Today is going to make a huge impact on your success! You might not think so, but what you believe will happen. Have you ever heard that quote “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t — you’re right” by Henry Ford? He is absolutely right!

Your mindset is going to be the biggest obstacle that you’ll struggle with during this challenge. So changing the way you think is essential.

In order to do this you’ll need to set yourself up for success.

Learn to be your biggest cheerleader. Believe in yourself. Know that you will make mistakes and don’t beat yourself up over it.

Here are two ways to push the negative voice out of your head and replace it with one that truly believes in you and what you want to get out of life – a healthy you!

Reading quotes daily will spark a positive attitude

This might sound dull, but it works. If you read quotes daily you are constantly putting motivational, inspirational words and sayings into your mind. You’ll start to think differently if you do just this one simple task every single day.

The negativity that you or others have said to you gets pushed out by positive thoughts and feelings that the quotes produce. You’ll feel good after you read them. You’ll start to see yourself in a positive light.

Being positive is half the battle and you need to believe that you can do it. Because guess what – you can!

So, how can you make this work for you? There are a couple of ways. Use a search engine and type in the words motivational quotes, inspirational quotes, or even quotes for healthy eating.

Whatever motivation you feel you need that day – type in those types of words into the search engine. Then you’ll see lists people have written – go to one of those sites and read a few of the quotes they wrote. Or click the image option on the search page and go read some of the quotes on those beautiful backgrounds.

Another way is to write down the quotes that inspire and motive you the most. The ones that mean the most to you and that will motivate you to accomplish your goals. Just don’t forget to hang them up somewhere and read them every day.

Photo: symphony of love/flickr

Create and use affirmations

Affirmations are a powerful way to retrain your brain to think positive thoughts and help you change. You can either create your own or you can find a few that fit your situation. This will help you because if you tell yourself something positive enough times you’ll believe it.

If you want to find some that you can tell yourself every day – go to this website. The affirmations are listed under different circumstances that you might be going on. For example there is a list for when you start comparing yourself to others, when you are feeling stuck, or when you want to give up.

Those might not work for everyone – so find affirmations that resonate with you. How you feel, what situation you are facing, and how to get past the issue.

Creating your own will provide affirmations that are specifically for you. You’ll create them based on the way you feel and struggles you have faced in the past or are currently facing. It is harder to create an affirmation because you have to dig into your heart and soul.

Here are the steps to creating your own affirmations:

Step 1 – Figure out your negative self-talk

Self-talk will determine if you’re going to be successful or not. If you’ve been on any type of diet before or have an issue with your weight, you’ve got negative self-talk.

This might be things you say to yourself or hear others say about you, traits or behavior that are negative, skills that you believe you are not good at.

Your job is to write them down – all of them. Yes, this is extremely scary and you’ll probably dismiss this exercise because you don’t want to go into all of that. But trust us, you won’t regret it.

While writing this self-talk down, make note of feelings you might have. Is your chest tightening or is there stress in your shoulders? These are signs that what you are writing down is important to you.

Now get a piece of paper and fold it in half. Start writing down any statements that come to mind on the left side of the paper. Keep writing until you’ve written down all that you remember.

Limiting self-beliefs can manifest themselves as excuses as well. You need to write those down on your list too. An excuse might be “I’m big boned and can’t lose weight, so why bother” or “this is always how I’ve eaten and I can’t change it now.” These are limiting beliefs that we place on ourselves.

Once your initial list is done you want to keep the list current. Anytime you hear yourself being negative then you need to write those thoughts and feelings down.

Step 2 – Change your limiting self-beliefs and have faith in yourself instead

You might notice a pattern of thoughts while you are writing all of these down. Perhaps your thought patterns are hard wired to feel like you are “not good enough” for a healthy life, for success or for good friends. This is the heart of your issues and will need to be addressed.

Grab your piece of paper with all the negative self-talk that you have ingrained into your mind. On the right side of each negative write a positive. To do this effectively here are some tips:

• Use a thesaurus to find powerful words that mean something to you
• Create affirmations that start with “I am”
• Try not to use negative words in your affirmation like, “I am not fat.” Instead use something that has a positive feeling for you like, “I am energetic, healthy and at my ideal weight.”
• Do not use words such as always or never. These words bring on high expectations.

Once you’re done writing your affirmation, pick two or three that are the most powerful and will bring you the biggest benefit. How will you know? Listen to your body.

Step 3 – Say it out loud and believe it to be true

When you put positive thoughts in your mind, you’ll start feeling better about yourself. It’s as simple as that.

Say your affirmations at least three times a day. Find five minutes and repeat them to yourself. If you are able to they are more effective if you can say them out loud. Another powerful step is to say them in front of a mirror.

Visualize that what you are saying is the truth. Believe it in your heart and soul. Know that you are worthy and are capable of anything.

After you’ve made your affirmations and recited them to yourself – you are done for today. Don’t forget to do the other steps in the challenge. Did you drink enough water, made better decisions, and exercised today?

Stay tuned because tomorrow you are going to learn why it’s important to talk to your family.