back

Do you ever feel like you’ve just lost your 'OOMPH’?

Like you've dropped the ball, fallen off the wagon, lost your zing, left your zone - however you choose to phase it, I'm sure you know that feeling where you just feel ... like you don't have that same DRIVE that you had before.

Another word for 'oomph' could be 'mojo; (remember Austin Powers?)

"Mojo: A power that may seem magical and that allows someone to be very effective and successful"

Mojo seems magical, but it usually comes as a actually a result of taking specific actions. When you're in your mojo, your oomph, your zone, your POWER - things feel much more effortless ... and also more fun! 

So here are 3 of my top tips to get your OOMPH back:

1. Be CRYSTAL clear on what you want

Crystal

In his book 'Clarity', James Smart states:

“If a pond is clouded with mud, there’s nothing you can do to make the water clear. But when you allow the mud to settle,  it will clear on its own, because clarity is the water’s natural state…

Clarity is your mind’s natural state.

As people allow their mud to settle, clarity emerges, and they discover they have what they need for the job at hand. 

So... How does clarity work, and why do so many people struggle to find it?

It’s well known that outstanding leaders in every field, from Olympic medal-winners to visionary entrepreneurs, profit from the flow-states that a clear mind brings.

Why is clarity essential?

Many of the most desirable qualities people struggle to “develop”… are actually innate, emergent properties of an uncluttered mind.

These drive the results people desire.

Clarity is the source of high performance. It allows us to be present in the moment, and have an enjoyable experience of life...

As a result of getting clear, you’ll find that you start having

a) an effortlessly clear mind

b) more time for what’s important

c) improved decision making

d) better performance where it counts and

e) more of the results that matter to you.

Our mental clarity is under attack… And, as that attention gets gobbled up, our minds become over-revved, weary and congested.

Mental congestion results in time poverty, strained relationships, fumbled goals, poor performance and unrealised potential.

And mental congestion is expensive.

The painful cost to individuals in terms of anxiety, distraction and conflict has a devastating knock-on effect; the price people are paying for lack of clarity is astronomical.

As you start undoing the conditioning that’s been keeping you from clarity until now, and notice yourself experiencing a clear mind more and more frequently (with all the benefits it brings).”

Clarity is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.

What do you need to do to create more clarity for yourself today?

2. Eliminate opposing forces

 Obstacle_sml

In his blog, James Clear discusses eliminating opposing forces.

He talks how we all have an average speed that we tend to perform at in life.

“Your typical levels of productivity and efficiency are often a balance of the productive and unproductive forces in your life...

There are productive forces in our lives like focus, positivity and motivation.

There are also unproductive forces like stress, lack of sleep, and trying to juggle too many tasks at once. If we want to become more effective and more productive, then we have two choices.

The first option is to add more productive force.

This is the “power through it” option… Obviously, you can only do this for so long before you burn out, but for a brief moment the “power through it” strategy can work well.

The second option is to eliminate the opposing forces.

Simplify your life, learn to say no, change your environment, reduce the number of responsibilities that you take on, and otherwise eliminate the forces that are holding you back.

If you reduce the unproductive forces in your life, your productivity will glide forward naturally. It’s like you magically remove the hand that has been holding you back.

Most people try to power through and hammer their way past the barriers. The problem with this strategy is that you’re still dealing with the other force.

I find it to be much less stressful to cut out the opposing forces”

This is such a helpful way to look at it, and it tends to go against what many people in the fitness industry say. Just "harden up and get on with it" doesn't work for everyone. 

Eliminating opposing forces / obstacles may mean adjusting how you spend your time.

This could be:

a. removing certain distractions

b. spending less time with certain people

c. avoiding certain environments 

These things can make it easier on yourself to make the choices that will take you where you want to go.

For example:

* Do you struggle with craving sugar when you watch certain ads on TV, or look at certain posts on Instagram? Remove the obstacle - don't watch the ads and unfollow anyone who posts up photos of things that get you heading for the kitchen when you're not even hungry.

* Do you find it hard to say no to another piece of pizza when you're with certain friends, and you're trying to cut down? Remove the obstacle - meet them for a coffee instead

* Do you find yourself drinking too much when you go to certain places? Remove the obstacle - find a hobby you're passionate about that you can get stuck into instead

Much easier than trying to smash your way past the obstacles, especially if you're finding you're having to use a lot of willpower - or that you're giving in, then feeling crap about it.

Simply remove or reduce those things in your life that are in the way of you getting the body and health that you want. What could you start with, today?

Another great blog I came across is about how to have a productive active rest day. Helen Sanders discusses the importance of rest and provides some great tips on rest days. 

3. Every day, ask yourself empowering questions  

Question_markEmpowering questions help us focus our mind on what's important.

They help our brain to focus on what we want - rather than what we don't want, which often comes as a result of asking ourselves disempowering questions, such as:

"What's wrong with me?"

"Why do I always sabotage?"

"Why can't I stick at anything?"

"It's not fair. Why me?"

When we ask these questions, our brain goes searching for an answer and usually finds it. It looks for all the evidence from the past to back up the question. 

It can lead you feeling totally disempowered, weak and helpless. 

Empowering questions on the other hand, encourage your brain to go to work to find all the many times that you HAVE been successful in your life. 

Motivational speaker, Les Brown says "Every morning ask yourself 3 things - what's my attitude, my focus and my energy today"?

I believe asking yourself powerful questions in the morning can really set the tone for your whole day.

Some sample 30 second morning questions

  1. How else can I think bigger today?
  1. What's one thing I can improve in my life today?
  1. Who else can I help today?
  2. How can I better maximise my strengths?

Which ones appeal to you?

Or can you think of some other empowering questions to ask yourself daily?

Write at least one down and ask yourself it tomorrow morning and for the coming week. Write down the answers. You might be surprised with what you come up with!

I'd love to hear how it worked for you. 

If you’d like to know more about how to achieve your health and fitness goals, please visit my services page here. 

I also offer a 15 minute mini-session to help you strategise your action plan to take you closer to your health and body goals. Email me to book in: info@katmillar.com

I’d love to connect!

To your Health and Happiness,
Kat

 

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