In a bid to lose weight or get back into shape many people try to simply reduce their amount of food intake. Although this can be beneficial, especially if you are someone who is prone to eating a lot, there are other factors to take into account.

The reason why I entitled this post as ‘Jump start your metabolism‘ is because by getting your metabolism working at an optimum rate, it is much easier to lose weight and more importantly keep it off. Most diet plans show you how to lose weight but not how to keep it off.

By boosting your metabolism, you are burning up the calories in the most natural way. And by eating more natural and water content foods you will be providing your digestive system with more immediately digestible foods.

Exercise and food control need to go hand in hand, but it doesn’t mean that you need to embark on a rigorous routine by any means. What’s needed is a simple but regular routine so that your body is able to start toning and developing muscle. This is not becoming muscley; that’s totally different. What it means is that by exercising you are simply getting into shape and ’shape’ means correct muscle tone and volume.

Muscles burn more calories than any other cells in the body and so the more in shape you are, the more you are likely to stay that way.

You can find out more information about jump starting metabolism here www.invigor.info/igniteyourmetabolism

Do you find that you keep beating your self up? You are not alone as millions of people have the same habit. The problem is that by beating yourself up it becomes an addictive process so that whenever you make even the smallest mistake or simply don’t fulfill your own expectations of your self then the self critical and hurtful side of the personality kicks in. If this habit is not curbed then you can simply make life hell for your self.

Although you want to know how to stop beating yourself up, the very first thing that is essential to understand is: WHY are you beating yourself up? The reason why you need this understanding is that there is little point in trying the various techniques which help you to stop beating yourself up if the underlying cause is not identified and sorted out.

The fundamental reason for being so self critical and even cynical are almost always due to the lack of self love and self esteem. It doesn’t matter what your portfolio may be like. For example you may be a company CEO, a top athlete or celebrity or etc. It is more important how you value your self internally rather than just what the world thinks of you. The simple reality is that you don’t live or communicate with any one person all the time but you do live with and communicate to your self all the time.

How to stop beating yourself up? It all starts with observing your own thoughts and emotions to learn what is going on inside your head. Recognize what thoughts you produce and what kind of emotions they lead to. Very often you may have one thought of frustration due to a lack of achievement; it may even be due to not being able to complete a very simple task on time. That one thought of frustration then leads to a deeper emotion of frustration which then leads to more thoughts of frustration…and so the pattern continues. At that moment when you have a negative thought stop your mind for a moment and immediately produce a positive thought and try to feel that thought so the thought changes from just a thought to a feeling. For example replace a thought of frustration with a thought of patience. What you are doing is simply giving yourself space to change your thought patterns. It works; try it

Here is another very effective method to stop your self from beating yourself up: Before you start your working day and also before you launch into each particular activity within the day, stop for a few seconds to qualify and quantify what you want to achieve and by when you want to achieve it. As many causes for self criticism are due to the self imposed pressure of time, the time you give to your self will enable you to plan out your day more effectively so that the priorities get listed first on your list. By stopping before you start each main activity to check why you are about to do such an activity and how you are going to get it done will provide clarity and purpose as well as a chance to make sure that you have everything that you will need. This also works

To conclude it is very simply giving your self some much needed space in your own mind so that you know what you are thinking and the likely results of that. Then you are adjusting or re-directing the thoughts to experience a much more positive state

The human mind is incredibly powerful. It was, after all, the human mind that was the origin of every invention and discovery. Everything that you see around you is the product of someone’s thought. That thought in the mind became, in time, the buildings, the aircraft, the ships, the computers, etc. The power of your mind is so amazing! If we harness that power look what can be achieved, but if we waste that power look what a mess we can get ourselves into.

As the mind is your thinking machine, like any machine it needs rest time. By this I don’t mean sleep but quiet contemplation. You need to know what is going on in your mind and not only on the surface but deeper within. By having time to your self you will be able to understand some of the driving forces in your mind. This in turn may well yield some interesting insights as to why you do what you do and in the way that you do it and also why you entertain certain desires and wishes. The quieter you can become in your mind, the more powerful and focused you will feel.

Before you start any activity, project or work, decide what you want to achieve and by when. The reason is that the power of your mind works most effectively when you give congruent, focused and clear information to it. If there is any vagueness or uncertainty in your thoughts or ideas the mind will not be in a position to cooperate completely with you. The power of your mind will be chocked, unable to work effectively.

Once you know what you want to achieve and how you are going to achieve it, that is, you have worked out a plan of action, the next step is to visualize the successful accomplishment of your plan. By ‘seeing’ in your minds eye the task already successfully completed, even though you have not even started on it, provides the mind with a powerful signal. On the basis of this signal your mind can work at its most powerful level and create the results similar or even identical to what you had visualized.

Because the mind works so fast it also has a tendency to disappear into unwanted areas. You can call this wasteful, negative and useless thinking. By allowing your mind to get lost into any of these three will result in a great loss of time, energy and enthusiasm. Just as if you were driving a very powerful and responsive sports car, you would have to be very alert and attentive about what you did with the controls or you might end up in the ditch, so too the mind needs to be shown the same attention or it will end up in the ditch of negative thinking.

Just as with the example of the sports car it will take a lot to get it out of the ditch so it will take considerable attention to get the mind back on track. By maintaining a simple discipline of checking from time to time to see what thoughts you are having and if they are supportive or detrimental to your purpose, you will, in time, be able to keep your mind focused and empowered.

By using these tips to harness the power of your mind it will not be long before you start to feel that your mind is cooperating with you and your thoughts are powerful and focused. Success is the natural result when you use the power of your mind in this way.

Spiritual development is a general term which is open to a great deal of interpretation. The main perceptions of spiritual development are of developing ones psychic abilities, developing ‘mind over matter’ strengths and of developing a greater sense of self awareness along with the relevant qualities and ethics.

All three require a patient and perceptive attitude and also a good teacher in whom you are willing to place a great deal of trust.

Under the term psychic abilities comes such things as mediumship, trance, clairvoyance, etc. With ‘mind over matter’, which can also be known as occult power comes all kinds of abilities. Some well known ones are telepathy (communicating by thought power), and telekinesis which includes the manipulation of material objects such as Uri Gellers spoon bending ability. Although people usually find that they are gifted in a certain area in these abilities, they still need to be trained in order to develop them further. They can be used in both a good way and also a bad way.

The other meaning of spiritual development is to develop a higher state of self awareness. This requires the person to become patient and study ones own thoughts and feelings in order to understand what positive and negative forces are working inside. This practice is called introversion. People who spend time on spiritual development tend to be more stable, wise and perceptive than others. They grow in consciousness and are able to see things in a more subtle or meaningful way. The qualities of love, honesty and a sense of personal freedom are also gained.

Most individuals will adopt the practice of meditation in order to avail themselves of these benefits. There is the recognition that one should not be impressed by the presentation of things or of people, but rather maintain a balance between inner peace and happiness and outer effectiveness and tolerance.

There are many ways that you can relax, but first you need to know that relaxation is needed for both the body and the mind. If only one is catered for, then there will be a resulting imbalance.

Over the last two decades there has been an exponential increase in the number and variety of methods, and potions, etc offering to relax you. Some are genuine and others are through and through scams, existing only to take your money.

First be aware that simply living an orderly and balanced lifestyle goes a long way to enjoying relaxation. A walk in the park, a bit of deep breathing and some stretching are very simple yet effective ways to relax. For a deeper and longer term effect you can attend a health farm or holiday in a countryside environment.

Although there are methods available to relax the mind and different methods to relax the body, because the two are so connected, the relaxation of the mind also relaxes the body and the relaxation of the body also relaxes the mind.

Specifically for the mind, you could try meditation, visualisation techniques and NLP to name only a few. The aim is to induce a calmer level of thinking which invariably means that you will need to entertain positive thoughts. By doing so your mind will feel relaxed. Your body’s muscles will also start to relax.

Specifically for the body, you could try any one of a variety of massage therapies. Herbal massage is known to be particularly effective. There is also reflexology, a hot bath, gentle exercises, yoga and so the list goes on.

The key is to find a way that works for you and then to stick to it so that you have a way of mentally and physically relaxing built into your daily routine.

Perhaps the last thing to mention is to try and avoid the things, places or whatever it is that really makes you stressed. Then it’s easier to remain relaxed.

It is no small thing to eliminate the fears that drain your power. However, as there are people who have managed to rid themselves of these fears, it proves that it is indeed possible. Fear is such a disabling emotion. Fear stops you from doing all the good and great things that you are capable of.

Although there are several types of fear some of the principle ones are fear of success, fear of failure, fear of people, fear of change and then there are phobias of so many kinds. In fact the list is a as long as there are people in this world. In most cases fear is a vague ungrounded emotion that disables you without you specifically knowing why. This is why a process of understanding your self and the fears you are holding onto is a great starting place

As there are so many fears that any one person can have it is probably a lot easier to work with some simple but effective solutions to eliminate the fears that drain your power. It may take time to remove all your fears but fortunately a great deal of fear can be dissolved or let go of very quickly. Where to begin?

Feel the fear and do it anyway. There was a book written on this subject. Essentially if you go ahead with your thought or idea despite any fear you may be experiencing then just by the simple fact of taking action a great deal of the strength of fear will be reduced and you will probably discover that the fears were ungrounded. Taking action dislodges even deep rooted fears so that you can start to experience that life is possible without having fear. Taking action gets a momentum going within the self that can take you to a state of awareness that you may never have thought existed. It really is that powerful.

What do you think is the opposite of fear? Its love, isn’t it? So, another excellent way to eliminate fear is to give time to love the self. Love what you do and love who you are. Take time to have good and happy thoughts about your self and the work that you do. It’s a bit like self appreciation. By doing this you are bringing the focus of your value system home. This means that you are able to love being as you are and who you are so that the dependency on external results or others opinions have less and less effect on you.

As a lot of the fears that drain your power are keeping you company due to the fact that there is uncertainty. The unknown is a very good home to fear. By planning things out whether it is a life plan, a business plan, a project plan or any other plan, you are removing some of the element of uncertainty. You won’t remove all of it but enough to get started and displace the fears that may be stopping you.

By taking consistent action and appreciating yourself and the efforts that you are making to eliminate the fears that drain your power, you will start to discover what life is like with little or even no fear. You will feel much lighter and be a lot more productive and proactive.

Although the word ’stress’ was originally used by metallurgists to describe the forces on metal structures and how well they coped, it is now universally accepted as a description of the human condition also known as anxiety, worry, tension, fear, etc.

Almost everyone has, does or will experience stress. In 1984, Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman came up with a simple definition for stress, as simply an “imbalance between demands and resources”. From this definition, anger management was born as a way of limiting and in turn controlling and reducing stress.

There are many stress management courses available and almost all of them rely on a system to empower the individual, that is make the person first understand that they have a choice about whether to be affected by stress or not and also to equip the person with methods to control the emotion.

There are two main ways to manage stress. One is to recognise the factors that make you feel stress and do what you can to reduce them. The other is to develop inner strength and resilience to those stress factors.

In the first, you will need to observe your life and lifestyle and take note of the situations, people, activities, time, etc when you experience the symptoms of stress. Once you have your list, you need to start actively controlling and reducing those influences. For example, for a lot of people, the pressure of time is a great cause of stress and one of the main reasons for that is because of poor or non existent time management. By simply planning your time and giving enough time for whatever tasks you need to accomplish, will drastically reduce that particular cause of stress. You can do the same with the other external factors.

The other aspect is self development. With this, you’ll need to decide which method to adopt. People go on Stress Management Courses, practice yoga and learn meditation, plus there are many other practical ways to develop inner resilience and strength. All of these enable you to recognise your feelings of stress and replace them with more harmonious and relaxed feelings.

Stress management is a long term project which to a great extent is on-going as you will learn to reduce the even slight effects of stress. The biggest step is to start to do something about it.

To respect your decisions is a simple, powerful yet very under used quality of a person. It is a very rare person who fully respects all his or her decisions. In fact the majority of people make decisions ‘on the fly’ without really considering whether those decisions are really needed, whether they are correct or even if they are possible to accomplish. Imagine for a moment how you would feel and how you would live if you were able to respect your decisions. How focused would your mind be if you consciously weighed up the merits of something before making a decision? You would be determined, uncluttered in the mind, more creative, more satisfied, happier and so the list goes on. All this can be experienced simply by giving a few seconds or minutes to each decision.

Although a whole list of methods or techniques could be written about how to respect your decisions and carrying them out, the simplest way to start is by deciding to decide and deciding to respect the decisions made! Yes, it’s as simple as that. Everyday almost the entire population of the world make several decisions. Some are insignificant like what you’ll have for breafast and others are life changing like: shall I change career?; shall I get married? Once you have made your decision it is very empowering to go full ahead to conclude it unless of course there are some very valid reasons that subsequently come to your attention that mean a reconsideration is necessary.

Before making a decision it is a good idea to notice your inner feelings about what you are considering. Do you feel at ease about what you are thinking to do? Is it in line with your principles and values of life? If you decide to do something that is not in accordance with your inner state then you will almost certainly find that it is very diffiicult to complete the task that you’ve decided to do. In fact you may not even start it! This procrastination then breeds self resentment and a general state of inertia. You keep looking at what you have decided to do but the reality is that you don’t really want to do it! By making sure that the decision aligns with your values first then there should be nothing to hold you back.

Respecting your decisions is a question of self respect. If you rarely do what you say then neither will other people have trust in you nor will you trust yourself. You can get to a rather strange state where you are making decisions about your work or family, etc but even while making those decisions you know you are not going to do it. You could call these half hearted decisions. These very quickly drain you of energy and make you inefficient and even lazy. At this point nearly everything seems like hard work.

To respect your decisions is a great quality to have. By giving importance to your time and energy you will be able to make effective and more accurate decisions. You will be known as someone who does what they say they will do. You will be highly respected. You will have a powerful and clear mind. You’ll have one of the greatest attributes needed for success.

Firstly an appology for being absent from this blog for some time. I’ll be adding some high quality content from here on in though, so please keep checking in here regularly and comment if you feel inspired to.

I participated in a positive thinking type ‘game’ recently. All we needed to do was to think ‘ what if’ I had a certain quality or strength that I feel is lacking in me at present. What would it feel like? So, I selected ‘to be more organised’ as I know that is one of my failings.

Next was to choose just one thing that we would definitely do before the end of the day that would help in developing that quality. I selected to plan my week ahead, which I actually did. It definitely helped.

The idea, you may observe, is connected with the law of attraction in that by creating a self image of how you want to be you will attract that state to your self.

You do, however, need to follow up any visualisation or imagination with focused action. Creating the state of mind is the basis upon which to perform actions. It is not the end in itself.

Try it for your self and see how you do.

Mark

In order to develop will power and self discipline you will need to appreciate the huge benefit of attaining these strengths so that you are willing to do what is required to get them.

Both these powers grow by resisting the temptations that you would normally give in to and instead taking charge of your mind and determining a positive response. If you have too much liking for unhealthy food or drink then choose to eat and drink healthy alternatives.

If you have a habit of sitting around or wasting time then choose to be proactive and get on with some of those things you have been putting off for some time

That’s me done for this Blogathon. I hope you enjoyed my posts. Go to the following url to get quality information on self development plus a great free book: Before the Secret

http://improvefast.net/before-the-secret

Now I’m off

Best wishes to you all