Want a shortcut to getting into the best shape of your life? Then don’t start with exercise or diet!

Instead, prepare a path that will accelerate all you do nutritionally and physically. With all major transformations in our lives, the most important first step is mental… creating a new thought, developing it into a habit of thought, and then turning it into a belief. The world around you cannot resist what you truly believe on the inside. Your behaviors will ultimately have to align with your beliefs.

Here’s what I recommend as the first step: create an affirmation or “I am…” statement. How about “It’s a good thing I am in the best shape of my life!” Now use that statement whenever you think about anything nutritionally or physically. When you are thinking about heading out to exercise and you are tired from a long day, say to yourself “It’s a good thing I am in the best shape of my life!” You might laugh a bit at first, but over time it will become more and more believable, and ultimately you will completely transform your thinking and actually “become” your affirmation.

When you are thinking of a dinner choice, say to yourself, “It’s a good thing I am in the best shape of my life!” See what choice you are then led to. Say it in the morning and see what choice you are led to for breakfast. Say it when you are waiting for an elevator and see if it leads you to the stairs.

It will help you to feel better, walk lighter, stand taller, breathe deeper, eat better, and exercise more and more and more. Try it… I dare you! Like I mentioned, it feels and sounds a little weird at first, but stick with it. It really works. And it’s fun.

In all major transformations, 95% of the work is done below the surface, mentally and emotionally. You can actually shortcut any process by attending to the mental and emotional components first. You will then find what feels like a quantum leap or an overnight success when your outside world realigns with your inside world… your thoughts and beliefs.

You know what else? It’s more fun and lots easier to do it this way. Instead of forcing a behavior, and feel discomfort and guilt, you get to simply play with your thinking. You can actually “tease” it into transforming. And then boom! Huge shifts in behavior can burst forth from you. The feeling is truly magical. YOU can do this!

Okay, I gotta go exercise with my 18 year-old son now… good thing I am in the best shape of my life!

Enjoy,
Rick

Author's Bio: 

Dr. Rick Schaefer has 19 years experience in traditional medicine working with patients with pain, 12 years in consulting, and 9 years studying and teaching the Law of Attraction. He is past president of the Anesthesia Society, and has appeared in the Wall Street Journal and on National Public Radio. He is the author of Extreme Though Makeover: 37 Days to Maximum Life! and now devotes all of his time to help people expand their thinking and thus find increased joy and happiness in their lives. "Words alone do not teach: it is only through life experience that one truly learns."