1. Eat anything you want. Yes, you can have cheeseburgers for breakfast and donuts for lunch and dinner but it’s not recommended. Weight Watchers is based on the points system and those burgers and donuts will burn through your daily point total allowance in about three minutes. For a man my size (5″10′, 35 years old) I have a daily points allowance of 24 points. You can use these points any way you want. Once you hit 24 points during that day, you stop eating. If that’s too challenging for you, rest easy they thought of that. You also get 35 weekly points to use on any days that you go over your daily point total. Family barbeque where you struggle to discipline your eating? Not a problem. Have a couple beers (lite beers are only two points) or some chips and take those from your weekly reserve.
2. Attend the weekly meetings. This is where you either a) strut your stuff in front of the crowd and get applause or cheers or b) put your tail between your legs and recognize that other normal people like you are having success with this thing – it can’t be that difficult. During my last meeting I announced that I had crossed the ten-pound-loss threshold and the crowd applaused for me. Granted I feel like Brad Pitt compared to some of these poor souls, but it still boosts your ego to get that applause. The major points of the 30-minute meeting are announcing new promotions to keep you motivated, hearing stories or anecdotes from the instructor, hearing other members announce their success, hearing other members mention tips and ideas and seeing other folks like you wanting to better their lives.
3. Find some zero point foods and eat them. For me, this has been pretty easy. Nearly all vegetables are zero points and most fruits are one or two points. I make it a habit to have the recommended four to five servings of fruits and vegetables. Plus, there is something psychological about the brain thinking it is eating when in reality the body is consuming zero-point foods that have no affect on weight. The brain is trained to see food, activate the salivary glands, move the arms and hands to bring the food to the mouth, chew the food and digest it. This psychological motion is identical whether consuming a slice of chocolate cake or a bowl of grape tomatoes and carrots. My success has been in “tricking” my mind into thinking it is still getting that chocolate cake when in reality it is getting plenty of healthy veggies.
4. Exercise. Being an avid jogger, I used to be of this mindset. “Hey I just ran four miles, I can have two bowls of ice cream and a Snickers bar.” Um – WRONG! For a person of my size, running four miles is the equivalent of five points. That Snickers alone is six points! The ice cream is probably another ten points. You can see why it’s just easier to eat less than pig out after exercising. Exercise does a couple things for your body, none of which including letting you pig out. First, it slowly changes your metabolism over time. Eventually you could eat a Snickers and it would have no effect on your weight. Ever. That may take months or years of intense physical activity. Second, it gives you leeway on your daily point totals. Days that I allowed myself a little snack after dinner were also days that I jogged in the morning. Before bedtime I realized I still had four points left for day and realized that it was from the early-morning jogging.
5. Learn the hunger scale. A large part of my problem was binging when I was starved. Weight Watchers has a hunger scale similar to this:
   1. Totally full
   2. Ate a little too much
   3. Pleasantly satisfied
   4. Will be hungry soon
   5. Completely famished

   The idea was to always keep yourself around three or four. For me, that meant eating every two to three hours. Yes, it meant snacking at my desk throughout the day, but it prevents those level-five famished fire alarms for me where I could eat a row of Oreos (and have before).

6. Stay away from red-light foods. A red-light food is one that you know you won’t stop when you eat just one. For me this includes pizza, cookies, cereal, some bread products and chocolate. Eventually I will have the discipline to eat these types of foods, but for now I am staying away from them like an alcoholic stays away from bars.
7. Develop a plan for red-light situations. Red-light situations are the same concept as above, but limited to places instead of foods. For me, red-light situations include family picnics and barbeques, employer-purchased meals (“Hey, work is paying for it. I can eat as much as I want!”), and anywhere where I had a couple drinks and thus lowered my judgment and critical thinking. I make a mental plan before leaving the house. I fill up on water, zero-point foods and a game plan for how to stay away from the pizza table or the beer cooler.

The list above is just one man’s observations on how to have success with Weight Watchers. Your success will vary, but hopefully it will be as plentiful as my success has been.

Finally, here are some quotes I heard at one of our meetings that stood out:

• Nothing will ever taste as good thin feels.
• All that matters are the first couple bites. Beyond that it all tastes the same.
• If I am going to eat it, make sure it is worth it. Crappy chocolate is not worth it.

Good luck in your healthy living endeavors.

At one point in his life Michael Jordan was not the best basketball player in the world. However, he injected enough positive visual images into his mind that he lived the expression “change your inner world and your outer world will change.” How many professional athletes were gifted with phenomenal physical abilities but never truly developed them to 100% of their potential? When he was born in 1975 a young golfer from California was given enormous physical talent that he later developed to make him the world’s best golfer. His name is Tiger Woods.

By the year 2000 Tiger Woods had won several major tournaments including the Masters, The PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. During the summer of 2000 he had just won the NEC World Series of Golf in Akron, Ohio and I had the privilege of attending a private golf clinic hosted by Tiger immediately after the tournament. Keep in mind at this point of his career he had essentially reached the apex of any professional golfer’s career. He had won three majors (and plenty of smaller tournaments) by age 25. His current workout at that time included doing 1,000 sit-ups in one sitting. Someone worth millions of dollars in peak physical condition thought his body could improve. A pessimist coined the expression “there is only one way to go from the top.” Tiger clearly did not believe that expression. He believed there were two ways to go from top. Down or even higher. Since 2000, he went on to win seven more majors so evidently he was correct in assuming you could go even higher when you’re at the top of your game.

Tiger, like Michael Jordan, had mastered the power of visualization or visual imagery at a young age. Even when Tiger was a toddler his father would say “Do you see the picture of the hole?” Earl Woods asked the toddler. “OK, putt to the picture.” Tiger was fortunate enough to have a dad who nurtured his imagination early on in life. Similar to Michael Jordan it could be argued that Tiger ultimately developed such a strong sense of the sport that he could be totally removed from it for years and then jump back in right on top where he left. Or put another way Tiger had the mental fortitude required to win a major golf tournament long before was allowed to play at those country clubs. If the rules allowed it Tiger may have even won his first Masters tournament at age 18 or lower.

Work on changing your inner world before you expect changes in your outer world. The two are interwoven and both complement each other. Your outer world (spouse, boss, debt) absolutely can affect your inner world (the way your mind handles it) so why can’t the converse be true? The first step in changing your inner world is to paint positive, uplifting images that make you a better person. Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods exemplified this habit and you can, too.

1. Alarm clock. Nearly all of the phones sold in the last several years have a built-in alarm clock. Unlike the alarm clock at your bedside this one is far more portable since it’s part of the phone. Use the alarm clock to wake up just 30 minutes earlier each morning and you’ve just bought yourself 3.5 hours a week of free time. Or perhaps you can use this 30 minutes of extra time to arrive at work early or on time if you are perpetually tardy. If you travel often most phones today will auto-sync the phone’s internal clock with your arrival city. Use this alarm clock to wake up 30 minutes earlier no matter where you are.
2. Calendar function. The built-in calendar on the phone may be more cumbersome to use than a traditional PDA but the odds are likely you have your phone with you more often than your PDA (unless it’s a Palm Treo which is both in one). You can use this calendar for the traditional needs of remembering appointments, birthdays or special occasions and it will beep or vibrate a day, an hour or minutes before the event. A second more creative use is to have the phone become your “personal trainer” or “mental motivator” by setting up dates and times that will notify you to stay on target with your goals. How about a daily calendar alarm at 5:30 am to get you out of bed and exercising? How about a calendar alarm at lunch to remind you to run those errands you’ve been dreading or forgetting? How about a weekly alarm to remind you to weigh in to track your weight loss goals and fitness plans? Or a monthly alarm to check the progress of your cash fund for that big purchase? The sky is the limit with the calendar function for notifications to keep you on progress with your life goals.
3. Integrate your phone with an online calendar such as one from Google or Yahoo that have easier interfaces to enter more data. These online calendars will send email notifications to you before the event as a reminder. Why not send it to your cell phone’s email address? This is the same as step 2 above but with an easier interface to enter your event. Email addresses for the major carriers are
   1. Verizon – phonenumber@vtext.com
   2. Nextel – phonenumber@messaging.nextel.com
   3. Sprint – phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
   4. Cingular – phonenumber@cingularme.com
   5. ATT – phonenumber@mobile.att.net
   6. Alltell – phonenumber@message.alltel.com
4. Notepad. Many of the phones have a simple notepad for recording notes to yourself. Use this while waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting at a restaurant or waiting anywhere. I’d bet you have nearly 20 minutes a day of wasted time waiting in lines. Use your phone’s notepad to write down to-do lists, ideas for personal self-growth or at a bare minimum the grocery list of milk and diapers from your spouse.
5. Voice recorder. Nearly identical to Step 4 with the Notepad feature. Only this one is far easier and safer to do while driving. Record a message to yourself about a great new business idea, a phone number someone just told you or an address you’re likely to forget. Or better yet use it to record verbal landmarks while driving through a part of town though which you’ll likely get lost upon your return trip. Use it to remember the pronunciation of a future sales prospect’s name or the wording of a difficult medical term.
6. Train Your Subconscious Mind. Whether used by you or not most phones sold today have a built-in camera. Do what I did recently with a slip of paper. I printed out two goals in a large bold font on the paper. I then took a picture of those two goals just so it’s legible in the phone small screen. I then set that photo to be my wallpaper background. Studies have shown we look at our watches between 30 – 50 times per day, but cell phones have replaced watches as the timepiece of choice. You can see where I am going with this. You will now be looking at your goal 30 – 50 times per day! I came up with this idea about a month ago when I was struggling with two goals of mine (waking up at 5am during weekdays and losing a certain amount of weight). Seeing those two goals several dozen times per day has trained my brain to make these goals part of my subconscious mind. Once they are permanently etched into my head I’ll replace them with two other goals. It’s amazing how well this one has worked for me. Get creative with it. If you are in sales take a picture of your monthly sales quota goal. If you have a fitness goal take a picture of an optimally fit person or some text of your physical goals like I did. Who would have thought a cell phone could plant seeds of goal accomplishment in your head?
7. Train Your Subconscious Mind, Part 2. A simpler solution than the photo idea in Step 6 is to merely change what is called the “banner” on your cell phone. Many carriers make it display the company’s name in text at the top center of the phone during its normal usage display. Go into the “display banner” setting and change it to say a 20-character goal. Some examples:
   1. Weigh 175 lbs.
   2. Close $ dollar sales.
   3. Bed by 10pm.
   4. Read a book a week.
   5. Eat low-fat.
   6. Don’t smoke.
8. Call yourself. If it’s too difficult to use the Notepad or Voice Recorder try calling your home, work or cell phone itself voice mail system. Leave yourself a message about that important idea that just popped in your head or an item that must be done before you go to bed tonight or start work first thing in the morning tomorrow.

Use these creative ideas to think of your phone as more than just a communication device. It’s a portable goal-setting, goal-achieving machine.

On the other hand, you may know someone who is so upbeat that when he wears his shoes out he just figures that he’s “back on his feet.” This person loves to make lemonade out of lemons that life deals him. He never uses the word problem, rather it’s an opportunity. He never uses the word failure, rather it means he has successfully out something that does not work (like Edison with the light bulb). This person honest-to-goodness believes that the world is conspiring for him. He thinks that people are out o help him. He actually believes that every event, action or occurance in life will somehow work out in his favor. As Brian Tracy explains in his book
Maximum Achievement, this person is a classic Inverse Paranoid. He is the exact opposite of a paranoid. He believes the people that people are out to get him…..get him to achieve his maximum potential in life. The following three aspects clearly describe an inverse paranoid.

• She is a person of faith. Scientific research has determined that the higher level of faith in God or a Higher Being, the lower the stress level for that person. Being a person of faith does not prevent bad things from happening to you, it merely give you the strength to handle whatever comes your way. Whether you have a good, bad or neutral day your spritual arsenal keeps you at the top of your game at all times.
• She is an optimist. This is not a person with rose-colored glasses who lives in a pie-in-the-sky fantasy world. This is a person who views life as getting better and better each day. Someone who encounters problems and fears like the rest of us, but tackles them head-on as an opportunity to reach out of his comfort zone and slowly move towards his maximum potential. This person spends little or no time worrying about things he can’t change. He is confident and optimistic things will work out for the best. He believes worrying only has two possible outcomes – both bad. First, if you were wrong about your worry and it never materializes you wasted time and energy worrying about nothing. Second, if the bad thing does materialize could you have prevented it? Was it out of your control? If so, it will happen regardless of whether you worried about it. So, don’t waste time worrying.
• She has intelligent ignorance. The world is filled with stories of people who were too ignorant to know they should fail. In all probability this person should have failed but did not. In reality, it’s not an ignorance they have, but an intelligence that most of us do not possess. Some examples:

Chris Burke, best known for the character, Corky, played for four years on the television series, Life Goes On, and became one of America’s favorite personalities. Through his work, he was able to transform America’s image of the people with disabilities. Ever since Chris spoke his first word, it became clear that he was a remarkable individual with many talents.

Chris Burke was the first person with Down syndrome to star in a weekly television series. Currently, he serves as the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) Ambassador. Chris had the faith in his own abilities and the courage to face prejudice as he pursued his dream to become an actor.

Jim Abbott has thrown a no-hitter, won Olympic gold in 1988, and been on Letterman. He is one of a handful of professional players who never once put on a minor-league uniform, jumping instead straight from college baseball to the big league. But those aren’t the only reasons we know Jim Abbott. He is the only player in major league baseball who was born with one hand.

Abbott was able to reach the major league without having a right hand, and he quickly became one of the better pitchers in the game during the early 1990′s.

What kind of parents do you think Chris Burk and Jim Abbott had? Do you think they mentally chained their children into believing they were dooming for a life of mediocrity because of their disabilities? Or did they plant seeds of greatness in their children’s heads full of intelligent ignorance? Most folks would have written Chris and Jim off from the start. But no one ever told them they should fail, so they didn’t? Pretty profound stuff, huh?

Another great idea I read in Brian Tracy’s book Maximum Achievement is to start each day with this phrase: Today something wonderful is going to happen to me. The first day I tried this was in December and I said it most of the day. During that day I went to three different stores looking for an out-of-stock toy for my son for Christmas. After visits to several stores I quickly reached the conclusion that this toy was not in my son’s future for Christmas this year. Just then I looked behind the display on one of the shelves at the toy store and lo and behold…I found this elusive toy hiding behind some other toys. I had found the last one in the store! Now, you might be saying “how was this something wonderful?” Well, at the time this was something wonderful to me. Here’s the part that really gets you thinking: would I have found that toy that day if I had not said “today something wonderful is going to happen to me”? Maybe I would have maybe I would not have. I have no way of knowing scientifically whether saying this phrase helped me or not. What I do know is that saying the phrase completely changes your attitude each and every time you say it. I’m like a kid on Christmas Eve feverishly waiting for time to pass by rapidly so I can see my big surprise. If you say that phrase in the mirror first thing in the morning it totally shapes your view of the day – the entire day! Since ultimately it is you that defines what something wonderful is, you end up going through the whole day wondering if that was the wonderful thing or that was it. To sum it up, it’s the not something wonderful thing that makes you a better person. It’s the person you become while waiting for that something wonderful to happen.

So, the next time you see that Negative Ned or Negative Nelly complaining about the rain you should reply “sure is a great day today….for ducks!”

Let’s suppose you start an exercise program but you’ve only been doing it a couple of days and you dread every minute of it. Let me digress for a moment. What if I told you that I wanted you to wake up every day and swallow a live frog first thing out of bed? Pretty insane, huh? Now I’ve heard of people swallowing a raw egg (like Rocky Balboa) first thing in the morning but never a live frog. Now, eating a live, slimy animal first thing of the day would virtually guarantee that it’s the worst thing that happens to you all day. By comparison getting a flat tire on the way to work or spraining your ankle playing basketball after work would still be much easier than eating a live frog at daybreak? Get my point?

Now, back to the exercise program. Suppose you did your push-ups, sit-ups, jogging, excerise bike or aerobics first thing out of bed each day. Wouldn’t that make the rest of your day look relatively easier? You’ve just completed 25 minutes of calorie-burning activity before your eyes were even wide awake. Cleaning out the garage, folding laundry or finishing that report for your boss today all look relatively easy now, don’t they?

So, by “swallowing the frog” first thing in the morning you’ll kick-start your day virtually assuring yourself the day will only get better and better!

But how often do you “skip a meal” for your mind? How often do you go a day without injecting an uplifting story, anecdote or quote into your head? For some of us, unfortunately, this occurs daily. Your mind has a lot in common with your stomach. Both provide something to keep us going all day (nourishment and thinking ability). Both need to be fed on regular daily intervals. Both enjoy being fed by someone else. A compliment to you from a friend or a home-cooked meal make your mind and tummy happy.

Every day you need to begin your morning with something to get those wheels turning. I like to read the newspaper and the Bible just so I can hear both sides of the story. If your commute to work involves listening to the radio choose something positive and uplifting like a Christian radio station, smooth music or better yet a book-on-tape or a book-on-CD. Who wants to show up at work after having listened to a filth-laden DJ rip guests and callers into oblivion? Not me.

Guilt by association

If the crowd you run with is never in short supply for put-downs, insults, dirty jokes and obscenities is it any wonder why you often feel mopey and down on your luck? No, it’s no surprise because you’ve been “feeding your mind” with garbage and negative thoughts. You’ve been hangin’ out with that pesky negative bank teller, haven’t you? When times are tough, where will you turn for that turnaround attitude boost?

If your cohorts include a guy who wore out his shoes and just figured that he’s “back on his feet again” or a woman who greets people who ask how she’s doing by saying “any better and I couldn’t stand it” (as I have for many years) then you’re running with winners.

Feeding your mind includes all of the following:

• the TV shows and movies you watch
• the books you read
• the friends with which you associate
• the stories and articles you see on TV
• the websites you visit

If you’re not proud to show the above list to your mother, then it’s time for a check-up from the neck up!

• punctual
• intelligent
• honest
• personable
• diligent
• optimistic
• encouraging
• respectful
• knowledgeable
• humorous
• fair

Now, let’s classify these descriptions as either an attitude or a skill. We’ll define a skill as something with which you are born. You either have it or you don’t. It’s innate. Let’s define an attitude as something that is a mindset or a viewpoint. Below is how we’d categorize each trait.

• punctual – attitude
• intelligent – attitude
• honest – attitude
• personable – attitude
• diligent – attitude
• optimistic – attitude
• encouraging – attitude
• respectful – attitude
• knowledgeable – attitude
• humorous – attitude
• fair – attitude

Every single one of these perfect employee traits can be achieved through a positive attitude. Always running late? Put it into your mind to leave early and show up on time. Have a punctual attitude. Not being honest with your spouse or co-workers? Get in the right attitude of being honest with those who surround you. Introverted, hermit-like personality? Get that personable attitude to make conversation with others, be laid back in group settings and be outgoing and personable to those around you.

The perfect employee is more often than not a gold digger and has learned a thing or two from the four-year-old optimist. He knows that the talent he lacks can be learned with the right positive, mental attitude.

Let’s kick it off with Claire Conway starting her own Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Suppose you are a salesman who has a quota of $50,000 in product sales this month. Your boss strongly encourages you to hit that quota each month. However, inside your head you actually set a goal for yourself of $500,000 in product sales this month. When Monday morning rolls around how will you respond to this new goal? Your typical work day used to go something like this:

1. Show up at the office around 8:30am or 9-ish.
2. Get coffee, ask colleagues about their weekends
3. Check email, tidy up your office a bit.
4. Think about possibly going on a sales call today
5. One hour lunch
6. Surf the web a bit after lunch
7. More banter with co-workers
8. Make a couple calls to line up sales visits
9. Go home

Now, knowing you need to do $500,000 in sales this month your day now unravels something like this:

1. Show up at the office at 7:30am with coffee already consumed at home
2. Make a to-do list of which three customers you will visit today
3. Spend time updating your proposals for those three customers
4. Grab a 30-minute lunch en route to your first customer visit at 11am
5. Visit customers #2 and #3 all while brainstorming how to close the deals

Notice the less time you spend aimlessly idle in the office? The primary reason is that you know to hit that ten-times-goal you have no time to lose mapping out your plan to hit that goal. And the best part of this plan is that even if you fail miserably and hit 20% of your sales goal for the month you will have achieved double the quota set by your boss.

Ten times your goal changes your mind, your attitude, your time management and most importantly your odds of hitting your original goal itself.

My son learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels about six months ago which was shortly after his fourth birthday. He still takes plenty of spills almost daily, but invariably his first reaction after a wipeout is something like “at least I had my helmet on” or “at least I wasn’t going fast.” Today we drove by the fire station and he said “at least there weren’t any fires today.” Perhaps he might just be in a fad of saying the words “at least” but 100% of his sentences after something bad happens begin with that phrase.

After spilling his drink in the kitchen:
“at least it was water and not something sticky”

Taking a spill on the driveway while running:
“at least my scratches aren’t bleeding”

Falling off the swing set in our back yard:
“at least we have band-aids”

I hope he never loses that two-word mood-changing phrase when he grows up. How many adults say “at least I saved my work” when the power goes out in an office? A typical office would be sprinkled with obscene expressions from employees during a power outage.

Keep a tally each day how many at leasts in your everday verbage. You’ll be amazed at the positive effect on your attitude.

• Wake up
• Listen to a filth-laden disc jockey on the way to work
• Gossip with co-workers at the coffee room or water cooler during breaks at work
• At lunch, read a newspaper or website loaded with all the gloom-and-doom in our world
• Come home and watch the evening news or a racy sitcom at home that fills your head with “garbage for the mind”

Or perhaps your day goes something like this:

• Wake up
• Read the Bible or a book that lifts you up
• Listen to a Christian radio station or motivational program on disc or tape on the way to work
• Go out to lunch with friends who are gold diggers or glass-half-full types
• Come home and read more positive words of encouragement or spend time with your family doing something constructive

If you are the first example above and your negative deposits in your mind far outweigh the positive ones, what will happen to you when your boss announces one-third of the department is being laid off due to rough times for the company? You’ll think “I’m doomed” or “this company hates me anyway” or “they deserve to go out of business if they lay me off.” Or will you be the kind of person that says “hey, it’s in God’s hands and there’s no point in worrying about it” or “I give it my best around here and I trust the bosses to keep around the best employees…which includes me.”

If your mind has two account balances, one of which is ten times the other, which account will be easier to use when life throws you a curveball? Will it use the negative account which only has a handful of deposits? Or will it use the positive one which has hundreds of deposits? A better example of this is how your friends and family respond in times of major crisis, disaster or emergency? Those people I know who have no faith in God, religion or a Supreme Being are the first to cringe at any signs of misfortune or adversity headed their way. Likewise, those I know (including me) who are well-grounded in faith and make many positive deposits in their mind every day are the first to look chaos in the eye and say “you’re going to have to do much better than that to worry me.”

Finally, I’m hoping that the customers at your bank will have a line out the door from those who want to make a deposit with you, the Positive Bank Teller.

Friction Between The Two

If you take the gold in one hand and the coal in the other and rub them together fiercely with all of your strength a couple things happen. First, a little heat may be generated between the friction of the two. Second, your hand with coal will likely get dirty. Third, and most important, tiny fragments of the gold will be deposited on the surface of the coal and vice versa. You could try and rub off the bits of coal from the gold but if you rubbed them together hard enough it will be tough to remove this “dirty” material from the “beautiful” one.

People in life often have “coal” or “gold” personalities. Which are you? Are you a half-empty kind of person that your friends would say can really brighten up a room?…..by leaving it! Or are you a half-full kind of person who energizes and motivates those around you? If you take a “coal miner” personality and a “gold digger” personality and stick them in an office together for 10 years what is likely to occur? Bits and pieces of the gold person may eventually sink in to the mind of the coal person. Likewise, parts of the coal person may get into the mind of our gold friend. Like the real-life example of rubbing the two together it can be very difficult a) to get the gold to stay on the surface of the coal and b) to fully clean up all fragments of the coal on the goals surface. That is because being negative is easier to do. Just wake up and start each day wondering what catastrophe will come your way. Wondering what disappointment will arise and at what time. Being positive takes effort, resilience and resolve to keep rolling on day-in and day-out. A quote that confirms this concept is “never in the history of the world has a statute been erected to honor the memory of a critic.” Critics around us are a dime a dozen. You see them at work, on TV, in the newspaper and myriad other places. But it’s the motivators of the mind, the heavy lifters of attitudes and the victors over pessimists that we remember over time.

So as you start each day and those around you say “run for the hills!” Remember….there’s gold in them there hills!