When one mentions positive thinking one sometimes is met with, ‘oh I tried that it did not work’. Another answer people may give is, ‘it is unrealistic to be positive all the time’. Both of these responses ARE the reason it did not or does not work for the people that hold to these ideas.

Positive thinking is a life style. It is a mind set, and attitude. The goal in learning to become more positive in your thinking is to make it a reliable habit so that it is available to you when you need it and when you don’t.  It is just like eating, sleeping  it is a daily nutritional activity. No one in their right mind would exclaim, ‘I tried eating once and it doesn’t work’. You eat regularly and sleep regularly to nourish your body and brain, to be healthy and re-vitalize your being. It isn’t something you try for a while or do once, you do it regularly as habit AND, of course, because it is a physical necessity.

Positive thinking works like exercise. Some people don’t like exercise, they don’t want to do it and they don’t get enough. Others enjoy it immensely and benefit greatly. Some see benefits but struggle and stick with it. Others not seeing benefits soon enough give up. Exercise is a conditioning process. You have to do it and repeat it regularly to get results and to make it a habit. It is true that life may interrupt, things come up and schedules change, but those who know the benefits and have made it a habit find a way to return to it, or to modify their program until able to resume full time  but they don’t just give up and quit.

If someone said ‘I tried exercise once and it didn’t work’ what would you think of them or their claim? The reason why positive thinking doesn’t work for some people is they don’t actually do it nor do they do it long enough. They dabble, they dip their toe, they find some affirmation and they say it sometimes but not enough. They don’t really get with the program. They don’t embrace it. For it to become a habit it you need to do it enough. How much is enough for any one person no one can truly say. Some may take longer than others. Whatever amount of time it takes is what it takes. Some people can’t handle the truth!

Researchers claim it takes a minimum of 21 days of concentrated, dedicated, correct repetition in order to begin to form a habit. That is the minimum time frame according to research. Typically, I tell people do it for at least 30 days. Those 30 days are really an introduction to possibilities. I never tell anyone do it for 30 days and you will have developed a life long habit because most of us know that just is not the case. We should be realistic after all.

What are the legitimate claims of legitimate exercise programs? Usually, not always, but usually they will state, ‘you will begin to see or feel results that you can be pleased within 90 days’. After 90 days of correct exercise you will be on your way toward what you want. You are not done yet but you are able to see some results that should motivate you to continue.

Consider someone loosing 100 or 200 pounds. It isn’t healthy or realistic to do it within a month. How long it takes depends on many factors. So what is a realistic time frame? Slower is better according to medical practitioners. Eventually, they will get back down to their desired weight IF THEY STICK WITH IT.

How long they keep it off also depends on whether they made lasting lifestyle changes in eating, nutrition, exercise, sleep, and in attitude. A large part of keeping weight off is managing what one puts in one’s body another part is what you think, believe and expect. Who you now consider yourself to be is important. Are you still a fat person on the inside or are you now a thin person? Are you someone who can easily eat,exercise and sleep well or are you someone who struggles with it? There are numerous factors in succeeding to lose and keep weight off and yet enough people do it. They succeed because they LEARNED how to do it and then they DO what they learned ROUTINELY.

It can take a while to change life long habits. Habits are difficult to break. THAT is why it is important to make GOOD habits because then these good habits will be hard to break. Habits are powerful things. They are consistent. It means we behave in predictable ways. If we have a lifetime of bad eating it is unlikely a miraculous change will occur overnight. While it CAN happen it is not likely. The odds aren’t with it but it could and does happen sometimes. ANYTHING is possible.

Still, if one has a lifetime of poor eating habits, bad food choices, over consuming, lack of exercise, poor sleep and crappy attitude then one should expect that it may take a while to overhaul everything. Even if one works at one thing at a time it may take a while. SO be prepared for it to take forever and then whenever you succeed you will be happy it didn’t take that long. Alright, I half kid here, but really, you have to approach it as if you WILL succeed! The WHEN is not important!

Kids come to Hollywood wanting to be in show business and exclaim, ‘I’ll give it a year’ or they have a five year or some amount of time trial period. Frankly, most of those will quit. They will give up and go home and do something else. The ones that make it have no alternative BUT to succeed. They don’t care when they make it – they KNOW they WILL get to the top. They know nothing will hold them back and that no matter what they are going to be a star. Disappointments may follow but they stay with it and they keep at it until they succeed.

This is the attitude you need to adopt for Hollywood success or ANY success. This is what you need to think and feel when you begin to think positively. It isn’t how long that is important!!! If you make it about time you will quit in time. Whenever it happens for you is when it happens keep doing what you are doing and enjoy the journey!

Stay with it. Never give up! IT will get easier as you go along but even if it doesn’t stick with it. When you make having it a necessity you will get it. Passion drives everything. When YOU MUST is what opens the doors. Wimpy and shallow doesn’t get the prize. Think Olympic contenders and what they do for years to compete for seconds. Their attitude and their training is rigorous. Their attitude and training determines how far they can go. Even if they fail to win the gold they are in the top tier of world class athletes.

Most people today want change to occur while they are chowing down on junk food channel surfing. They want it instantly and magically. They don’t want to have to do anything for it. They don’t want to change their thoughts or their efforts, yet that is precisely what is required. ‘We become what we think about’.

That does not mean we become what we wish about. Rather, we become what we obsess about, what we are passionate about, what we feel strongly about. That includes the good feelings and what we fear, loathe and are angry about. We become whatever we hold in our minds strongly with strong feelings. This is why it is important to realize that positive thinking is a choice.

We choose what we fill our minds with and what we feel strongly about. We exercise control, we take charge. Instead of letting the mind and feelings run us we run them. We run our thoughts and our feelings so that we get better, more positive results. We chose to take control so that we get what we want instead of what we don’t want. We fill our minds with what we want to become and then we keep doing it until we become it! More next time.” Rex SIkes

Enjoy today – Look for good things!

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