Keeping Your Word ... to YOURSELF!

Keeping Your Word to Yourself
This Abundant Healthy Living Principle was a real 'eye opener' for me. While I pride myself in keeping my word to others, I was constantly letting my self off the hook for commitments that I made to myself.

When you keep your word or as coach extraordinaire, Mark Fournier, likes to say when you be your word you begin to trust yourself more, rely on yourself more and create different results in your life.

Best Selling Author, Robert Kiyosaki says we each have a winner and a loser inside of us. Who are you going to let run your life? If your loser wakes up in the morning and says you can skip exercise today, you roll over and go back to sleep and let yourself off the hook. What happens is that your self esteem goes down a notch. It's nothing huge but a continual pattern of these actions and you won't have any faith in your ability to follow through.

Start keeping track of your promises, commitments, intentions. when making them, catch yourself and make sure that are really attainable and then do your best to follow through.

Acknowledge and celebrate when you keep your word to yourself. Strengthen the muscle and soon you will notice that you have a new attitude about yourself.



QUESTIONS FOR THE BLOG
What area of your life do you allow yourself the most do-overs?
What do you think will change if you begin to keep your word to YOU?

ABUNDANT HEALTHY LIVING ACTIONS
Take one day this week and honor yourself by keeping your word to all of your intentions.

Sometimes the Message Catches You Off Guard

I woke up in my hotel room yesterday morning at the crack of dawn and clicked on the TV remote.  I figured I would wake up for a few minutes with a Sunday morning infomercial.  I moved through the channels and settled not on an infomercial, but on a church service led by Joel Osteen.  I like Joel and decided to listen for a bit.

Joel's message was on the power of the positive mind and on forgiveness and how you needed to clear your head from messages of self-doubt and anger in order for God to work in your life (feel free to insert the name of your own divine power, here.  Mine just happens to be God). I continued to listen because I could feel it was a message meant for me. 

My topic for the blog is Bright Train/Dark Train.  And Joel's message was timely.  I realized that while I have made great strides toward getting myself and my goals back in alignment, I was also firmly on the dark train about some things.  I need to work on forgiveness.  Unless I do, my bright train will not be as bright as it can be.

Country artist Josh Turner sings - "...The Devil is driving that long black train."  

So, sometimes, the message about getting on the bright train comes from the strangest places - your hotel room, a stranger, a dream, a song lyric. Are you listening?  

So, to Joel, Josh, and God - I hear you.

Love, Tee

Questions:

Are you firmly in your seat on the bright train?  Is your view a little cloudy?
Do you feel that by having a seat on the dark train - even for one stop - is holding you back from your goals and dreams?

Activities:

Look through your baggage before getting on your bright train.  Decide what bags you can leave at the station.
Spend a day aware of each situation and your reaction to it.  What direction does your mind go to?  If it's negative, catch yourself and switch the moment to a positive.  What happened? 

What You Think You Are...You Are

Our thoughts are powerful.   Everything exists twice.  Everything.   First as thought, and then as form.

So how is this good news for those of us on an Abundant Healthy Living journey?

When we focus out thoughts to be supportive of the healthy fit person we know we are, then our actions will begin to support thoughts and our life will show up in healthier happier ways.

A great book to use that will help you on this journey is "Law of Attraction" by Michael J. Losier.   There are many exercises in this book and I highly recommend you take the time to do them.    You'll find this helps you create some powerful shifts in your thinking and that's only the beginning.

Here's one tip from the book.  When creating affirmations it might be a stretch for you to say "I am a healthy fit person now!"   Your mind may resist this and fight against this if you have a lot of challenges.   So, let's change these words to say "I am in the process of becoming healthier and more fit each and every day."   YES!   We are in constant change.   And if you have a commitment to your health and wellness, then you ARE in the process of becoming healthier and more fit.

Life IS a self fulfilling prophecy.   You decide what you think about YOU!  

QUESTIONS FOR THE BLOG
- Were you ever told things as a child that made you think 'small', made you hesistate, to not try new things?  Do those early messages still affect you today?   How can you change these thoughts?
- Share at least one empowering statement you either have been using or just created.

ABUNDANT HEALTHY LIVING ACTIONS
- Start with the phrase:  "I am in the process of..."    Write out 3 or 4 healthy fit statements and begin and end your day reading these.
- Sometimes it's easier to listen to the words someone else says than to listen to your own words.   Take time to really listen when in conversation with some else.   Do you hear limiting thoughts expressed?   Do you recognize those same thoughts in yourself?   Find a way to open the converstion to rephrasing these thoughts to more empowering statements.   After all, friends exist to build each other up!

A TRADE SECRET ... SLEEP!

I love the really simple TRADE SECRETS that the Abundant Healthy Living partners have found.
Did you know that getting enough sleep can actually help you reach your desired weight?!
Turns out that we need a minimum of 7.5 hours to produce the right hormone that helps us lose weight. See the complete article by following the link and Happy Sleeping!

www.glamour.com/magazine/2009/02/lose-weight-while-you-sleep

QUESTIONS FOR THE BLOG:
Do you currently get enough sleep? How many hours is right for you?
What is the one thing you could change to get better sleep?
Are you willing to make adjustments here to reach your wellness goal?

ABUNDANT HEALTHY LIVING ACTIONS:
Determine if you need to add activities to help you transition to sleep.
Make a list of actions that might help you. Here are some suggestions ... prayer, meditation, journaling, stretching, a warm bath, a light snack, reading a chapter in a book, etc.
Will you commit to doing them for one week?

In any language

och aye (Scotch) ola kala (Greek)
oke or okeh (Choctaw Indian)
aux Cayes (French)
au quai (also French)
Okay (English)

In any language, Okay is our post topic today. 

When I think about Okay I think about acceptance.  And acceptance is an important component of forward momentum and change.  See, in order for you to have the clear focus to move ahead, you have to be okay with where you are.  If you are not okay, then that creates a significant road block to all that you want for yourself because you are stuck.

How do you get to Okay?  One way is to do an exercise called Mirror Work.  Every morning and every night when you are going through your self-care routine - add a minute or two to look yourself in the eye and say - out loud - I'm okay and because I am okay, I am free to pursue and achieve my goals.  Some people even add "I love myself" and that makes it more powerful.  You can find more information on Mirror Work and other techniques to bring you to Okay in the book The Art of Extreme Self-Care: Transform Your Life One Month at a Time by Cheryl Richardson . 

To be honest, this past year, I have not been okay.  After my husband lost his job last fall I became stuck in a web of - I'm not okay and EVERYTHING is not okay.  I couldn't break out of my slump and even the AHL techniques that I KNOW WORK didn't seem to help.  I couldn't get off of the Dark Train.  My weight went up, my spirits went down and everything in my life seemed to stall. 

And then summer came and I went in for ankle surgery and was home most of the summer.  Slowly, the stillness of not being able to walk around -first not at all and then not very much - settled into my brain. What was I doing?  I started to want to break out of the fog, to see myself and my dreams again.  I needed to get back to Okay.  So I took the steps to get there and in fact, I am still taking steps.  I started with getting back on the Bright Train (what is Okay about the situation?  What is GOOD about the situation?).  Then I tackled my weight - all of the AHL principles of clean, healthy, focused eating.  And so on.  I am still tackling things - with the big one being my belief - looking at myself in the mirror and reminding myself that everyday I am okay and that my dreams are out there for me.  And trust me, I am okay with that.

With love and okayness,
Tee

Questions
- What are the small or large things you can do to help you start and maintain each day at "Okay"? 

Activities
- Buy or borrow Cheryl Richardson's book The Art of Self Care.  Plan to do each monthly exercise.
- Remind yourself everyday that you are okay and that this day is going to be special.
- Share the love.  Tell someone else something nice about them.  Help them get to okay.

Energize!

How do you keep your body charged and ready?  How do you keep your mind alert and open to life's possibilities?   What do you feed your mind and body to improve your ability to live a happy, healthy and vibrant life?

Are your foods and drinks full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, or are they empty calories?

How about what you read?  What you listen to?  Who you talk to?   Do these things raise your energy level or deplete it?   Do they open your mind to possibilities and opportunities?   Do they make you curious around other people or suspicious?

What we feed our body and mind matters. Is it Poison or is it Fuel?  Are you giving yourself the high test or the cheap stuff?  That's really your choice.   Is there an athlete that you really admire?   What do you think they would say if they saw what you ate?  What do you think they eat to stay healthy?

This is a key principle to integrate into your life to enhance your ability to live an Abundant Healthy Life.  You are being asked to take great care of your self and to learn to do what really serves YOU! These are not always easy changes for us to make but we will keep coming back to this.   Raising your awareness is always the first step.  

Remember, last week's post - you have to think healthy and fit thoughts first.    Healthy and fit thoughts are FUEL for your mind which help you make better decisions about providing fuel for your body. 

QUESTIONS FOR THE BLOG ...

• How do you start your day?   Do you feed your body fuel?  Do you feed your mind fuel?  Does it make a difference to your attitude for the rest of the day?
• What do you REALLY think about the concept of everything being either Fuel or Poison - no middle ground?

ABUNDANT HEALTHY LIVING ACTION ...

• For one day, just be aware of whether your feeding your body and mind Poison or Fuel. No judgements. Just awareness. Just taking the time to be aware can create new possibilities.
• Challenge yourself to go for one day eating and drinking only FUEL for your body. How does it feel?  Is there resistance?

Healthy Fit Thinking PRECEDES Being Healthy and Fit!

It is that time of year when summer vacations are pleasant memories, the kids go back to school and we pause to take stock. At least for me, Fall has always been a time of new beginnings. Therefore it's a perfect time to circle back to the beginning of the Abundant Healthy Living Program to take a look at our founding principle, Healthy Fit THINKING precedes BEING Healthy and Fit.

I really love this simple sentence because it reminds us that being healthy and fit is really more about our belief and focus than anything else. If you are not thinking the right thoughts you will never reach your optimal goal. If through sheer willpower you do reach the goal you probably won't be able to maintain the results.

We must develop the mindset of a healthy fit person before we become a healthy fit person. This is why so much of our program is about creating new beliefs about who we are and what we want. We must change our thinking before we create the results we want.

Those of us in Arbonne have recently heard ... 'Your brain believes what it hears the most'. It is true here too and the AHL program keeps the right thoughts in front of you week after week so congratulations for being here.

I used to think ...

• I will exercise when I have more energy. No, actually the exercise will give you more energy.
• I will journal when I wake up feeling good. No, actually writing in your journal will help you feel good.
• I will dress better when I drop some pounds. No, actually dressing better now will make you feel good about yourself and help you stay focused on dropping pounds.
• I will finally be fit when ... fill in the blank. No, actually you begin the journey by seeing yourself as fit and taking the actions of a fit person now.
  

In each case you must have the healthy thought/belief and take the healthy action before it becomes your reality or your new default response. Don't you just love this?!

QUESTIONS FOR THE BLOG ...

• What is your strongest thought or belief that keeps you on the path to wellness?
• What is your strongest thought or belief that keeps you from achieving your desired goal?
• Think about your own thoughts. What is one that you could change for September?
  
• What actions will you take to achieve it?

ABUNDANT HEALTHY ACTION ...

• Check out our AHL Mindset List under the Healthy and Fit Mindset Tab

• Print it, read it and put it to work for you.Place it where you will see it often, on your mirror, in your car, in your planner, wallet or purse, where ever you will see it often.