I’m going to start dedicating Tuesday’s blog post to one of my favorite subjects – Personal Development.

I truly believe that before you can get your body right, you have to get your mind right.  The mind governs all.  Unfortunately, we’re not taught in school how to use our mind for our benefit, or even what the mind actually is for that matter.  If you want to lose weight, burn fat, tone up, get more fit, become healthier and/or create a damn-sexy body that looks great naked this is a subject you must understand.  You must build a weight loss mindset.

Now, I’m no expert on the subject of mind, but I am a passionate learner.  I’ve been studying the subject for a number of years, and have really cranked up my education in the past year.  I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in Bob Proctor’s Coaching Program.  It seriously has been a life-altering experience.  If you have the means, I strongly recommend it.  Hell, even if you have to beg or borrow I’d recommend making it happen.

Anyway, I’d like to use Tuesday’s column to both share and expand (you learn best when you teach) my knowledge on this extremely important subject.  It’s going to take a lot of work to deliver great content, but fortunately I really enjoy it. 

I do have one favor to ask.  Your feedback is EXTREMELY important and helpful.  PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS TO THESE POSTS!!!  Share your insights and experiences.  They will help me deliver better and more helpful content.  I’d appreciate that for all my posts actually.  Thank you in advance my friend!

OK, let’s start this week with a brief discussion on Perception.

Perception is one of your 6 Intellectual Factors.

It is the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perception)

Perception allows us to see things from different points of view.  When you change the way you look at things, then you change the way they look to you.  Perception is a very powerful intellectual factor and is a major contributor to the formation of your paradigms.

Paradigms are essentially a multitude of habits developed by how you view the world around you – your perception – and they literally control everything you do.  For example, maybe your mother was overweight and you look a lot like her.  So, you assume that you will also be obese and cannot see yourself any other way.  Therefore, the actions that you take (or don’t take) cause you to be obese.  The result reinforces the paradigm and on and on it goes.

In other words, what you see is what you get.  How you view yourself will have a great impact on the results you get.

To ignore the power of paradigms to influence your judgment is to put yourself at significant risk when exploring your future.  To be able to shape your future you have to be ready to change your paradigm.”

- Joel Barker, Author of Paradigms

Sometimes there may be things there that no matter how many times you have looked at them, you missed the obvious.   Some of the principles that we will be covering in this blog may be hard to comprehend and challenge you to think in different ways.  They will challenge you to shift your paradigm into a new way of thinking and acting.
We rely so much on our 5 senses – sight, sound, smell, touch and taste– that we have a hard time believing something’s existence if it isn’t proven through our senses.  Yet, our senses can be blinded or deceived.  Sometimes there are things that have been right in front of us all along that we have seen countless times throughout our lives, but only when they are shown to us in a different way – change our perception – are we able to finally see what has been “hidden”.

Take a look at the FedEx logo.  We’ve all seen this countless times throughout our lives.

Did you ever notice the arrow in the logo? 

Don’t feel bad.  Most people never have.  I certainly didn’t until it was pointed out to me. Still don’t see it?  Take a closer look.  In between the E and the x, you will see the arrow.  That is pretty interesting, huh?  I bet you will never look at the FedEx logo the same way again… ?
Open your mind to new ideas, and I promise you will open a door that will lead to amazing possibilities and personal greatness.  When you begin to understand how your mind works and learn to tap into your higher-self with the use of your intellectual factors, you will manifest your healthy and fit body, and realize its been here all along.

I’d like to close this week with a video from The Secret where Bob Proctor explains so perfectly some of the basic Laws which govern our universe.  We will dive into these laws in future posts.  I’d also recommend picking up a copy of The Science of Getting Fit.  Chapter 1 is all about understanding your mind and it’s great power and influence in your weight loss and fitness program.

Have Faith & Take Action!

Justin Yule, B.S., CPT

Your friendly neighborhood Chaska boot camp instructor and online personal trainer

Burn 9x more fat at a fraction of the cost of other personal training programs.

P.S. – Don’t forget to add comments.  Thanks!!