transform your body transform your life

I think that what hiders us most, you and me both, is hidden in our own minds. The external circumstances don’t determine your standings in life. You know this. You can pretend otherwise, but in the depths of your heart you know better. You use the excuses to abstain from action.

The way to see this truth clearly is really simple. Just think of your biggest obstacle, your biggest fear or doubt.

Then think of someone who had the same obstacle or fear and overcame it. Or better yet, think about someone whose obstacle was twice as big as yours.

There are people on this planet who faced the same struggle, on an even larger scale than you, and still succeeded. That is an indisputable fact.

Thus, it’s not the external obstacles that hinder us. The reason of our malaise lies in you and me.That’s why you need to feel, to touch and taste, that you have the power to change your life.

Your body

In my personal opinion (which is supported by the experiences and recommendations of many successful people), the best starting point is your body.

Your body is definitely something you have control of. What is more, you recognize this ability to control your body. You are perfectly sure that, if you decide to raise your hand, you will do it. The connection between the decision and the result is instantaneous. It is hard to come up with something more controllable than your own body.

Have you the gorgeous body of a model or a sports star?

Yes? Then my idea is not applicable to you, find another way.

No? Then there you have an occasion to improve.

Start small

It doesn’t have to be a magnificent transformation. I’m talking here about the first step, baby step, in gathering your confidence.

Just. Start. Doing. Something.

And observe that you have the control of one entity in the universe—of your person.

Are you morbidly obese? Don’t start by planning to run the marathon next month; walk around the block instead.

Have you got a high cholesterol level? Don’t radically change your diet; pick the one kind of food you want to get rid of and replace it with raw veggies or fruits. For example, every time you want to eat a slice of pizza, eat an apple or carrot instead.

Be consistent

Nothing more is necessary to start.

Your action doesn’t have to be smart, scientifically proven or even effective in the grand picture, but it must be consistent.

I used to do pushups to lose weight. This is a ridiculous idea. I know, because I went through it.

You can lose weight by doing pushups. And you can hammer a nail using your hand. But it is much more effective to focus on your diet in the first case and use the hammer instead of your hand in the other.

I was doing pushups almost every morning for four years without any visible effect. In fact, I gained some weight.

Additional advantages

But I also gained different advantages to those I expected. The consistency of this habit taught me that I had control over my behavior. It also built my muscles. When I finally lost the excessive pounds, I found I had a nice musculature.

When I read The Slight Edge and was looking for the small, consistent activities in my life that made the difference, it was my keystone experience.

Because I was doing pushups for four years, I immediately understood Jeff Olson’s teachings. It was the first stop to embracing his philosophy and the starting point of my transformation.

Do you see how many blessings came from this single tiny discipline? Without it I would have said, that the book is a heap of New Age garbage. That it fuels wishful thinkers with false hopes for good fortune, which will never come.

It’s not just me

Darren Hardy, in his book, The Compound Effect, gave an example of an obese woman who wished to run a half-marathon. He trained her. She started with the 1 mile walk around the block. During the first 2 weeks she had to walk this distance 3 times. Then she was gradually increasing the intensity of her trainings.

After a total of seven weeks, she was jogging one mile.
Then she was gradually increasing the distance of her runs.
In nine months, she was running 13.5 miles regularly.

Start doing something. And never give up. Tune your methods, but never give up.

I went from doing a single consecutive series of common pushups in the early morning to doing a few series of legs-elevated, different types—narrow or wide grip or diamond—pushups. But I still do them.

Try

There is always something you can start with. And you know perfectly what this is. You just … procrastinate.

Or you think your past equals your future. You tried to quit smoking several times and failed. Once you persevered 6 months before you went back to your addiction. What’s the use of trying? You will fail anyway…

But what’s the use of not trying? You already are a loser, you smoke; you cannot make the situation any worse by another attempt to quit smoking.

Maybe you are the Thomas Edison of quitting smoking? You just have to try 999 times and fail to find this one method which will work for you.

Start doing something

Passiveness, indifference, is not the solution. There is a definition of insanity—doing the same thing and expecting a different output. As the late Jim Rohn said, you cannot change the destination of your life within the single day. But you can change the direction of your life within the single moment. The moment of decision.

I saw once Nick Vujicic, on YouTube, genially illustrating this point. There was a phone on the stage and he was supposed to reach it. Instead, he wandered around the stage for a couple of minutes.

At last, he set himself straight toward the phone and he came to it slowly, one pseudo-step at a time.

When you put yourself in the right direction there is nothing left to do, but to move closer and closer to your goal. The speed is irrelevant as long as you go steadily in the right direction.

Transform Your Body Transform Your Life

We are spiritual creatures put into a physical body. The bond between your spirit, your mind and your body exists and affects you all the time. Use it to your advantage. Take care of your body and you will change your life.

Do you know any “mind & body” transformation story? Please share it in comments.

Transform Your Body; Transform Your Life.

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