Will this be another New Year when you wonder how it got to be the end of February and still you have not begun to go after those New Year resolutions? How many of you know what it’s like to start the New Year off with great intentions towards your health, but only find yourself in the same old habits that hold you back from looking great and feeling even better? “I am going to lose 25 pounds in the next six months,” “I am going to start eating healthier food,” “I will begin an exercise routine that will boost my energy levels up.”
Do any of these sound familiar from years past? If so, make this years resolutions count! I am one who knows from past experience it is not easy to achieve results unless willing to take a few simple steps to ensure success. These are five of my simple steps that will make all your New Years resolutions count.
5 Steps to Making Your Resolutions Count
1. First off you need to set your intentions. Take one hour to yourself and close your eyes. What comes up for you? What do you see one week from now, one month from now, one year from now? Write down all that you would like to achieve in the coming year and set your intentions towards attracting all your desired results.
2. Now that you have set your intentions it is time to begin visualizing. Each morning before you get out of bed, spend 3-5 minutes visualizing yourself already having achieved all your desired results. If it’s losing a few pounds then visualize how you would look and how it feels. If it’s more energy you’re after, imagine having abundant energy the minute you wake up. How would your day look if you were able to be on high alert morning to night? It is all possible, and visualizing your results a few minutes each day will help your resolutions become reality.
3. Once you set your intentions and begin visualizing each day, you must now begin to take action. It is in taking daily action that all your desired results become reality. The key to taking action is to make sure whatever you set out to achieve is possible. This means you must take small daily action steps towards success. For example, if I wanted to add more exercise into my life I would NOT wake up tomorrow and jog three laps around my block. Instead I would wake up and take a walk around my block once. The idea is to take small achievable actions steps each day so that you feel what its like to succeed. The more small action steps you achieve, the more success you will experience. This feeling of success will only set you up for more success and eventually full achievement of all your desired results.
4. Your intentions have been set, you are now visualizing having achieved amazing results and you are taking small daily action steps towards these results. Now its time to celebrate, celebrate, celebrate! Celebration is another key to manifesting all your life’s goals. Every day you need to celebrate as much as possible. The minute you finish visualizing in the morning, celebrate, when you have completed each daily action steps, celebrate, when you see your kids playing outside in the snow, celebrate. Take a look around you right now and see all that you have in your life worth celebrating. Even the smallest things are worth a pump fist in the air and a big yahoo. As odd as this may sound, celebration is what sets your vibration to positive and only brings you more positive results in return while making you feel amazing. I dare you to try it.
5. We are creatures of habit and for many years you have been doing the same continuous actions over and over again that have created the habits you currently have. The only way to break free of your junk habits is to disrupt the old pattern and introduce new ones. That is why it is so important to set your intentions, visualize everyday, take small daily actions steps, celebrate and finally get support. Many of our conditioned habits are tough to break. Having someone who you can share your successes with as well as talk to in times of need, is crucial to ensure you stay the course as you strive to achieve all you health goals. Support could come from a loving family member, a good friend, a personal trainer, or a success coach. No matter where your sup-port comes from, it is important to share your intentions with some-one who will provide encouragement along the way.
New Years resolutions don’t have to be just another tradition that is forgotten by the end of January and revisited come December. Follow the tools for success above and ensure that this New Year brings abundant health and lifelong prosperity.
This article was first published in Sea to Sky Newspaper, Dec. 2008
Winter is coming. As much as we would like to deny the fact that the summer has come to an end, there is no doubt that the mountain tops will soon be covered with fluffy white gold. For an outdoor enthusiast, the winter brings another season of adventure on the mountain. Skiing has become my winter passion over the past 10 years and as the climbing season comes to an end, another season begins.
For years I have chased the mountains in search of fulfilling an inner desire to push myself to the brink of self discovery. Striving ever higher to push the limits of human ability is what initially led me to the discovery of the Power of Food. As a kid from Toronto, it was quite tough at first keeping up in the mountains with so many great athletes from BC surrounding me.
Within two years of entering the mountain life I found myself with the ability to succeed with many of my outdoor pursuits while gaining knowledge on how to fuel my body to achieve maximum performance. One of my key discoveries in those early years had to do with the way I fueled myself during intense exercise. Having come from a background of eating nothing but simple, refined, over-processed foods, it was no wonder taking chocolate bars for long touring days on my skis did nothing but provide me with a quick burst of energy, followed by a big crash. My choices for fuel often left me struggling to keep up as I continuously watched my friends cruise past me in a sea of white powder. I knew my ability to become stronger, faster and increase my endurance had to do with the foods I was choosing to eat.
I began to turn to a number of different power bars found in most grocery stores such as Powerbars and Cliff bars, to help myself perform better. I quickly learned that many of these options were no better than eating a chocolate bar. With so many power bars on the market, it’s very tough to figure out which ones are best. Over the past 10 years we have seen the health bar industry grow from four key choices to now well over 60 varieties to choose from, as well as confuse us. When was the last time you had a look in your grocery store at the number of health bars available? Many of these power bars offer quality ingredients, but with so much choice, how do you know which ones are best? It was through this frustration and confusion that I began playing in my kitchen to come up with my own power bars to take on all my mountain adventures. I was looking for something that was easy to eat, simple to make and offered quality nutrients for sustained energy and tasted great.
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Synchronicity Magazine
I can’t count how many commercial bars I tried that tasted like cardboard or left an aftertaste worse than the liver and onions I once tried as a kid, only once. Since discovering I could make my own bars that offered me high quality ingredients and endless energy, I have not spent a single dollar fueling myself with the useless health bars found on most grocery store shelves.
This recipe is great for all your mountain adventures, but should not be missed for an afternoon snack while at school, work or just on the go. I call them ‘Adam’s Power Booster Bars’.
ADAM’S NUT FREE Power Booster Bars
* 1 cup chopped pitted dates
* 1/4 cup hemp seeds
* 1/4 cup sesame seeds
* 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
* 1/4 cup shredded coconut
* 1/4 cup lemon juice
This recipe is great for the kids. Get them involved when making these bars and enjoy the art of healthy cooking together.
How To Prepare
Chop with a knife all your pitted dates to ensure there are no pits before placing into your food processor. Place the chopped dates into your food processor. Add in all other ingredients and process until blended together. Place the mixture into a small baking dish. Pat down the ingredients until evenly spread throughout the baking dish. The spread should be about bar size in height. Place in your fridge overnight. In the morning cut the mixture into bar size pieces and place individual potions into the freezer. Pull out a bar as needed.
Recipe Tips
1. Feel free to add a tablespoon of cocoa powder to make chocolate power bars.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of all natural peanut butter to make peanut butter bars
3. Add your choice of nuts such as crushed almond or pecans into the mix to create different bars.
The high quality protein, essential fatty acids and great complex carbohydrates found in these bars makes this recipe ideal to cure the mid afternoon crashes while at school, at work or on the go. They are also a great energy boost for all your outdoor adventures.
Adam Hart is a speaker, trainer, author and coach. Adam Hart is also the founder of Power of Food. Adam brings awareness of the importance of heal their eating choices to thousands of people through public and private workshops. His Power of Food presentation has become a desired addition to many events, organizations and corporate wellness programs looking to increase energy, improve productivity and overall well-being. Visit http://www.poweroffood.com to find out more or call 1-877-222-2950
This article was first published in SYNCHRONICITY MAGAZINE, JAN. 2009