Going On a Mental Diet

Diets are always in style. Every time you turn around, someone is coming out with a new and improved diet. The latest craves are the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet, and Dr. Phil even has a diet he's promoting. Everyone is on a diet.

That's how I came up with the idea of a "mental" diet.

I thought it would be interesting if we put our mentality on a diet.

What I mean by this is let's, for the next month or two, go on a mental diet. Let's watch what we are feeding into our subconscious mind. What I mean by this is let's pay close attention to the stuff that we feed into our conscious mind and make sure that we are only feeding POSITIVE thoughts into our mind.

Let's pretend that negative thoughts are the new carbs. And every time you feed negative thoughts into your mind, it's like eating an entire cheesecake-with strawberries on the top.

Take time to stop and pay attention to the thoughts that penetrate your subconscious mind for the next month or two; you might be surprise by the amount of negative images that are fed into your conscious mind every day and even every second of the day.

Just to prove this thought, let's do an experiment. Today or tomorrow, when you are at work, go somewhere that a lot of employees congregate. It could be the coffee maker, the water cooler, the smoking section or the cafeteria-and eavesdrop on the conversations.

If you do this, you will realize that most people are negative. I'm sure they are not even aware of the negative thoughts or the negative energy they are putting out all day every day. If you just listen to the conversations you will most likely hear nothing but complaining. They will be complaining about their work load; about their supervisor; about their spouse; about their children; about their day-complain, complain, complain, on just about anything and everything.

On a mental diet, it is your job to stop all the negative thoughts and images that come into your mind. If you find yourself engaging in negative conversation, remember, you are on a mental diet. You cannot feed negative thoughts into your mind for the next couple of months.

Watching the news and certain television shows is out of the question--too much negativity. Now, I know that some of you are news junkies and that you may have news withdrawal. But don't worry. If there is anything that happens that is really news worthy, you will know. Someone will feel compelled to tell you-trust me.

In order to change your life, you must change the way you think. There's no other way around it.

To become more aware of HOW you think, you have to become aware of your thoughts and your habits. Everything that you do is out of habit-the way you walk, talk, work, dress, and behave is out of your conditioning.

Your conditioning comes from years of doing things a certain way. The way you do things is due to the fact that you have programmed your subconscious mind to work in a certain way. If you want to change your life, you have to change your programming. In order to change your programming, you must first become aware of the negative thoughts that are penetrating your subconscious mind.

People who are successful are those who have learned to eliminate their negative thoughts-they are on mental diets. They only allow positive thoughts to penetrate their subconscious mind. All negative thoughts are rejected.

Discovering your life's purpose is the easy part. LIVING your life's purpose is the hardest part because of your previous subconscious programming. In order to make changes you must go on a mental diet and change your negative thoughts such as "Who would ever pay me to do that?" "I can't do anything other than what I have been doing, even if I hate the job that I presently have." "I have no talents and no abilities."

These are the negative thoughts that we MUST eliminate in order to move forward with our lives.

ACTION POINT: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT allow any negative thoughts to enter your mind for the next few weeks. If you find yourself having a negative thought, participating in a negative conversation, or viewing negative images-STOP. Replace the negative thought with a positive thought. If you are engaging in a negative conversation-STOP, and walk away, or better yet, tell the person you are conversing with that you are on a mental diet and refuse to participate in any negative chitchat.

If you seriously go on a mental diet, you will start seeing the results in your life. Positive attracts positive. Negative attracts negative. Like attracts like. It's the law of attraction. It works all the time. Change your thoughts and you can change your life.

Dawn Fields is a motivational speaker, author and spiritual life coach who teaches about discovering and living your life's purpose. Visit the web site at http://www.dawnfields.com and be sure to tune into her radio show, Your Life's Purpose Interactive Internet Radio Show each Thursday at 9 p.m. EST at http://www.dawnfields.com/radioshow.htm. Be sure to sign up for Your Life's Purpose weekly newsletter by sending a blank email to dawn@dawnfields.com

with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Coaching Information:

Related Articles

The Story "From the Chicken Coop"?
Many years ago my grandfather, had a small farm andchickens. One morning he sent me out to the chicken coop tocollect fresh eggs.
Integrating Life and Work
Organizations are finally creating cultures that support a work and life balance for their employees. After years of demanding high productivity and increasing on the job hours and expectations and not achieving the hoped-for better results, companies are finally embracing polices and procedures that support employees in integrating their life and work experience.
Controlling Behavior, Loving Behavior
When Zack and Tiffany started counseling with me, they were on the verge of divorce after 16 years of marriage. Neither really wanted to end the marriage, yet both were miserable.
Executive Coaching
The higher you climb the ladder in this organization, the less chance you have of getting feedback about your performance. The working rule of thumb is "the farther up you go, the stranger things get," especially in the way you are reviewed and rewarded.
The Right Time and Place
(Channelled)Roy?I am sending you this quote from Sōtō Zen, Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki, please read it.Once someone advised Dōgen to go to Easter Japan if he wanted to see Buddhism prosper.
Control, Helplessness, and Love
During my 35 years of counseling individuals, couples, families and business partners, I have discovered that an important purpose of our controlling behavior in our relationships is to avoid the feeling of helplessness. One of the hardest feelings to feel is helplessness.
Dont Be Jealous - Be Inspired
When we see people do things we cannot do, or have things we don't have, it might be tempting to be a little jealous. But, jealousy doesn't lead to anything except resentment, and that isn't going to help you.
The Great Marketing Reframe
From grimaces to stomach knots, talking about marketing seems to take on the sound of Charlie Brown's teacher, with so many syllables of "wah WAaah, wah WAah, wah." What does this mean? For starters, I find it terrifying ironic that, when it boils down to it, truly - marketing and coaching are actually ONE.
Where to Begin?
January is the king of months for those looking to make new beginnings. After the reflections and indulgences of December, the excitement of a new year unfolding brings contemplation of better days ahead.
Worth Waiting For
Direct Answers - Column for the week of July 22, 2002I am a 31-year-old virgin male. At times I feel sexually frustrated because I've never been intimate with a woman.
Can I Be My Own ADD Coach?
Quite often I am in contact with people who discuss acting as an ADD Coach for their child or spouse. While supporting and helping loved ones with ADD is a great idea, acting as an ADD Coach really isn't a great idea.
Emotional Dependency or Emotional Responsibility
Emotional dependency means getting one's good feelings from outside oneself. It means needing to get filled from outside rather than from within.
Coaching Employees - The Chronic Excuser
Most of us find coaching employees to be an effective, even enjoyable, approach to leadership and management. Coaching provides a way to help team members grow and develop, while achieving business objectives.
Ten Benefits of Having a Relationship Coach
As a Master Certified Relationship Coach, I work with singles to help them attract a great match and with couples to help put their relationships back on track. I hear great feedback from my clients about the value of coaching.
Guilt By Association & Wealth By It Too!
"Tell me what company thou keepst, and I'll tell thee what thou art." - Miguel de Cervantes (1547 - 1616) Spanish novelist.
Coaching vs. Directing - How Does Improv Theater Suggest You Should Lead Your Team
An age old battle in improv that I believe resonates well with challenges we experience in the business world is the question of whether a team should have a coach or a director (in which case it should be called an ensemble). In addition there's the third option of the self coached team, which I will call committee from here on forward.
Home For The Holidays
In my husband's family, family members send Christmas cards to other family members (parents to children, brothers and sisters to one another, etc.) even though the family always spends time together at Christmas for a meal and gift exchange.
People Pleasing and How to Stop!
"People pleasing can leave you feeling empty and taken advantage of." Deb MeltonOne of the ways fear shows up in our lives and keeps us from living fully is when we become a people pleaser.
The Joy of Learning!
"Part of what motivates me to write this book is a concern that we've lost touch in education with the sheer joy of what it means to learn something new." -Thomas Armstrong, Author, Awakening Genius in the ClassroomI think I was around 6 years old, when my mum decided to put me into Piano class.
Simple Tips to Move Forward on the Job
Someone I know wants to move into another job in the same company. It is not a management job.