My top 5 tips for making your new year's resolutions last!

Happy new year!

This time of year gives us a great opportunity for a fresh start. We can reflect on the year that has just been - our wins, our losses, our learnings and our fun. We can then take all of that great stuff and use it to be better, stronger, faster, wiser in 2011... Have you made some big plans for this year?

If you have, congratulations! You are taking full advantage of the fresh start that the new year brings! But I have a question for you... How will you determine whether your goals for 2011 will become a reality, rather than just a passing new year's resolution?

Here are my top 5 tips for making your new year's goals and resolutions stick!

1. Clarity is king! You should have such a clear image of you achieving your goal that your brain won't know that it hasn't happened yet! When you set your goals, have a date that you will be achieving them and make sure that you are clear on all the details of them. For example, if your goal is to buy a new car, what make and model is it? What colour is it? Does it have any extras? Where will you be travelling to in it? Create as much of the picture as possible so your brain believes it is happening! And the most important element of clarity is finding out why - why are you so passionate/excited/motivated to make these changes? What is your driving force? Once you recognise this and the reason is powerful enough, there should be no reason why you won't stay on track!

2. Set smaller goals! Your goal may be to exercise for every day this year. That is a full on commitment and it may end up being a de-motivator for you! How about breaking it down into something smaller? For example, exercise for 10 minutes everyday for this week, then 10 minutes per day for the month, etc. It's great to have your eye on the big prize, but you need to stay motivated by achieving little goals, which will give you more momentum to stay on the journey!

3. Reward yourself! It's so important that you reinforce your achievements in your own mind. If you have just reached a milestone, no matter how big or small it may be, then you need to celebrate that! You will then be excited to move on the the next step and the momentum will continue!

4. Create accountibility! Us humans are funny in the way that we don't enjoy letting other people down, however we let ourselves down all the time.... Instead of fighting this little fact of life, let's use it to our advantage! Share your goals and plans with someone close to you who you know will be honest with you - your partner, a friend, family member, mentor, etc. These fine folks will keep you on track with your goals and remind you of why you are doing it!

5. Believe in yourself! The final tip for making this year really happen for you may seem obvious, however it's easier said than done. Just remember that everything you have now was once created in your mind - so how exciting is it that every goal you have set for yourself for this year will come to fruition if you want it to! Believe that you can do it, tell yourself you can do it and become the person you need to be to achieve your goals! You can do it!

Here's to an amazing year of massive success!

Cheers, Tony

The Importance of Overcoming Obstacles

Achieving great things means that we will need to go through some challenges to get to where we want to go. It will not always be sunshine! There will be set backs, you will be knocked down and sometimes we need to push through the storms. But hey, if it was easy, it wouldn't be worth it!

Pushing through, around and over the challenges put before us is what makes us stronger. How good does it feel when you achieve something , even though the road to get to it was an interesting, rough journey? It's an incredibly rewarding feeling.....

It is not what we have that is important, it is what we become. The extra knowledge, skills, feedback and personal growth we take on as we achieve a goal makes us a better person and better equips us for the journey ahead to an improved, exciting future.

So don't look at obstacles as a negative thing... Look at them as an opportunity to push yourself out of your comfort zone, grow into a stronger person and help you be the creator of your own life!

Cheers, Tony

Squats Made Simple - By Zenergy, Brisbane Personal Trainers

Learn from Brisbane Personal Trainer, Steve, as he demonstrates the 3 key points to remember when you are doing squats so you can lift heavier and get results.... FASTER!

Did you know.....

Dark chocolate is good for you?

Yes, it's true! Dark chocolate contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables. It contains flavanoids (which act as antioxidants) and this helps to protect the body from ageing due to free radicals.


Dark chocolate can help to relax blood pressure, lower cholesterol, balance certain hormones in the body and reduce the risk of heart disease. It even contains more antioxidants than strawberries!

HOWEVER... This doesn't mean that we can eat a whole block of dark chocolate at once and it's going to necessarily be good for us! 100g is recommended to enjoy all of the benefits. Chocolate is still high in saturated fat, so use your common sense with this one!


Enjoy!


Tony

How to have the life you have always wanted in 7 easy steps

Do you want to take control of your life?

Do you want to create a life full of abundance, fun and beautiful things?

Wouldn't it be great if you could have all of this NOW?

YOU CAN!

You can see it in your mind! And if you can see it, you can achieve it...

Your mind is the most powerful tool you have to help you create your ideal lifestyle. Once you get control of your thoughts, you can get control of your life. So how exactly do you use your mind in such a powerful way? Let's break it down:

1. Get clarity in all areas of your life! Create a list of what you don't want and what you do want for all areas of your life - relationships, health, career, finances, etc to get ultimate clarity on what you desire.

2. Be grateful everyday! Write a list of 5 things that you are grateful for every morning. The more you are grateful for what you have, the more the universe will reward you.

3. Say positive affirmations everyday! Look at yourself in the mirror and say 10 positive statements about you, the person you are becoming and the great things that you have. The more your brain hears it, the more it will move towards the ideal you!

4. Visualise! The subconscious mind doesn't see words, it only sees pictures. Spend time visualising what you want everyday to create the energy to attract it to you.

5. Write your goals down. Just as the subconscious mind only sees pictures, the conscious mind only sees words. Writing your goals down makes them appear more real.

6. Record evidence in action. As you continue to perform this ritual on a daily basis, the universe has a funny way of responding and things will start to happen. Record what happens to prove to yourself that this stuff does work!

7. Believe that you deserve it! Whatever happened in your past has happened, and you can't change it. Accept that you deserve the best from the world and success will be attracted to you.

And it's as simple as that! The key to this whole process is consistency - you need to do it everyday to keep the energy going... Thoughts + feelings + actions = results!

Good luck!

Tony

Exercise Under Review!

Looking for an exercise that will help your legs and butt to be tight, toned and super strong? Look no further than squats! This time efficient, compound exercise helps to:

• Increase leg strength and power
• Burn massive amounts of calories, which means fat reduction!
• Increase core and back strength
• Save you time in workouts because it works lots of muscles at once!

Whether you are a beginner or an advanced trainer, squats will work for you! And all you need is your body weight, and depending on your level, dumbells/a barbell and someone to spot you.

Here are the steps to a perfect squat:

1. Keep your abdominals braced or "on"
2. Keep your eyes focused forward to maintain a neutral spine position
3. Lower by breaking at your hips first
4. Lower as far as you can go, keeping your heels on the ground
5. Keep your knees tracking in line with your toes
6. Keep your weight on your heels (you should be able to move your toes)
7. Exhale on the way up
8. Stand up until your legs are nearly straight, but not locked

As with any exercise, having the correct form and technique is the key to getting the full benefit of the action. Here are a few little things to look out for:

• Your knees collapsing towards each other
• Buckling in your back or shoulders
• Pushing up through your toes or leaning forward
• Any discomfort/twinges in your lower back - STOP IMMEDIATELY if you feel this!

And there you have it... The key steps to a perfect squat to help you get fast, fat burning results!

Have fun!

Tman

Think It, Ink It!

Putting pen to paper and actually writing down your goals is very powerful!


In 1953, a study was done to examine the effects of having clear written down goals. A group of university graduates were studied and only 3% had clear written down goals. 25 years later it was found that his 3% had achieved more than the whole 97% who didn't have clear written down goals!


Writing down your goals makes it more real. It increases your belief that you will achieve them. It brings emotion to your goals and that's what drives you to achieve them.


Go on, give it a go...

• Find a quiet spot so that you can focus



• Grab a a pen and paper (a journal is great!) and think about what you would really like to achieve, what you would really like to have in your life



• Write down your ideas and thoughts in all areas of life - your health, career, relationships, finances, etc



• Write down your goals as often as you can and see what you can achieve!

Your goals will pull you through. When your goals are strong enough and clear enough, they will give you the discipline you need to achieve them. Happy achieving!

Cheers,

Tony