We’re in the final countdown…only 10 days left in this first decade of this new millenium. So it leads me to ask one of the most important questions at this time of year…Are you proud of what you have accomplished this year?

Without question, the key to long-term success is constantly taking positive action to move in the direction of your dreams and goals. Sustained action gives you an indomitable will power to achieve your goals into your LIFE!

As those of you who are Champion Mindset Motivation subscribers, my definition of success is simply this: “No matter where you finish, as long as you have given 100% you’re a winner. This is the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have given your best.”

As General Patton says, if you do your best, what more is there?
So the question becomes, “Have you done the BEST that is in you?”

Or, put a bit more “personal”…
Are You Proud of What You Have Accomplished This Year?

During the past month as you have participated in the 50-day Challenge, I have asked you to look FORWARD to what you hope to accomplish this year and next. Right now I want you to look BACK over 2009, and reflect on what you have DONE—to specifically focus on your achievements.

Yes, I know that this may be more difficult for you than looking into the future and writing down some meaningful goals. However, this is a more important exercise than you can even begin to imagine—as what you have done is a precursor to what you will do.

In a way, I want you to hold yourself ACCOUNTABLE for the time you spent here in the first decade of the new millenium this past year. You did the time…what did you get in trade?

Your Champion Action Today: What are you most PROUD of?
Please take a few moments to write down your major achievements for 2009, broken into 3 groups:
Family, Friends and of course, Yourself:

FAMILY ___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

FREINDS __________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

YOURSELF ___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

“The real contest is always between what you’ve done and what you’re capable of doing. You measure yourself against yourself and nobody else.” ~ Geoffrey Gaberino

Look closely at what you have written down. The real question becomes, how closely do your achievements align with your personal mission and living your life ON purpose?

Could you have accomplished even more this year if your goals were better aligned with your living your life on purpose? Do you in fact have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you have done your very best?

Yes? Fabulous! Keep going and keep growing. Or, do you feel that had you been a bit more committed and engaged this year, you would have been able to achieve even more?

If so, here’s something to think about…..”If you are living your life on PURPOSE; are you willing to trade the only life you have to live in pursuit of it?” Are you?

When you are working toward an ideal that comes from the heart, you are naturally motivated and driven to do your best. A thoughtfully created, highly desirable life purpose is guaranteed to make you highly focused, powerful and productive.

Act from your deepest Champion core values, and they will provide you with direction and satisfaction.

Connect and recommit to your life purpose every day. If you don’t, you’re trading the only life you have for things that simply don’t matter.

Whatever you do, come the end of the next decade I do not want you looking back and saying: “I wish I could’ve, should’ve” Now that would be a waste of your life.

And remember: if you don’t quit…you will make it!
Cheers Shelley Taylor-Smith

Fitness Expert, Rob Poulos wrote a great article which ties in perfectly with Thinking Like A Champion and adopting the lifestyle changes…I think you will like it….enjoy!

A Simple Change In Mindset Will Burn More Fat Fast

Most people that I talk to about health and fitness talk about “getting in shape”. But I don’t think they realize that their words are actually counterproductive to their aspirations of burning fat. You hear a lot of people lamenting about being out of shape and saying, “I need to get in shape and burn fat”, or, “I want to get in shape and burn fat.” What you don’t hear them saying is, “I want to get in shape, burn fat, and stay that way.”

They may want to stay in shape, but their mindset is focused on getting in shape. This makes you more susceptible to the fad diets and latest exercise gimmick on the market. You’re so focused on getting in shape that you’ll try almost anything regardless of how silly or difficult to follow it might seem, because you’re entirely focused on the short term goal.

A simple change in the “quick fix” mindset to one of long term success will steer you down the correct path. You’ll be less enticed by the late night TV hype, and more focused on doing the right things most of the time. Wouldn’t you agree that life long health and fitness is what’s most important?

Of course creating an environment in your body that allows you to burn fat fast is essential to this goal. A person who is in shape in their 50s and 60s is a lot more impressive to me than someone who is lean and fit in their 20s and 30s. That’s because the dedication to maintaining the proper exercise plan and a sensible nutrition strategy for the rest of your life is rare to find. It’s a rare mindset.

If you really want to transform your physique and your health for good, you must make it a lifestyle, a habit. And that starts in your mind. That’s what the people who are lean for life do. In fact, if I think about all of the people I personally know that are in great shape and have been for a while, I start to understand that they have their minds on staying in shape.

They think about it day and night, not obsessively, but with each thing they do…they subconsciously think, “Is this going to positively or negatively impact my long term health and fitness?”, “Am I doing everything I reasonable can to burn fat and live a healthy lifestyle?”.

The good news is that research shows you can develop simple habits like those involved in eating and exercising properly in under a month…sometimes even sooner. And with the type of exercise and diet tips I recommend to my students, you don’t need to give up your life’s pursuits so that you are working out every day, nor do you need to follow a wacky diet you can’t reasonably make a lifestyle out of.

And after a few months of practicing these methods, I’ve found that your body will start telling you it wants to keep exercising and eating right…you just won’t feel right with out it. Why? Because your body naturally wants to be healthy and lean.

So I urge you to forgo the “get in shape” mindset, and instead embrace the idea of staying in shape and creating that fat burning furnace that is so essential to life long health and fitness.

Imagine yourself in the body of your dreams, today, tomorrow, and 5, 10, 20 or more years from now. What will you be doing then, in your lean, strong, and healthy body? Chances are, you won’t be trying to “get in shape”. Instead, you’ll be burning fat 24/7, and enjoying life as you should…full of vitality and passion.

And remember: it is mind-over-matter
and if you don’t quit…you will make it!

Cheers Shelley Taylor-Smith

PS: Need help deciding how to change your mindset to STAY IN SHAPE in 2010 and beyond and realising that with so much to do and only 24hrs a day to do it? Call Champion Mindset office on 1300 78 41 70 and ask to Pick Shelley’s Brain for 10mins for FR.eE!

You CAN Always Get What You Want

As the temperature hit 39degrees Celcius last Saturday, it was hotting up even more at the Esther Foundation 2009 graduation. As I sat with Justin Langer and his family (Aussie Cricket legend and a Champion bloke) we were both amazed how the five young Australian women graduating had overcome insurmountable odds including alcoholism, domestic violence, drug addiction, depression, anger management, self mutilation, and eating disorders. And WOW now they’re standing VICTORIOUS!!! Justin and I were both exhilarated and shed many tears (of joy!).

So as I sat alongisde Justin Langer I remembered talking to a good friend of mine, who was a nationally known sportsman, reaching the pinnacle of his sport, then going on to other successes in other fields. He told me that when he was young, he always knew he was going to be a Wallaby. He had the talent, that’s for sure, but what he also had was the belief. Belief in himself, in his dream and in his goals.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time around eminently successful people and the one thing they all have in common is that same overwhelming sense of belief. They know what they want and they also know with unswerving belief that they can do it. Of course, this is not to say they don’t have setbacks. It’s not always smooth sailing, but their fundamental belief in the goal and themselves pulls them through the rough spots. Keeping their eye on the prize, sometimes to the exclusion of all else, is what ensures their success.

Naturally, we can’t all be Wallabies or Aussie Swim Team Dolphins, but we can all achieve our goals as long as certain conditions are met. They must be realistic, we must really want them, they must be beneficial and the most important condition of all, we must have a goal in the first place.

So many of us are vague about what we want and what we expect from our lives. We spend a lot of time wishing things were better, but not a lot of time actually making them so. We think we do, but often we’re really just coasting along not really expending any effort and sort of doing OK but there’s something slightly unfulfilling about just getting by.

Setting goals is one of the very best things we can do for ourselves. Deciding what we really want and working towards it has to be infinitely better than drifting aimlessly hoping to avert disaster.

Our minds have a remarkably powerful facility that many of us under-utilise. If we tell it where we want to go, it will map ways for us to get there. I call it your automatic GPS – Goal Projection Success Mindset machine. If we keep the object of our desire in the forefront of our mind, if we see an image of it every day, even subliminally, our GPS mindset machine does the hard work for us.

But we need to be careful with all that power, because it can work just as well in the negative as in the positive. If I keep thinking, “I’m working too hard. I need a break,” my mind will find a way to fulfil my goal. Unfortunately, that could mean I get sick or get injured or all the work that seems to just flow in suddenly dries up. If instead I think, “It’s time I was rewarded for all this hard work,” my outcome is far more likely to be positive, because my mind will be creating ways to reward me.

It’s not enough to set one goal and go for it. Your fitness goals should be full of some for tomorrow, some for next month and some for five years from now. Once we look like we’re going to reach one of our goals, re-evaluate and move the goal post if necessary. Why not shoot for the moon?

Earl Nightingale said, “We become what we think about most”. If we’re always thinking that life is tough, it will become so. If we think that we’re not quite good enough, guess what?! It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It’s just as easy to hold a positive thought as a negative one, so perhaps it’s time for you to get positive about where you are and where you’re going and set a few goals.

Naturally, if you need a little help figuring out how to plan for 2010, find a goals coach that will help you find the right direction.

Remember: if you don’t quit…you will make it!
Cheers Shelley Taylor-Smith

What is the most important thing you can do today?

Make it a habit to ask yourself this question every morning when you wake up.

“What is the most important thing I can do today that will benefit me, my family, my life, my fellow man, my planet?”

Why should you ask yourself this question?
>> Because it matters.
>> Because we live in trying times and the answers are more critical than ever.
>> Because you need to get in the habit of defining “importance” in your life.
>> Because YOU “CAN” ask yourself this question.
>> Because you have probably “NOT” been asking this question enough.

Ask yourself this simple question every morning. “What is the most important thing I can do today?”

The answer does not have to be BIG. Sometimes the answer will seem small, but think about it carefully…it may be bigger than you think.

Here are some examples:
#1 You will help your daughter with her homework today.
Sound small? It’s not.
>> You are creating a lifelong bond with your child.
>> You are spending valuable time with your child, time that can be used to instill values in her
that can last a lifetime.

#2 You are fed up with your boss, you have decided that you are (finally) going to start your own business, break away from your job and become independent.
Obviously this is “VERY” important. It can change your life in many ways. It can bring you freedom.

It will require lots of work, planning, and strategies, but the rewards will be great. You will be filled with pride and increased self esteem.

(Just a quick note: I will be making a HUGE announcement in the next few days regarding this topic…..stay tuned.)

#3 You will workout this morning before going to work.
>> Your heart rate will increase, your heart will grow stronger.
>> Your skin, brain cells and all the cells in your body will receive more oxygen due to the increased blood flow that results from a cardio workout.
>> You will feel less depressed because science tells us that your brain will be flooded with endorphins. Endorphins make you feel euphoric, happy and powerful.

(Note that I always write my best work after I return from a swim workout. Why?
Because the euphoria that working out brings is always accompanied by increased creativity….guess what…as I write these words right now, I am feeling this increased mental clarity and increased creativity, because I worked out 1 hour prior to beginning this article.)

#4 You stop to help a stranger on the street who is down and out.
Believe it or not it is “YOU”, not the stranger who benefits the most when you help him/her.

Again, this may seem small and un-important but it make become the “MOST” important thing you do all day…after all, you don’t know how the rest of your day will go.

#5 You register to vote. Maybe you have never voted before. Maybe you will see an opportunity to get involved to help change the system instead of just being fed up with it. (no pun intended)

Many people gave their lives so that you would have the right to vote…how important is that?

Regardless of what you decide, the most important thing you can do today is simply ask the question. Ask the question everyday. Ask because you can. Ask because it matters. Ask because the answers will surprise you. Most important……..”ASK.”

Enjoy achieving what matters most to you today!
Cheers Shelley Taylor-Smith

PS: Need help deciding how to be more effective with focusing on what matters most and deal with overwhelm, frustration and stress with so much to do and only 24hrs a day to do it ….click here NOW