Last week on a special edition of CNN’s Larry King Live,Mr. King interviewed a panel of “mind experts” about how thethoughts you think literally turn into the events youexperience, the material things you possess… AND eventhe health of your body.
For years, “positive thinking” and goal-setting wereoften lumped by critics into a category of “new age”or “pollyana” fluff.
Panel experts Bob Proctor, John Assaraf and others explainedthat recent breakthroughs in neuroscience and brain researchnow reveal why goal setting, the “law of attraction” and”positive thinking” all work.
Scientists have even identified specific parts of the brain,such as the reticular activating system (RAS), which workswith the visual parts of our brain to call to our consciousattention things that are important to reaching our goals andto filter out those things that are unimportant. The RAS isactivated by “programming” goals into our non-conscious minds
We are discovering that our brain is cybernetic in nature, whichmeans that it is literally like a computer, waiting for a programto be installed, and it will carry out all programming we give it.
Here’s the kicker – this mechanism is completely netural andimpartial – it will carry out any instructions you give it. Your mindis like the soil – it will grow whatever is planted in it – a bountifulharvest or poisonous weeds.
Unfortunately, many of us are still running programs we picked upfrom others as children when our non-conscious minds were totallyopen and impressionable, or which we developed over the years asa result of repetition of our own negative thinking.
As it turns out, our own thoughts, repeated daily, are one of theprimary ways that our “mental computer” is programmed on a sub-consciouslevel, which is the level of identify, beliefs, habits and automatic behavior.
To change your results, you must literally overwrite old negativeprogramming and install positive new programming.
This can be achived through such techniques as written goal setting,positive self-talk (affirmations), and mental imagery (visualization).
In the 1970’s the Soviets and East Germans were the first to formallyuse structured mental rehearsal and at that time, they dominated in severalolympic sports. Today, virtually all elite athletes use visualizationextensively, as we now know that the brain cannot differentiate betweenreal practice and practice that is vividly imagined.
If you are getting more of the same negative results in your life – such asthe same health problems, or the same body fat continues to return evenafter you lose it, then you can rest assured that it is because you arenon-consciously running old negative programs and re-inforcing them withnegative thought patterns.
You can begin the positive mental reprogramming process by writing downyour goals, changing your internal dialogue and taking a few minutesto relax, quiet your mind and perform a session of visualization ormental rehearsal every day.
These methods, repeated often enough, will begin to program the non-conscious portion of the mind, which is the same part of the mind thatcontrols your heart beat, digestion and new cell production, all withoutyou having to think about it consciously.
In the last decade, neuroscientists discovered you have the capacity tocreate an almost infinite number of new neural connections in your brainwhen you run new thought patterns.
The Old neural pathways are like the grooves in a record, and if you arestruggling with your health related behaviors or behaviors in any otherarea of your life, you have been playing the “old records” over and over again.
If you were to carve a new groove into that record, it would never play thesame way again. the old pattern would weaken and the new one would take over.
Psychologists estimate that it takes 21 to 30 days to establish a newpattern in your brain. During this time, the focus on sticking withyour practice and repeating your new thought patterns is critical.
Is this easy? For most people, no it’s not. In fact, controlling yourthinking and keeping it constructive may be one of the most difficultchallenges you have ever faced. Fortunately, writing goals and readingaffirmations can help get you started.
You can also make it easier on yourself by simply accepting that negativethoughts and self criticisms will pop up from time to time. Just observethem, without mulling over them or adding to them, and change the polarityof the thought by quickly repeating one of your positive affirmations.This begins to cut the new “groove” in your mental records.
So is there something to this whole “positive thinking” thing?
The philosophers and theologians have been saying yes for the entire spanof recorded history: “As you think, so shall you be.” Variations on thisproverb can be found in every spiritual and philosophical tradition.
But… if you are the left-brained, “prove-it-to-me” type, you dont have togo on faith anymore. Scientists are beginning to prove more and more convincinglythat thoughts are powerful things. (Even Larry King seemed impressedwith what his panel of “mind mentors” had to say last night).
Your mind is a powerful force.
How soon are you going to begin your mental training right alongside yourphysical training? When are you going to learn how to harness this powerthat you already posess?
Guess what? You are already using this force every day because you cannotturn it off. Whatever you are thinking and picturing in your mind repeatedlyon a daily basis is on it’s way to you already, so it’s simply a matterof HOW you are using it, not WHETHER you are using it.
What do you say to yourself every day? Do you say, “I am becoming leaner,healthier and more muscular every day?”… or do you say “I am a fat person -‘Ive tried everything, nothing ever works?”
Most remarkable is the fact that you can think yourself thin and healthy oryou can think yourself obese and ill. Not necessarily in the literal sensethat you can think and do nothing else and expect results, but in the sensethat those new neural pathways that you create in your brain by changing yourthoughts, will in turn create new behaviors that will move you physicallytoward whatever you have been thinking about and focusing on.
Train hard and expect success,
Tom Venuto
PS This process of ***scientific*** goal setting and mental reconditioningthrough emotionally charged mental imagery (visualization) and internal mentaldialogue (affirmations) is the very first thing I have always taught my clientsand the first thing I wrote about in my book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle(www.burnthefat.com). Why? Because you have to change on the inside (the mind)before you can change on the outside (the body)
Inside the Inner Circle, there have been many discussions about theincredible power of the mind to change your body and your health. Oneof our Inner Circle moderators and contributors has burned more than 100pounds of fat using these methods.
You can become a part of our community, join the discussions and learnmore at www.burnthefatinnercircle.com
I’ve actually used “think and grow rich” and “the law of success” on my ipod while training, driving, and in my spare time. I’ve reached most of the goals I set for myself this year. All I know is that the more “good” stuff you put into your mind the more good stuff you will get out of life. I believe 100% in the Supersubconcious mind or “minds eye” and it will work if you think it will.
Tom, your comments in your recent Burn the Fat Newsletter regarding the mind I feel are right on. I’ve been in the health and wellness industry for about 19 years with a masters in exercise science focusing on injury prevention and performance enhacement. I’ve been using NLP techniques with my clientele for a number of years and have discovered those techniques to be extremely powerful. The following comment you made I think is right on:What really happens is “Positive thinking” and related methods quite literally re-program your brain, which in turn creates new behaviors that move you physically toward whatever you have been thinking about and focusing on.
Tom thanks for your message about re-programing your brain. I had seen “The Secret” at a conference in July and have been researching it ever since. I truly believe in the law of attraction but for myself, being raised in a negative family, it is a battle. Thankfully I came across a course that will guide me and direct me in developing my thinking so that I can use it fully to my advantage. I did not realize how negative my thinking and my limiting beliefs were until I came across this. I am more actively watching what I focus my thoughts on due to this great information.Here’s the site if anyone is interested – https://www.universeofpower.com/products/id/157Thanks for all your messages and encouragement they are truly uplifting.
such great advice on positive thinking. sometimes i tell myself that i would never, never think so ill of a friend as i do think of myself, sometimes. try and treat yourself as you would a friend, at the very least! xxmartha richler
Hello!I’ve enjoyed your Burn the Fat newsletter for almost a year now. I believe it was through my use of mental laws that attracted you into my total program. In 2003, I used mental laws to release 75 pounds and have through The Center for the New Huanity, my church in Burr Ridge, IL, outside of Chicago began holding “Spiritual Slim Down Support Groups” on a regular basis. We are interested in getting another one going in the southwewst suburbs. It is the law of attraction with a spiritual component, which I believe completes the picture. I know this stuff works, and it is true what you say: changed mental beliefs induce changed action. You can try to behave your way into a new healthier body, but until you really change your fundamental beliefs about yourself and all of life for that matter, well….good luck because that is all you have. If there are Chicago folks out there who desire support, perhaps they feel so led and attracted to contact us. The New Humanity looks and feels fabulous at all ages! Write to me at info@thenewhumanity.org. May all good be yours!