Are you what you eat? Nutritionists tell you this is so. Are you what you feel? Modern psychology says you are not your feelings. Are you what you say? Can we trust ourselves enough to tell our own truth? Are you what you do? Our capitalistic economies depend on us to identify ourselves by the things we do with our money. Or, are you what you think? Have you ever stopped to listen to what you are telling yourself about yourself? You should try it some time. Listening…to the dialog. You may have to sneak up on yourself, and pretend like you’re eves dropping on someone else’s conversation, but take some minutes in any given day to be quiet and alert to your inner dialog. Then notice how you feel about yourself after listening to your own talking thoughts.

“Remember first that everything you think, say, and do is a reflection of what you’ve decided about yourself; a statement of Who You Are; an act of creation in your deciding who you want to be.

Neale Donald Walsch

Do you have warm, accepting feelings about the YOU of your thinking? Or do you disdain and belittle the person, the YOU of your thinking? Do you realize YOU are the author of your life’s story? Can you wrap your mind around this truth: WHAT you think about yourself is WHO you become? Is it time for you to re-write your script?

In my profession as a personal trainer, people pay me to help them reconfigure their bodies. But what my clients may not be aware of, is that I am also training them to pay attention to their mind via what they are thinking and feeling…especially, what they are thinking about before and after they exercise. If a client thinks she can or cannot achieve the fitness goal she has set for herself, then I guarantee that she most certainly will achieve what she is believing about herself.

“What you think means more than anything else in your life. More than what you earn, more than where you live, more than your social position, and more than what anyone else may think about you. Every problem introduces you to yourself. It shows you how you think and what you’re made of.”

George Matthew Adams

A very important part of my training program is to teach my clients how to be their very own best cheerleader.  When I am with them, I encourage them, with positive words, stories and suggestions to help them understand that they have the power to change a negative health behavior into a positive healthful habit. To make change in our life is just one choice away. But to choose one thing, means we must drop the other thing, the old thing, the old way. An exchange must be made, like the passing of a baton. To execute change one must first choose…to let go…to stop doing, or thinking or saying and believing those things that no longer serve our well-being.

Mind is everything; muscle–pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind.

Paavo Nurmi, Finnish Olympian who won nine gold medals

When I am working with my clients, I hope to become a part of their changing landscape, a new voice in their head. If they spend enough time with me I have noticed these changes taking place in their life. It is often a slow, sometimes imperceptible process, but choice making and taking always induces change in their life-scape. Thinking becomes believing. Believing becomes being. The mind is the master, not the servant, of the body.

“Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.”

— Thomas Jefferson

Everyone feels lost and out of sorts in life from time to time. This is a natural by-product  of the human experience. Since we will deal with difficulties as long as we inhabit our physical body, perhaps we should consider our trials as benefactors in disguise. What if we turned our thinking around? What if we chose to think of those things we don’t like about our self or our life as gifts to help us discover who we really are or who we really want to be? What if we changed our perspective about our upsets or short comings? What if the challenges or frustrations of life were viewed as our soul’s clanging clarion call for recognition? for refreshment? for authentic, loving change?

Consider that your learning goal is the ongoing pursuit of a lifetime of consistent physical movement and self-care. If you are going to be successful staying physically active and taking care of yourself, you need to learn strategies that will enable you to prioritize your plans and be consistent, flexible, and creative as you learn to incorporate physical activity into the rest of your dynamic, ever-changing life. The strategy of beginning with the end in mind asks you to take the long view: Your goal is lifelong behavior change, and that’s what you want to keep in mind ~ always.

Michelle Segar ~ No Sweat

Now tell me again: Who are you?