Why Meditate & How to Conquer Negaitve Self Talk!

Hi Motiv8ers,

Coach Ty here with another great tip from the Motiv8 Team.  Sit back for a few minutes and let me help you on your journey to becoming a fitter, healthier, and a happier Motiv8er.  =)

Ok, let's get started.

Motiv8ers, how is your Mov-ember challenge going? Did you get in your four workouts last week?  Do you have your four workouts planned into your schedule for this week?

For some of you, getting four workouts in a week is a really hard endeavor. Why is that?

Because your daily habits and routines don't support the habit of you exercising that much each week.

You might say, "I am planning four workouts into my schedule but I just can't seem to get myself to do it!" "I'm following your advice from the last blog post about planning out each day before it happens, but I still find myself being unproductive."  

If this is happening, then it is your mind and limiting beliefs that are holding you back.

Motiv8ers, today's post is all about CONQUERING THE NEGATIVE SELF TALK!

Attention and Focus

Crew, whatever you set your attention and focus to will improve.  If you focus your attention on finances, they will improve. If you focus your attention on your health, it will improve. Whatever you focus on consistently over time will start to improve. This theory also holds true to our thoughts.  Whatever thoughts you pay attention to will become your norm over time.

One problem so many of us have is focusing on thoughts about events in the future that haven't even happened yet. We create a whole story about what we think will happen and 85% of the time that story isn't fun and may cause a lot stress and anxiety. The event hasn't even happened yet and you are already a nervous wreck. This anxiety or stress may prevent you from showing up to a meeting, stop you from going to workout, or prevent you from starting that new healthy diet.

If your mind always focuses on the negative, you will start to produce more negativity!

And then your productivity begins to crash.

So how to you fight your negative self talk?  Because for many of us, self talk has its claws dug in deep...

MEDITATION!!!

Motiv8ers, meditation is a tool that you need to have in your life. The mind is a powerful tool that you have at your finger tips, but if you don't spend time each day taking care of it, it will be your down fall. 

What do I mean by this? Meditation isn't about calming the mind and finding your zen. It is more about learning how to manage your thoughts, recognizing the thoughts that help you, and how to let go of the thoughts that harm you. Have you ever heard of mindfulness? Being mindful of your thoughts allows you to take control of your thoughts, rather than letting your thoughts control you. Thoughts will always be in your mind, but meditation you can teach you how to stay focused on what is important and not allow negative thoughts to take control. Watch this one minute video to get a better perspective.

That is a different way of thinking about meditation, right? The goal is to observe your thoughts and let them pass you by. Don't follow the thoughts and get wrapped up in a story that you created that isn't even real yet. Just observe and then go back to the focusing on the task at hand. By doing this more, you will find yourself learning how to be happier, have better focus, treat others better, keep anger under control, and be a much more positive person. Pretty cool, right?

Let me give a quick example. Your focus is to make your morning workout. You plan it into your schedule and prep your clothes. Tomorrow morning comes and the alarm goes off. In that moment, once you wake up, you instantly think "This bed feels good," or "I can workout tomorrow, " or "Today is going to be hard, I need more rest," or "Ty is going to make me do burpees, I am staying home."  Before you know it, you have created so many excuses of why you shouldn't go. Now it's past time to leave for the workout, so you decide to stay home.  You got wrapped up in a story that you created and it wasn't even real yet. Later in the day, you're frustrated and angry at yourself for not going to your morning workout.

But a mindful mind would acknowledge those thoughts as just thoughts.  A mindful mind would let those thoughts go and  allow itself to come back to the main focus which was "to show up to their morning workout."

Sounds too easy to be true, right? Well, give it a try and find out for yourself.

All you need is just 5 to 10 minutes a day. Here is a tool to help you get started. I like to use a guided meditation program called HeadSpace. This app has a free version for any smartphone. The free version has ten 10-minute guided meditation sessions to help you get started.  Trust me, it has helped me and is awesome. I use it almost every day. You only need ten minutes and a comfortable place to sit. Check out their website here. Finally, check out this video from HeadSpace to learn how to get started with meditation.

Motiv8ers, now that you have some HeadSpace, let go of all the bullshit going on in your head that is holding you back. Stop saying negative things to yourself and start taking action on the tasks that you know will improve your life.

Take a few minutes each day to pay attention to yourself and see a whole new you.

Motiv8ers Stay EPIC and Don't Forget To Be AWESOME!!!

Coach Ty Out!

  

How to Become More Productive

Motiv8ers, are you finding yourself not being able to stay productive through out the day or week?  Are you finding yourself cheating on your clean eating challenge and wondering why cheated? Are you finding it hard to motiv8 yourself or make time for your Motiv8 Workouts? If so, then this Motiv8 tip will definitely help.

Have you ever heard of the phrase,"Decision Fatigue?"

Think of your brain as a muscle just like the muscle in your bicep. Each day that muscle (your brain) has only so much mental strength or energy that it can use through out the day. You can train it to be stronger but it can only do so much.

So if you have a limited amount of mental energy each day, you want to make sure you use it for what is important right?  Things like:

-Making decisions for your job

-Finishing job tasks

-Talking to clients

-Making the right decisions for your family

-Focusing on taking those small steps each day to push your dreams forward

All of these things need our attention but many of us find ourselves in a constant state of being unproductive and not having anytime to do what is important. Do you know why this is?

Because many of us waste our mental energy trying to make little decisions in the moment that we should have planned out ahead of time.  For example:

-What am I going to wear today

-What should I have for breakfast

-What should I have for lunch

-Should I workout today or not

-What task do I need to do next

-Do I go to grocery store now or after work

Motiv8ers, if you wait too long to decide the above tasks, you could end up making the wrong decision and making yourself frustrated in the process.

Which brings me to my main point.....The more decisions you have to make in your day, the less productive you will be. The more you plan out your day and the less decisions you have to make in the moment, the more productive you will be. FACT.

So crew, take out the small decisions in your day and be more productive. The night before you go to bed, take out a note pad and spend a few minutes mapping out your whole day. What are you going to eat, when are you going to workout, what clothes are your going to wear. Plan it all out.

Then in the moment you will have a less chance of making the wrong choice because the decision of what to do has already been made. You just look at your plan and execute.

This can be tied into your diet as well. If you wait for the moment to choose what you are going to eat most of the time you will pick the wrong choice that isn't healthy for you at all. But if you prep your meals the night before or plan on going somewhere healthy for lunch you will be more likely to be successful, allowing yourself to be happier and healthier.

For Example: Last Sunday I went to the grocery store and bought a ton of food for the 28 Day Clean Eating Challenge. That night I prepped my meals and planned out when I was going to cook later in the week. So far I am on my third day of not spending any extra money on food and I have been eating really well.  And this productivity is paying off.  My energy has been great, I've been saving money, and I can definitely tell I am healing faster from workouts, which is great too.  Here was my grocery pic.

 

Motiv8ers, prepping and planning out my meals for the week is new for me.  I am usually a day by day kind of person when it comes to food. I do eat healthy the majority of the time, but it's hard to skip the the foods that look super tasty when you go to Tacodeli or the pre-made food section in Whole Foods. So this challenge is definitely forming some new healthy habits for me that I know are going to stick, help me be a better athlete, be even healthier, and be more productive.  Hope you take on the challenge as well. =)

Crew, plan out your day before it happens so you can be productive, healthy, and the happiest person you can be.  Don't wait for the moment to make the small decisions in your life.

PLAN YOUR DAY BEFORE IT HAPPENS AND FIND YOURSELF BECOMING SUCCESSFUL!

Stay EPIC and Don't Forget to Be AWESOME!

Coach Ty Out!