Fast track your personal weight loss success.

Overcoming Obstacles

Published on February 13, 2012 by Robert DeVito in Focus

 

Overcoming Obstacles

Don’t Look Back
Everyone has failures or mistakes from the past. To have success, you need to learn from your past and value those difficult lessons but do not every dwell on the past. Simply move forward and make better, more educated decisions from the lessons learned.
To succeed, you need to have dreams and aspirations. Be honest with yourself as to what you want out of life and what you want to give of your life. Allow your mind to dream and think big. Aiming low and hitting the target is not a good goal.

Create a plan of Action 
Create a Business Plan as your very first step if you are planning to build a business. Whether you will be searching for investors or not, this plan will be the blueprint to your success. The Business Plan will consist of market trends, financial planning, competitive analysis, exit strategies, marketing and promotional options, everything about your goal. When going before an investor, you will be required to have a Business Plan. This is by far the most important document of all. If your success were something personal, you would not need to create a Business Plan although a project plan would be a good option to allow you to keep track of everything involving your goal. I am not personally a fan of a complex business plan.  Keep it simple and be able to modify as needed.

Persevere
To reach success, you have to persevere. Even Thomas Edison had to learn this. When he was creating the incandescent light bulb, it took him more than 10,000 times to get it right. Keep striving even when it becomes challenging.

You need to have determination. With good intentions, there may be a close friend or family member that feels it would be better if you focused your attention in another direction. Uphold your unstoppable attitude, determined to succeed.

Consistent Application of Proven Principles will bring SUCCESS.

To your health,

Robert

If you think like this - you WILL NOT succeed.

Critical Thinking or Thinking “Critically”

I have found that most of the successful people that I know are

critical thinkers, while most of the people that consistently struggle for success think critically of themselves, others and circumstances.

Critical thinking is using your Knowledge, Experience and Common Sense to create a SOLUTION for challenges and obstacles. Thinking Critically is the opposite.  The type of person that consistently finds the challenge in the challenge and always seems to find him or herself embroiled in controversy at home, with friends and at work is Thinking Critically.  They have trained themselves to find the worst in people. Chances are high that this person spends a great deal of time trying to convince people, that their way is best and that everyone else is either bad or wrong.  You cannot be focused on the issue and the solution simultaneously.

Begin to notice when you are Thinking Critically and then apply critical thinking to the situation.  Discover your patterns and obstacles and break them.  Critical Thinking delivers solutions from a logical standpoint.  

Critical Thinking allows you to view a situation of its own accord, without interference from past feelings or biases. 

If you are the type (or know the type) of person who is exceedingly difficult to please, that never can find the positive in what they have done, that always belittles everything and everyone (finding fault), and generally is unpleasant and dissatisfied with life then THIS person is THINKING CRITICALLY.

If they are emotional, reactive, persist in unhealthy behaviors and generally just are a real downer - then THIS person is THINKING CRITICALLY.
In nearly 20 years of practice, I have not know many people that are able to attain and maintain any type of progress and satisfaction in their lives.

The type of person that is successful in achieving and maintaining success and happiness are those that do find the progress in the progress, that are process driven (not outcome driven), that set high standards for themselves but also understand the necessity of flexibility and that setbacks exist. The type of person that is truly successful long-term is persistent and tends to FIND reasons to smile.

The person who stops to think of the path to the outcome they desire and sets off on that path is the person that succeeds.

How are you behaving?  Which behaviors need to be continued and which need to be discontinued?

(excerpt from Personal Development Made Simple)

Critical Thinking is Solution Based Thinking.  
 Clear thinking = Good Outcomes.

Personal Development Made Simple

Getting out of a "rut"

A question posed recently from an attendee at a Personal and Professional Development seminar that I was honored to speak at was "How do I get out of a rut?"

The answer is a simple one: Do something/anything different than what you are doing now. Upon further discussion we came up with a few challenges that this person faced in attaining a level of satisfaction and happiness in life:

1. They were either without goals in some areas of life or had made such monumental goals that they were overwhelming.
2. They were falling into an "excuse machine" habit. This person could justify inaction for just about anything. 
3. The goals that were set were not attached to a reason or purpose.  They were very general and hence, not stimulating.
4. When this person took action they simply repeated what they had already done and expected a different result.
5. The very general goals (What) were not attached to an Action Plan (How). 

The solution presented was for the individual to get a clear sense of what they wanted and to create a list of their habits (Helping and Hurting) so they could clearly see what they were and were not doing.

Second was to create an environment for success by choosing an Action Plan that is stimulating, achievable and rewarding.  By deciding to alter 1-2 habits at a time, succeeding and then choosing more habits to change you gain momentum.

Remember:  Action precedes Motivation.

Your duty to gain the success you desire is to figure out if it is a skill that lacks, desire that is missing or knowledge/information to help get you there.

If you need guidance and support to achieve your goals then come visit us!

Successful People

Character Traits of Successful People

1. They are hard working.
There is no such thing as easy money. Success takes hard work and people who are willing to do it. Successful people realize the sacrifices that they must make in order to achieve the results they truly desire.

2. They are honest.
Those who are successful long-term are the honest ones. Successful people are honest with themselves regarding their strengths, needs, opportunities and true production.  Successful people realize that lying only delays results.

3. They persevere.
How many success stories will go untold because they never happened? And all because someone quit. Successful people outlast everybody else. Successful people prepare for the hurdles to come, accept that there will be hurdles, plan for the ones they know will arise and plan to overcome the unforseen hurdles.

4. They are friendly.
Have you noticed that most successful people are friendly and people oriented? This endears them to others and enables them to lead others to accomplish the task.

5. They are lifelong learners.
Successful people are people who stretch themselves and grow continually, learning from all areas of life, including from their mistakes. Successful people surround themselves with people that will support and challenge them, they will seek out advice and education from the people they admire.

6. They over-deliver.
The old statement of under-promise and over-deliver became famous because it made a lot of people successful, including the richest man in the world - Bill Gates

7. They are Positive.

Successful people do not allow themselves to be dragged down by small problems.  they realize that life is filled with challenges, that there is good, bad and ugly that occurs to everyone in differing amounts at different times. Successful people put negativity in perspective and rebound quickly from setbacks.

8. They seek solutions in the face of problems. 
Problems are opportunities to do the impossible, not just complain. Successful people are the ones who
find solutions. Successful people do not view the issue/obstacle as the end.  They are solution based and action oriented.

9. They seek assistance when it is needed.

The most successful people I know seek out the guidance of a coach to get a different perspective, ask the right questions and aid them in getting "un-stuck".

10. They BRING IT ALL. EVERYDAY.

Successful people do more and give more than the average person.  Successful people have set goals and have created a plan to achieve them.  Successful people wake up and TAKE ACTION.

Thanks to Thomas Plummer for teaching me this years ago.  




                                    

Attitude for success - Part II

Attitude for Success - Part II

Reward your behavior, not your weight.

Most of us are used to rewarding ourselves and being rewarded by others for losing pounds, rather than for altering our behaviors and actions.
If you successfully TRANSFORM YOUR THINKING by creating a system of rewards for the positive changes you make, rather than the numbers you see on the scale - you are more likely to succeed long-term.

Make your rewards based on your ability to stick to your goals, and on your changes in thought. When you are able to go through an entire day without self-defeating thoughts, you deserve a non-food reward.

It is important to remember that your thoughts guide you to action, whether they be positive or negative.  If you are self-depreciating (negative) in thought, your behaviors will be unproductive, and you will become discouraged easily.

If, on the other hand, you acknowledge small accomplishments:  more positive self-talk, increased activity, eating more nutritionally balanced meals, feeling healthier, feeling stronger, then your behaviors will reflect that.
You will be more encouraged to continue exercising, you will find it easier to resist food temptations, and you will gain self-esteem—not because you are losing weight, but because you are managing your life and your body in a way that is responsible and worthy of praise—and the weight loss that follows will be but a side effect of the behaviors in which you engage.

Reward your behaviors - not your weight.

Weight loss (long-term) is a side effect of better habits.