How Can You Tell You’re Making Progress?
The quick answer is…
…By Keeping Track.
For example. I weigh myself every morning when I first get up.
But body weight doesn’t always tell the whole story.
So I took the leap and invested $25 bucks in a scale that also has Body Fat, Water, Muscle and Bone percentage measurements. All of which I write down. Pretty much almost every day.
The other day I hit a new low weight wise, (which was a new high progress wise!) and all the other numbers moved in the direction I’ve been working towards as well.
My body fat went down. My muscle went up. etc.
So I wrote it down. I made a note of it. And set my intention and self hypnosis for the next small goal in this area of my life.
I can look back at October 12, 2014 which was the day I got SERIOUS about creating a life long SUSTAINABLE fitness program for my body and look at the numbers:
October 12, 2014
- Weight: 228
- Body Fat %: 20.4
- Total Body Water: 62.5
- Muscle Mass: 34
- Bone: 8.2
- Waist measurement: 40″
and compare it with Today’s
March 18, 2016
- Weight: 208.6
- Body Fat %: 17.6
- Total Body Water: 65.1
- Muscle Mass: 35.1
- Bone: 7.4
- Waist Measurement: 35″
Now also understand that this cheapo scale is not the most accurate measuring device for some of this stuff. For example, I’m probably not losing bone density. But I am staying more hydrated, and my body fat is going down and my muscle is going up. It doesn’t have to be perfect to still keep you on track.
So we don’t just weigh ourselves on the scale and use that one single metric to gauge all our progress.
Measure enough to get as accurate a picture as you can.
It feels good to make measurable progress. It reinforces what is working.
We ARE animals after all. We move TOWARDS Pleasure and AWAY from pain.
And to celebrate and reinforce my progress even more, I also bought a new pair of pants with a 34″ waist.
And… I can actually… button them!
(admittedly they are a little snug).
However,
A little over a year ago, I was wearing 38″ waist size (but with those stretchy things in them for “comfort”. so truthfully I was more like a 40″)
BTW if you would like to join me on the health and fitness quest, check out my program, “It’s Not Just About The Food”
It is simply the exact program I follow in my own life and that I developed over 15years of working with weight loss hypnosis clients… It combines leading edge research with self hypnosis sessions and NLP Mind Mastery Tools to make getting fit and healthy not only easier, faster and better but more SUSTAINABLE.
So the mind mastery tools, plus the food choices I’ve been making, the intermittent fasting I’ve been doing combined with a “feast” day once a week, getting rid of my chair and using a standing desk as well as the Slow Burn fitness techniques that take only a few minutes every other day or so, are working.
And NOW I WANT MORE! Don’t YOU?
Do you see how it works?
If you don’t keep track, how will you actually know if you’re making progress?
If you are keeping track and NOT improving then you can intelligently explore different approaches and ideas until you DO see progress.
Does that make sense?
It’s also why businesses track expenses as well as income. The mantra of many millionaires is, “You can’t improve what you can’t measure”. And I think there is something to that.
It’s why peak performance athletes keep track of their workouts and times, personal bests in practice and in competitions etc.
So how are you doing? Have you been noticing improvements in your life?
Or do you just keep track of the failures, the disappointments and the struggles?
Remember one of the immutable laws of the universe is:
“We get more of what we focus on.”
Your Daily Mind Mastery Challenge today (should you choose to accept it) is to pick a single area of your life and begin to keep track of your progress on a daily basis.
We get more of what we focus on, so focus in on what IS working.
- Are you better at practicing self love?
- Are you making progress in your health and fitness?
- Are your relationship skills and communication skills improving?
- Are you practicing your Anxiety Crushers on a regular basis?
- Are you cutting back on junk food and eating more veggies?
- Are you practicing meditation daily?
- Are you writing out WDIWOBTICPI? And making a note of how things actually turn out?
I mean, after all, What’s good in your life? Do you even know?
Make a note of it. Write it down. Keep track of your good days. Keep track of your successes.
Forget about the “failures” for now.
And if you look at things with the appreciation that even the “Failures” are part of your ultimate success, you can surely find SOMETHING to track that will give you hope and encouragement so you can take another step and another step and another step towards becoming even more fabulous than you already are…
And I am NOT suggesting that you measure EVERYTHING… Just track the stuff that’s IMPORTANT to you. And do it INTELLIGENTLY so you are fairly sure you aren’t fooling yourself like the person who wants to lose weight and starts working out and building muscle getting discouraged by their increasing weight. They don’t want to lose WEIGHT. What they really want is to Lose FAT and BUILD MUSCLE! And they very well could be succeeding but not measuring it correctly!
So give “keeping track of your successes” a shot!
Your Transformational Soundtrack to support your assignment (should you choose to accept it) is….
Song # 337 “Walk Through Roses” (It’s all about focus)
Enjoy!
Have an awesome, fabulous, groovy, love filled day!
– Mark
p.s. I will see YOU on the INSIDE!
The really important thing is just to be fully aware that you can realize the change you’re looking for…
And here’s how
Click the link below to:
- Review my hypnosis video programs
- Contact me today
Or just leave a comment below 🙂