Wednesday, March 30, 2016

A Nutritional Call to Action!

Hi Motiv8ers,

Coach Ty here again to Motiv8 you to become the best version of you.  Today crew I want to call a 'Call to Action.'  Over the past few months the Motiv8 Coaches and I have been giving you a ton of nutrition advice and it is time to put that advice to use.

But first, Look over to the right of the blog page and scroll down to labels.  Then click on 'Nutrition Tips.'  Give yourself a quick refresher of all of the information we have given you so far.  There is information on how to get more energy through your diet, why free sugar is bad, how to be more disciplined in your diet, and why fiber is so important.  Spend just a couple of minutes refreshing yourself and then come back to this page to learn how we are taking the next step.

Motiv8ers many people say that working out is the hard part.  But that is so not true.  Well at least not for all of you.  Because all you have to do is show up to your Motiv8 SET and your coach and your fellow Motiv8ers will help you do the rest.  =)  But what most of us struggle with is this......


Your Diet is the Hard Part!!

So many of us struggle to eat the right foods throughout the day. Well Motiv8ers Motiv8 Health and Fitness is here to help.  In the month of April, Motiv8 wants to start it's very first food challenge. And we want to prove to you that our advice will help you become so strong, fit, and lean. Can you guess what we want you to focus on?

FIBER!!!!

Here is the challenge.  After reading the other blog posts about fiber you now know why it is so important and we want to Motiv8 you to count and track your fiber each day.  The recommended minimum amount of fiber for women is 25 grams and the recommended amount of fiber for men is 38 grams.  That is the minimum so it is definitely ok to go over that but try your hardest not to go below that.  In fact, scientists have not found an amount of fiber that's harmful.  Crew if you eat your recommend amount of fiber each day everything will fall in place.  You will get enough protein, enough fats, enough carbohydrates, and you will start to see improvements in your energy and in your body!

Starting April 1st we want to start the Fiber Tracking Challenge.  Here are the things to do.
  1. Log on to www.myfitnesspal.com. It is a food tracking website.  Set up an account.  It is free and start putting in your foods that you eat every day.  It is a bit of work for the first few days but once you have your foods on your page it goes by fast after that.  But do not use the guidelines on the page.  Ask your coach in your SETS for more details on how to use the website.
  2. Start finding your favorite fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains that you love to eat and start planning your meals.  Over the next few weeks we will post recipes and give you more detailed advice about how to pick the right foods so you can kill this challenge.
  3. At the end of each day, on your SET's Facebook page, post up how much fiber you got and where you got it from to help Motiv8 others to do the same.
  4. Take the challenge seriously because just this one simple step can improve your health in a huge way. 
Motiv8ers more info coming soon.  If you have any questions ask your Motiv8 Coach and can't wait to start seeing how fit all of you become after the first month of this challenge!
 
P.S. Last thing check out this awesome pic a Motiv8er sent me.  Definitely puts it in perspective on how fruits and vegetables can improve your health.


Motiv8ers that is all for today!  More coming about the challenge soon.

Stay EPIC and Don't Forget to Be AWESOME!

Coach Ty Out!

Monday, March 28, 2016

Whats Your Why?....And We Got Lost?!?!?

Hi Motiv8ers,

Coach Ty here again with just a quick blog post with some quick Motiv8ion and an Update on what our Motiv8ers did over the weekend.

First, Crew last week Joe and I really hit the topic hard of positive thinking and how what you think about has so much power in creating who you become and what actions you take throughout your day.  Check out the posts below if you haven't yet read them. But there was one part of the puzzle that we left out.

When creating tasks and setting goals that you want to accomplish each day it is so important that you connect to why that task is important to your life.

Shelley Pernot, who attends the 7:30am Ramsey SET, is a Life and Mindfulness Training Coach and her recent blog post describes the last piece of the puzzle so nicely.  When you get a quick minute definitely check out her post.  It is a quick read and I promise you will have a light bulb moment after you read it.  =)
http://www.truenorthdevelop.com/shelleys-monthly-mindfulness-moment-the-real-reason-you-wont-keep-your-new-years-resolution/

Next, Motiv8ers you guys once again had one awesome weekend!

Saturday's free Ramsey SET had a killer turn out and it so looks like you guys had one awesome workout.  Thank you Coach Vanessa for helping them start their Easter weekend off the right way.



Then a group of 8 of us went out to Johnson City to take on the Texas 2 Way Torture Test 2-person 20 Mile Trail Relay Race.  And oh man did it kick our butts.  It was a great race.  It was a 10 mile loop and one partner runs one way and the other runs the other way.  Once you finish your combined times wins the race.  It was a lot of fun. Below you have Hill, Kelsey, Sara, Kathy, Jess, Courtney, Coach Joe, and I.

But there was one frustrating thing that happened during the race.  A lot of us got lost and added on a few miles to the course and some of us, including me, got totally lost.  I didn't even run 3 miles of the actually course.  Once I realized what happened I didn't even know how to get back on track.  So I just ran the opposite direction until I hit 10 miles.  It was actually pretty funny.  But that was definitely a life lesson right there.  Some times life doesn't always stay on track.  You will always get to where you want to go but sometimes the path can be a little unexpected.  Find joy and the learning experiences in each of those moments.  We all laughed about it afterwards.  Here is Joe and I looking a little confused looking at the map.

Congrats guys.  We are crazy proud of you.

Crew that is all for today.  Remember you are stronger than you think you are and you have the power to make anything happen.  Just believe, set those goals, and don't let anything hold you back.

Crew Stay EPIC and Don't Forget To Be AWESOME!

Coach Ty Out!

p.s. We Have a Motiv8 Challenge coming soon that is going to get you crazy Healthy.  Be checking here for updates!




Friday, March 25, 2016

The Screenplay In Your Head


This week we’ve probably driven home the powerful effect of positive thinking to all of you.  In fact, you may be thinking to yourself “enough already, ok I’ll be positive”. 

But here’s the thing…it’s not enough to just SAY that you’re going to be positive.  Because honestly, A LOT of people simply fake it!

What several studies are starting to show is that the key to a happy, successful and healthy life isn’t about just thinking positively.  Those people who always seem to be so put-together, always seem to have things go right for them, never seem to be faced with adversity are actually practicing GRATITUDE in their daily lives.


I know what you’re thinking. “Well great but for me to have gratitude things have to go right for me!”


This is where those people I mention above just think differently!  It’s not that they are so perfect, that’s not true at all.  But what they have gratitude for in life is ALL of their experiences.  Here are 5 quick tests to check if you are actually experiencing real gratitude:

  1. When you don’t know something does it make you uneasy or do you see an opportunity to learn?
  2. When you are faced with difficult times do you get stressed about the consequences or see how you will grow once it’s over?
  3. When you see your limitations does it discourage you or do you idenfity ways you can improve?
  4. When you are faced with a challenge do you feel overwhelmed or embrace the test of your strength and character?
  5. When you make a mistake are you embarrassed and try to forget about it or are you teaching yourself a valuable lesson?


Gratitude looks like:

  • Understanding things don't happen TO YOU,  they just happen
  • Honoring the concept that we all inherently want peace not conflict
  • Trusting that perceptions about reality are based on individual experience
  • Knowing each person is human and makes mistakes
  • Accepting that you don’t know everything and that’s an opportunity to learn
  • Seeing that every experience (good or bad) helps you grow
  • Realizing that “good” also comes from “bad”



The fact is our experiences in daily life give us very little data with which to base our perception of reality.  So what we do is interpret the data that we receive and create a narrative or “fill-the-gaps”.  


We are all writing screenplays in our heads about a world we see thru just one lense!


So…what is your movie about?  Is it constantly filling the blanks with assumptions about others’ motivations, beliefs or intentions related to their actions or trying to answer why things happen to you?  Sounds like a decent cop-drama movie but do we really want to live life with that kind of anxiety?

Or does your movie fill those blanks with visions for what you can learn, how you can grow, what you are overcoming and how lucky you are for what you have?  That sounds like an inspiring Academy Award Winner to me!

THAT’S the kind of movie you’d want to write and STAR IN!


Have a great weekend and never forget that you can ALWAYS rewrite your story!


Coach Joe

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Do You Know How to Think?

Hi Motiv8ers,

Coach Ty here again and I have a very important topic to talk about.  Take this seriously because it is so powerful.

In my career as a coach there has only been one underlying factor in each of my clients that makes them successful or unsuccessful in hitting their goals and changing their life.

And that factor is how they THINK.

Crew think about this.  Have you ever thought about what you think about all day?

What do you tell yourself about yourself? do you think about your job? Do you think about your health? Do you think about your family? Or are you only thinking about video games, facebook, Youtube, your favorite TV show, or what you saw on the News?

Motiv8ers has anyone ever taught you how to think?

This has been a huge topic for me in my journey in improving myself over the past couple of weeks.

Your mind is a very powerful thing and I want you to take this to heart.

Thoughts Become Actions and Who You Are!  Fact.

So if that is true, think about this.  Look at the thoughts below. 
  • Ive always been out of shape and over weight
  • I've never been fit enough to run even a 5k
  • I would love to be successful but I just can't focus
  • It would be nice to have a high paying job but I am just not smart enough
  • My family isn't healthy and it is just to hard to eat right when I have them around. 
 If you are a person that always thinks negative thoughts, what do you think your actions are going to be?  Negative actions or just no actions at all!!!  The person you think you are in your head is the person you will produce over time!

So why not think of yourself as one awesome fit confident EPIC able to get so much done kind of person! =)

Ok before we move on Check out this short 7 minute video from one of my heroes.  Bob Proctor.

 After watching the video I bet you are wondering, "so how do I change my bad paradigms and get rid of my negative self talk?"  That is a great question and it is something that is so hard to do but with a little work you can do it.

Well crew now take this to heart:

Your Mind is Like a Puppy it Needs Constant Reinforcement!!

In order to change the person you are now you need to constantly remind yourself of the new person that you want to be.  Right now take out a piece of paper and write down the person you want to be.  Write down things like this.  I want to be confident, fit, lean, strong, full of life, a person that get things done, a person that is fun, or a person that other people love.  Be a person that you love!

Write down these thoughts on a sheet of paper, then on your phone, then on your mirror in your restroom, then on your computer at work, put it up everywhere you can think of so you can constantly be reminded of that new person you are trying to become. Then over weeks and months you will change your life.  I promise.

You can do this with actions too.  Lets take the action of 'Drinking a Green smoothie every morning.' For the folks that don't do this you are probably saying right now, "oh that is a great idea." But since you have never made a green smoothie at home before you probably won't do it.  Or, you will do it one day but then three days later you will forget to make it or just not want to.  

So take action on the action.  Start reminding yourself that you want to make a green smoothie every day.  SET a reminder on your phone, put a sticky note on your refrigerator, Put a note over your light switch in your room, or find a friend to be your accountability buddy.  Doing this might not produce a result right away but through constant reinforcement you will make the change over time and then it will become a habit!  habits make who you are.

So crew today's take a ways are these:
  • Only think about the things you want, want to be, and want to get done
  • Write down what you want, who you want to be, and what you want to take action on.
  • Remind yourself daily of of the person you want to be, what you want to accomplish, and what you want to do each day.
Crew if you do this you will make that change in your life.

Motiv8ers start thinking about you the right way.  And remember your mind is more powerful than you think.

Crew Stay EPIC and Don't Forget to Be AWESOME!  

Coach Ty Out!




 


Monday, March 21, 2016

You Thought That Was EPIC?


Hi Motiv8ers,

Coach Ty here again and are you ready for this EPICNESS!?!?!?!?


TIME TO GET INSPIRED!

Crew, our Motiv8ers had one amazing weekend and we had so much fun.  Check this out!!!!

First, if you haven't read last Friday's Blog Post, you know the one right under this post, then stop reading and go check it out for William's story.  William is one CRAZY AMAZING EPIC person and what he did this past Saturday is something I will never forget and is just simple amazing.  William is legally blind and I was his sighted guide for the Prickly Pear 50k Trail race.  A race that was covered in mud, roots, and some steep muddy hills.  And we had a blast.  We finished in 5:52:08 and it was a miracle that we didn't get hurt.  If he doesn't write a race report, I definitely will because that experience was so exciting.  Check out the pic below and read last Friday's Blog post.


Next, the Saturday 9am Dick Nichols workout I heard was so much fun.  Those Motiv8ers had a blast and I know they Motiv8ed the park to be crazy EPIC! 


Then, Sunday came and the ridiculousness began!  We had a small crew of Motiv8ers who went out to tackle the Lost Pines Trail Marathon and 10k.  Below you will see Coach Vanessa, Chris Flores, Nick Voll, Angelo Colon, and Kelsey Murdock.  The first four all ran the Marathon and Kelsey and Courtney Cooper, who I didn't get a pic of, ran the 10k.  These guys had a blast and they all made it to the end in one piece.  The course was crazy hilly and it was two loops of 13.1.  Huge shout out to Angelo, bottom left, for running an even split between the two loops.  That is really hard to do.  We are so proud of you guys.  Enjoy the victory and the soreness and can't wait to see what you guys do next.

Oh and by the way Coach Vanessa got 3rd female over all.  BAM!!! Can you say Pure EPICNESS. Congrats Vanessa!


But, wait the ridiculousness isn't over.  Coach Joe also ran the Marathon but his goal was to win!  Winning this race though wouldn't be easy because the top 5 guys in this race were some really fast runners.  If he was going to win this race, he was going to have to show some real GRIT!  They started and Joe pushed ahead right away.  He said, "If I was going to win that race I had to get up front quick."  And he did.  He came in at the half way at a smoking 1:30, 10 minutes ahead of second.  Then he kept it solid coming in to the finish at 3:06.  3:06!?!?!?!? That is insanely fast and he pulled off the win and PR'd from his last time of 3:25.  Second place came in at 3:20.  Coach Joe smoked that course and showed us that if you train hard, MOTIV8 STYLE, you can make some magic happen and do some EPIC SHIT!  =)


Congrats Joe we are crazy proud of you man!!

Also, Here in Austin yesterday morning, the Motiv8 Running Crew also met.  We did about 3 miles of running through the neighborhoods of Ramsey Park and then had a killer Motiv8 Sprint game.  It was called Motiv8 Mario Kart.  It was so much fun and I promise we will play it again.  And I'll tell the coaches about it to so you can play it in your SETs!


Lastly, Motiv8 had one awesome get together to finish off the weekend, congratulate our Epic Motiv8ers, and have a great time playing games at The Goodnight.  We had free bowling, Karaoke, pool, and ping pong.  Below are a few of the pics.  We had about 40 Motiv8ers come out in all and it was the perfect way to finish off the weekend.  Thank you, Crew, for coming out and having a great time.  We will have another one soon.


Crew, I have learned one very important thing out of my Journey with creating Motiv8 and trying my hardest to help others--The journey is so much better and easier when you have the support from others, from family, and people who believe in you and are there to lift you up at your time of need.

Motiv8ers, do you ever wonder why I use the word crew so much?  This is what that word means.

A group of people that support and push each other to do great things and they will give every thing they have to make their group proud.  A CREW.

Motiv8ers, you are my CREW and together we will do great things and this past weekend shows that!!  =)   All of you are amazing!!!

Crew Stay EPIC and Don't Forget to Be AWESOME!

Coach Ty Out!






Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Our Addiction to Sugar

Sugar is everywhere! 

An interesting thing happened when fat became a taboo macronutrient back in the 70s.  Large processed food companies (which were fairly new at the time) were terrified at the thought that people may stop buying their products.  By removing fat, their products tasted terrible!  However, soon they found out that replacing the fat with sugar brought the flavor back to the foods (bonus, it's addictive).  

The only problem?  You need a LOT more sugar than fat to make food taste good.  As a result, we add nearly 22 teaspoons a day of sugar to our diet or 152 lbs a year.  Some of that is intentional (like in your coffee) but some of it is hiding!

Do you know the difference between Free Sugar and Natural Sugar? 

Since every carbohydrate can be broken down into glucose, sugar is a natural component of any diet. Healthy or unhealthy.  Sugar is found in every food to some degree but, the sugars that are best for us are the ones that are found naturally in the food we eat.  We can call this Natural Sugar.

According to the World Health Organization, "Free Sugar" is:

All monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by the manufacturer, cook, or consumer, plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, and fruit juices (because these sugars are extracted from the whole foods).

It is used to distinguish between the sugars that are naturally present in fully unrefined carbohydrates such as brown rice, wholewheat pasta, fruit, etc. and those sugars (or carbohydrates) that have been, to some extent, refined (normally by humans but sometimes by animals, such as the free sugars present in honey). They are referred to as "sugars" since they cover multiple chemical forms, including sucroseglucosefructosedextrose, etc.

This type of sugar is toxic when added to food...it impairs metabolic processes, causes you to store body fat and can create hormone imbalances that can even lead to Diabetes.  Your body DOESN'T KNOW how to handle this extra sugar!  Because this sugar hits your blood stream immediately creating a shock to your brain, the result is an exaggerated response of dopamine (your pleasure hormone) and insulin (to counteract the rush of blood sugar in your body).  Over time, this roller coaster of overload and deprivation can lead to adaptations in your body that could lead to heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes, depression and many other potential effects.


Americans overall have an ADDICTION to sugar!

How addictive is sugar?  Well, you may be surprised to know that sugar can have the EXACT same effect on your body as cocaine!  That's intense addiction!  And it's ok if you struggle with getting rid of it.  Many of us have an addiction we can't kick but, it takes constant and consistent behavior modification and redirection to break the cycle that gets you there.

In fact, one recent study concluded that sugar is 4 TIMES AS ADDICTIVE as cocaine!  If you have a sugar addiction, please don't make light of it.  Find help to change your eating habits and support from others to counteract your cravings!  Don't wait for one of those health issues to force you to make changes, do it now!

Your ultimate goal for added sugar consumption should be no more than 10 teaspoons per day.

If you have intense sugar cravings talk to your coach about strategies to control them.  We are here to help and you don't have to try to deal with this issue on your own.  Look at it like any other addiction, seeking support is VITAL to your management of any addiction!

Stay fit!

Coach Joe

Monday, March 14, 2016

How to Make Dreams Happen & Motiv8ers Are AWESOME!

Hi Motiv8ers,

Coach Ty Here.  I want to start this blog post off talking about a book.  For the past few weeks I have been trying to figure out how to have more time so I can get more done without sacrificing anything. At the moment, I have two major goals.  First is to improve, grow, and make Motiv8 the best business it can be and help all of my clients get in the best shape of their life.  My second goal is to make myself the fittest I can possibly be.  I have the Austin Fittest Contest coming up, and I have another 100 mile trail race in September and I have to put in a ton of training hours so I can compete at the level I want to compete at.  I don't want to just attend these events--I want to try and go for the win.

Here's the struggle: How do you find a healthy balance of pushing both goals forward at the same time without one suffering?  I find that when I put my focus in one area, the other suffers a little.  Then, through out my week I am constantly juggling both.  Finding that healthy balance is hard.

Then, I found this book.  I bought the Audio book and listened to it in my car.
This guy hired a Navy Seal to come live with him for a month and help him get in the best shape of his life.  Jesse, the main character and writer, didn't sacrifice anything.  He still spent time with his family, still worked long work hours, and they even went on Vacation but the Navy Seal found the holes in his day where Jesse could get in the workouts, and get in the shape he was looking for.   The Seal taught him Discipline and found the areas in his life were he was wasting time and helped him manage his day more efficiently.  Crew this book was crazy inspiring to me.  So check it out.  I read it last week and I am definitely working on finding more time in my daily routine and try not to waste any time.  I'll write a Blog Post soon about how I am managing my day more efficiently after reading this book.

After reading this book I truly believe anything is possible, and after watching all of you Motiv8ers this past weekend, I am so fired up right now to make dreams come true.  Crew, this past weekend was awesome and talk about conquering dreams.  Lets get into talking about this past weekend with SUZANNE GIEGER!

This Motiv8er couldn't run the 3M Half Marathon a few weeks back but that didn't stop her.  Since she couldn't do the run, we planned out a date that would work for the both of us and Suzanne and I went out Saturday morning after the 9am Ramsey SET and conquered her goal.  Check out the pics. We ran down Exposition, around town Lake, then back up Lamar to conquer 13.1 miles.  That is crazy AWESOME!  Sara Biggs was awesome too and paced us for the first 5 miles.
Crew, when you see her give her a huge High Five!!

Next the Saturday Workout at Ramsey was just as awesome as usual.  Check out the pics!

Then, Sunday The Motiv8 Running Crew killed a good 4 miles on the trails of Walnut Creek.  Check out the awesome runners below.  The pic was from after the run so we missed a lot of runners but thank you crew for coming out and having a great time.  That is Coach Vanessa at the Bottom. =)

Motiv8ers, when you set your mind to something truly believe you can accomplish it.  Don't let anything or anyone put doubt in your abilities.  All of you are so much stronger than you think you are and you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.

Crew we have a bunch of awesome things happening, and we thank you for believing in us and helping us make Austin one Fit City. Keep checking the Blog, your emails, and Facebook for upcoming events.  And if you have any questions don't hesitate to bug us.

Crew Stay EPIC and Don't Forget to Be AWESOME!!!

Coach Ty out!!!!



Monday, March 7, 2016

Weekend Recap!

Hey Motiv8ers,

Coach Joe here with some updates of a pretty crazy weekend!  I don't think we are ever going to have a weekend where our Motiv8 crew isn't doing something EPIC.  Just check out all the amazing things our Motiv8ers below accomplished and did with their amazing community.

First lets start with the crew that went out to conquer the Tejas Trails Pandora's Box of Rox trail race.  In this race there was a half marathon, full marathon, and a double marathon on some of the hilliest and rockiest terrain in Texas.  Talk about every step having ankle-rolling rocks and roots and rolling hills that kept you from being able to get any type of pace going.  The name definitely fits!!!

But these four Motiv8ers went after it.  In the picture below you have David Valenti who conquered the Half Marathon. Sara Biggs who killed the Full Marathon while battling some major foot cramps, but didn't let it stop her.  Leslie Elliot who killed the Full Marathon and ran a 3rd place women's finish.  Leslie you are crazy EPIC.  Then Coach Ty who also ran the Full Marathon and pulled off a 3rd place finish overall.  All that speed and strength training is definitely paying off.  The Motiv8 Running Team just absolutely threw down on this race and it's awesome to see all of our training showing in the things we do.

We are so proud of these guys and when you see them give them a huge high five.



Then we had our very own Jeremy Gosnell run the Twisted X 5k in Dripping Springs with his girlfriend, Sandy and her brothers.  They had a great time crushing the course and doing it all for a great cause to help Thundering Paws Animal Sanctuary.  Jeremy was there in classic Motiv8 fashion pushing people to their best thru the finish!





Speaking of throwing down, oh my goodness the Saturday 9am SET with Coach Vanessa was ridiculous!  The energy was awesome and the workout was even more awesome!  Vanessa had us guessing the entire time with a workout that was as varied as it was tough.  Thank you to everyone who came out.  Updates in tomorrow's email will have info about our upcoming Saturday SET.





Next Crew don't forget about Buddy Week.  We are only 15 days in on our 30 day challenge.  So many of you have been bringing friends out and we thank you.  Keep spreading the word and help us make Austin one Motiv8ed City!!





Of course we can't forget about the Motiv8 Running Crew's workout at the Hill of Life this Sunday on the Barton Springs Greenbelt.  We had a blast and put in a bunch of miles.  Some did 4 miles, some did hill repeats, and one crew did 12 miles.  So proud of these guys.  More running group runs coming this Sunday and and updates about Motiv8's Running Program coming this Wednesday.  

Trust me you are going to love this!







Friday, March 4, 2016

How To Retrain Your Brain!


Hey Motiv8ers!

Coach Joe here with a great tip for RETRAINING YOUR BRAIN!

Let's start with a question:

Why would you want to go back to bad behavior when good behavior is so easy?

As many of you know, Courtney and I have a foster dog named Gary who has had some behavioral issues and this quote from his trainer today really clicked in my brain!

This question lies at the root of all behavior change, not just in dogs but PEOPLE too!  We are capable of training our brains (just like our bodies) to rewire itself to become more (or less) positive.  Those thoughts build on each other in much the same way your BODY adapts to make exercise easier!

Positive thoughts create additional positive thoughts because the brain wants to become more efficient at the mental activity it is most often involved in.  This is just like creating “muscle memory” during your workouts that make you a better runner, better at pushups, or gives you better endurance.  So just like moving your body in an exercise with poor form can result in improper adaptations that lead to consequences of muscle imbalance or improper movement, your mind can also be led down the wrong path of imbalance and improper thinking!

Check out these cool articles that explain this phenomenon more!





***Then take on this challenge for your weekend*** 


Practice fighting the immediate reactions that enter your mind to ANY stimuli you come across this weekend in ANYTHING you do.  Make a list (in your mind or on paper) of the positive effects of those experiences.  If it seems like you can’t FIND a positive effect use this trick; start by saying to yourself “But at least…” then fill in the blank and put that on your list.

Review your list at the end of the weekend and see how the thoughts build up and what you may not have thought of previously AT ALL becomes a positive thought for you!  It works!