Subscribe10 To-Do's For Making Your 2008 Comeback
Successful weight loss and physical transformation requires a major mental effort.
John A. Sarkett (author of the book "Extraordinary Comebacks") offers these succinct tips for making your New Year's resolution stick.
- PERSIST. Don’t quit. “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.” Sir Winston Churchill
- MAKE THE EFFORT. Work hard. Great comebackers use all the hours in the day: Wayne Huizenga collected trash at night, sold new accounts in the day. George Foreman out-trained younger fighters to become champ. You can find your comeback right in the effort you make.
- UNDERSTAND TRANSIENCE. Don’t extrapolate temporary setbacks into permanent defeat. “This, too, shall pass.” Lance Armstrong was given a 2% chance to survive cancer, he went on to win seven, consecutive Tour de Frances. Churchill again: “When you’re going through hell, keep going.”
- CHANGE DIRECTION. Sylvester Stallone was stymied as an actor, so he wrote Rocky after seeing the Wepner-Ali fight. Billy Beane was a so-so baseball player, he quit and became a top GM. Quincy Jones was a talented trumpeter, but after a stroke, he had to quit, and then became a legendary music producer.
- EMPLOY SUPPORT. Stay away from the nay-sayers, even if they’re famous or going to be (Martin Scorsese once told Billy Crystal he had “no talent.”) Pack your corner with friends who won’t let you quit. Muhammed Ali did that: he wanted to quit during his first heavyweight championship, his manager wouldn’t let him.
- REPEAT. It took Sir Edmund Hillary two attempts to climb Everest, Peary eight times to reach the North Pole, and various authors scores and sometimes hundreds of tries to get their works published. Go again, and again, and ………
- DREAM BIG. Your effort and ideas are worth many times what you may imagine. Fred Smith wrote a college paper that got a “C,” as the story goes, then turned it into $40 billion FedEx. Dean Karnazes ran a 226 mile ultramarathon and 350 mile run, plus 50 marathons in 50 days (2006). J.K. Rowling wrote her ideas about one “Harry Potter” during a train ride. It sold 100 million copies, and $4 billion movie box office, and counting. You can do much more than you imagine. Dream big.
- STAY HUMBLE. Attitude -- is everything. When tennis master Andre Agassi fell from No. 1 to No. 141 (1997), he started over, went back to the minor leagues, upped his training, including weightlifting. It set the stage for greater things than ever before. Attitude – not image – is everything.
- SELF-PROGRAM. Get a mantra. A psychiatrist-hypnotist provided Rachmaninoff the composer, who had a writing block, with a positive self-talk mantra: “You will begin your concerto. You will work with great facility. The concerto will be excellent.” It worked. He wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2.
- PERSIST. It’s not over until you say so. Don’t say so.
More like this in Psychology · Dec 27, 2007
All great points that I need to employ in unison. I do some of them now, but never in conjunction. I especially like the change direction one.
Replythis is amazing. not just for weight loss and diet purposes, but for life. thanks!
Replynice tips there! I need to print these out and put them on the wall and so should others that want to meet goals.
ReplyThe fitness benefits along with your general wealth condition start in your mind. It`s not about what you need to do, it`s about how you do it.
ReplyWonderful tips, a true inspiration...Thank you!
ReplyGreat tips!
May I add: Clarify *why* you want something... if you set goals just because you think you should or to please other people, you may not get a lot out of it - even when you've achieved what you set out to do. Think about this especially if you're prone to New Year's resolutions which can get 'forced out' without much thought. You have to ask yourself 'What's in it for me?' and 'What will happen if I don't manage to do this?'
Whatever goals you set, you have to demand more of yourself to push your performance, and you have to realise that we are all more capable than we think we are. Your ability to achieve is immeasurable - and it can be easier to get what you want than you think.
ReplyThank you!!! This article gave me the shot in the arm that I needed after a rough holiday season.
ReplyThank you so so so much. This is exactly what I needed today. Now to go find a mantra.
ReplyYou need to surround yourself with success because that's what you need to focus on. A successful dieter is usally one who has their head in the right place and that's about 're-programming' yourself to be successful. I set my whole blog up around getting your mind in the right place.
First things first picture what success looks like to you. Make that picture as vivid as possible. Gather images from magazines that best reflect that image and keep them where you can easily look at them time and time again.
Sounds a bit touchy-feely I know but most successful people will tell you about the picture they held in their head when going for what they really wanted. It's this image that's going to take you through your moments when temptation strikes.
ReplyMandatory Minimum Health Insurance. A concept I spoke about in a lecture circuit around Boston back in 2000. It received laughs and snickers. It’s now law in Massachusetts, several other states are considering it and presidential candidates have similar proposals.
ReplyMore than ever before, it is an absolute necessity that you wake up to the fact that if you do not change your unhealthy lifestyles, health insurers and legislators will institute more dramatic and costly changes to health insurance and care. Changes that will usher in a “New Order” of health insurance and care:
· Using “Colossus”- the health insurance industry’s well-kept secret - to track health habits & lifestyles and issue “Lifestyle Grades”.
· Merit-Rated Health Insurance Premiums based on these “Lifestyle Grades”.
· Imposing “Lifestyle-Contributed Surcharges on Care”.
You should know what other changes may be and that you don’t get entrapped by this “New Order” of health insurance and care.
This guide is concise, complete and includes lifestyle changes from A to Z.
The differences that can be made in all aspects of your health & quality of life is astounding:
Fat, Lazy Americans
Why You’re Prey for the “Lose Weight” Mongers
How to Make a Total Transformation,
Make It Last for the Rest of Your Life and
Why You Should Do It Now By Dr. David Robinson is available at www.buybooksontheweb.com or 1-800-buy-book.
Excellent tips and examples of overcoming obstacles. Thanks!
ReplyMy favorite point on this list is to get support for your weight loss goals. How about packing your corner with a partner that supports you, along with an incentive that motivates you like no other? This is a concept I saw on kinkyweightloss.com. Check it out, you will be surprised at how exciting weight loss can be.
ReplyGreat post! More food for thought...
http://mhlcoaching.typepad.com/the_health_and_life_mixin/2008/01/new-year-resolu.html
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