I did a Facebook Live video on this topic last night, but thought it was important enough to write about it a bit more…(besides, I got bounced off Facebook right in the middle of things, so…here we are)
I need you to ask yourself a question…and give yourself a brutally honest answer.
Are you wired for winning or losing?
NOTE: This can apply to multiple areas of your life. You can be kicking butt in your career, but be hitting a wall when it comes to your health, relationships, etc. So as you read this, I’d like you to be honest with yourself and come up with a rank – on a scale of 1-7, in the following categories:
- Money/Finances
- Business/Career
- Family/Friends
- Recreation/Fun
- Health/Diet/Exercise
- Faith/Spiritual
- Social/Cultural
- Personal Development
If you’re like me, over time, you have clearly faltered with a few of these areas…
Now hold on to those results for a minute. We’ll get back to them…
There’s a theory that humans are wired naturally to win.
Think about it.
We survived, grew, developed some amazing technology, etc. We’re constantly moving forward.
Innately, I believe we are wired to win. Our obsession with competition and sports may be more proof of this.
But, along the way, many-if not most-people get pulled off track and head down the road to negativity and failure.
This can result from messages and input we receive from our parents, incidents in our lives, trauma, observation, etc.
I recently read that by the time we reach the age of 18 we have heard “No” as many as 148,000 times. Of course, much of this is for our protection.
“Don’t run into the street.”
“No! Don’t touch the oven!”
Etc…
But some of it is different, and falls into the “Expectations” category.
“No, we’re not rich like them. We can’t do that.”
“There’s no way you could get a job like that. You’re not smart enough.”
At the end of the day, if you’re told you’re not smart, fast, athletic, attractive…
THAT becomes your wiring.
That is what you believe about yourself.
Another estimate says that 70-77% of the self-talk we have every day is negative!
That is, we are reinforcing all that negative crap. Every. Single. Day.
For years on end…
But, there’s a flip side in all of this (you knew there had to be, right?!)
You have the power to change that wiring!
By changing the words you feed your brain, you can change the output.
Now, I’m NOT talking about thinking happy thoughts and the next thing you know that entire universe is placed at your doorstep. Sorry, that’s crap as well.
It goes like this:
Thoughts create feelings.
Feelings create actions.
Actions lead to results.
Positive thoughts without the resulting actions are meaningless.
But we CAN change those actions by feeding better thoughts into our programming at the beginning of that funnel.
Please understand: I’m NOT talking about some touchy-feely BS. If you know me, you know that’s NOT how I’m wired. This is just about taking advantage of how our brains work and putting it to good use.
Back to our rankings above:
If you’re faltering in the health/diet/exercise category, you can change that by feeding yourself (no pun intended) thoughts like this:
“My diet is excellent. I make great choices with my nutrition.”
“I’m leaner now than I was a year ago.”
“I exercise regularly and enjoy it”
If you are consistent with these thoughts, you’re wiring WILL change, and these become your new actions! The next thing you know, you DO enjoy exercise more than you thought you ever could. You ARE leaner, etc.
I have seen this transformation happen…more than once. In myself and others I’ve worked with.
Challenge: Pick the one category from the list above that you struggle with the most.
Decide what you would LIKE to see happen/change there.
That is, what is the optimal result you’d like?
Pick the thought process that will get you there; positive phrases, positive mindset, specifically what actions would need to occur for a successful outcome, and spend the next 90 days making that change happen.
Impossible? Hardly.
Look at it this way, what if you achieved only HALF of that goal you just thought about.
How much would your life improve?
Yes, it’s sooo worth your time and effort, isn’t it!
Give it a try, I’ll be doing the same. And if you’d like some recommendations for implementing these steps, reach out. I’m happy to help.