North Star Mental Fitness Blog

Yes, I Can

"Yes, I Can" is a wonderful affirmation.  This affirmation will program the mind for success in all areas of one's life.

I have been very surprised by the difficulties many clients have with making success generating affirmations. 

The Real Battle Is Inside the Mind

I read a wonderful article on Mental Fitness by Mark Salinas.  I urge you to read this article as it is loaded with mental fitness tips.

Mark wrote "athletes know their real battle is not so much on the field or track, but inside their mind". 

This quotation reminds me of a talk I had with a very skilled archer.  For 10 years, he could not get past shooting 90%.  Shooting 9 out of 10 arrows successfully sounded great to me, but not for a professional archer.  Only after studying mental fitness and sports psychology was he able to improve his shooting.

As I read what Mark wrote, I quickly realized that people's problems with their spouses, children, parents, employers or employees are not due to the other individual.  We like to blame other people and wish that they would change.  Professional athletes and athletes in the stadiums of human experience, know that the battle is inside their mind.  We must learn how to change how we think about the important people in our lives in order to change our feelings and reduce our conflicts.

From a mental fitness perspective, you can change your feelings by changing your thinking; not by trying to change the other person.  The other person does not have to make significant changes in order for us to change our feelings.  Your mental fitness can never be dependent on someone else.  Your mental fitness depends on your thinking and mind conditioning. 

Mark put it this way "it is a must that you manage your mental state".

Your thinking for victorious living depends on training your mind to be fit and tough.  This is why I became a Life and Mental Fitness Coach.

Remember, You Live within the Environment Created by Your Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Announcing the Mind Fitness Newsletter

For a long time I have been blogging.  In fact, I have made 350 posts.  I have enjoyed the new acquaintances I have made, including fellow bloggers with similar interests.  I have especially enjoyed and appreciated the comments made by readers of my blog.

As you may have noticed, the frequency of my posts has decreased.  I have been researching various ideas for increasing interpersonal interaction and communication between myself and the readers of this blog.  Blogging has been way too impersonal form me and I think for most of my readers.

I want to know my readers.  I want to know  your feelings, thoughts and goals.  I want to interact with you, my readers, while you are applying mental fitness concepts to improve the quality of your lives.  I want to know where you are stuck and where you are progressing.

I have chosen to start a newsletter by the name of "Mind Fitness".  I have some great ideas regarding how to make mental fitness more personal and interactive.  I'll also be asking you for your ideas.

You may have noticed on the upper right corner of my blog, there is a "Sign Me Up" place for you to click and become a recipient of the newsletter.  The newsletter will be free.  I hope you will sign up.  However, I hope you will only sign up if you want to interact and feel empowered in applying mental fitness in your life.

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Family Values, Faith and Fitness

Family values has become an electrifying issue for the University of Michigan football team.  The controversy regarding family values surfaced when offensive guard, Justin Boren left the team, because the team's "family values have eroded".  His statement was extremely painful.  After all, he was a second-generation football player at U. of M.  The quotation from Justin Boren was embedded in an article "Rick Rodriguez is building a proud program at Michigan" which appeared in Koala325.

Bob Flounders from the Patriot News wrote an aspiring article on family values.  The story was about the heartbreaking losses experienced by the Mealer and Richer families and about the victories experience as the result of family values, faith and fitness.

Elliott Mealer is a very talented football player, who committed to play for the University of Michigan.  On Christmas Eve in 2007, a car accident took the life of his father and his girlfriend, Hollis Richer.  Elliott, his mother and brother Brock survived.  Brock had a severely damaged spinal cord and broken wrist.

The importance of family values was seen at the time of the accident, when Elliott tried to lift a section of the SUV to free his loved ones.  As a result he had a torn rotator cuff injury.

Elliott talked about his father's love and commitment to his family.  "My father was the type of guy who would do everything for the family".  When he was in the second grade, Elliott remembered talking to his father that he wanted to go to a school where they played football.  Elliott said "we ended up moving".

Life has not been easy for Elliott, since the accident.  Elliott confided "I can't get the vision of the wreck out of my mind.  My girlfriend, my dad,  I'm still going through stages".  Elliott went on to say "what makes it really hard is that my dad and my girlfriend were my best friends".

Family, faith and fitness has helped Elliott go on since the tragic accident. Elliott attributed his faith to his girlfriend.  "She has such a strong faith.  I've never seen anybody with faith as strong as hers" said Elliott.

A bond developed between the Mealer and Richer families.  Since the accident, Elliott has lived with the Richer family.  Obviously, the Mealer and Ricter families had nurtured very strong family values based on faith.

Bob Flounders wrote "faith has carried Elliott Mealer in the six months since the life-alternating the accident and faith has convinced him that his brother will to defy doctors' predictions that he would never walk again".

If you want to know what faith and fitness are all about, listen to the words of Elliott's brother, Brock.  "Well, I know I am going to walk again.  I don't know how long it will take, it may take 10 years, but I'm going to do it."

Elliott calls his brother "Miracle Mealer".  Talking about his brother, Elliott predicted "when he puts his mind to something, it gets done".  Elliott has another brother by the name of Blake.  Elliott went on to say "Blake and I were the athletes, but Brock's tougher than all of us".

I want to conclude this inspiring story by talking about family values that transcend the fierce rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan.  Brock's spirits were recently encouraged by a phone call from Jim Tressel, the Ohio State Football Coach. 

Former University Of Michigan Football Coach, Lloyd Carr, used his influence to get brought into U of M's medical facility.  Even though Brock is a Ohio State student, Rich Rodriquez and his staff have regularly visited and encouraged Brock.  Brock stated "Coach Rodriquez and his assistants have been great to me".

Life is about family values, faith and fitness.  The Mealer family, the Richer family, Elliott, Brock, Coach Carr, Coach Tressel and Coach Rodriquez have together created an inspiring story for us all to emulate.  Yes, the coaches and players at the University of Michigan still have family values.

Remember, We Live within the Environment Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

She DIdn't Quit

I LIVE WITHIN THE ENVIRONMENT CREATED BY MY CHOICES has been validated.  Two years ago, she was devastated by the sudden death of her husband.  They had been through difficult times in their lives together.  At the time of his untimely death, an environment of calmness and love flourished between them.

I told her story in After Death Do Us Part.  Now let me tell you the rest of her story.  Her husband had a horrible accident, resulting in a broken neck.  He no longer was able to work and his quality of his life declined tremendously.  At that time, she was employed in the job with no future of advancement.  In addition, her job was not allowing her to achieve her dreams and utilize her talents.

Much to the surprise and disappointment of her husband, she quit her job.  He withdrew from her angrily, because there was no money being made by them.  She still pursued her dream in spite of the coldness and lack of support from her husband. 

She pursued her dream by entering school, graduating and becoming an exceptional teacher.  At the time of her husband's death, he had let go of his resentments towards her for pursuing her dream, when his dreams had ended.  She had accomplished her dream to be a teacher, when he died.

Life was good for them.  They were sharing their goals and were emotionally connected, when he suddenly died.  She was emotionally devastated, alone.  She felt cheated.  Although she momentarily felt like quitting, she did not quit!

She continued with her education and achieved an advanced degree.  She has received accolades for her teaching.  She is now launching her new career as a school administrator.  She is selling her home and moving.  She has remained focused on her dreams in spite of the problems she has with her sons.  She has learned to detach from rescuing her sons.

Today, this woman realizes the powerfulness of her choices.  She clearly sees how her choices are creating the environment she desires.  She understands that her happiness, peace of mind, freedom and control over her life has been generated by her choice making and not by external circumstances.

She has had the courage to make difficult decisions during the course of caring for herself.  She has remained focused, even though her heart was broken by the death of her husband and the unproductive ways of her children. 

No matter how bad her circumstances have been, she has remained focused on pursuing and living her dreams.

Remember, You, Too, Live within the Environment Created by Your Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Coaching Passion

"I want to make sure they have passion for what we are
doing and it is not fake passion".

This was not a statement from a woman wanting to be loved by her significant other.

This was a statement from a man wanting to be sexually fulfilled in a relationship with a significant other.

This statement was made by University of Michigan Football Coach, Rich Rodriguez.  Coach wanted his players to be emotionally and physically capable of functioning at peak performances.  He wanted to weed out those who want the glory of being on the team, but were not willing to work hard enough to be champions.

I pondered this statement as I realized how relevant it was for any team or relationship.  Just being on the team is not enough for passion. 

Is the mere presence of being on the team "fake passion"? 

If a person is not willing to push him or herself, work hard and prepare to become a champion, does it mean they have "fake passion"?

Is coach Rodriguez right?

Is it necessary to work hard, prepare to overcome frustrations, and be physically and mentally fit in order to be passionate?

From a mental fitness perspective, it is important to think thoughts that will generate passion.

It doesn't matter what game it is.  What matters is training and learning to think in a way to generate passion!

Remember, We Live with Passion Or Lack of Passion Created by the Choices We Make!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

 

There Is a Cure for Choking And Loss of Momentum

"Tonight I was playing in the finals of a local tournament and missed the nineball in two games. Due to these misses, I came in second place.

Is there a cure for this disease?"

 

This was the gut wrenching plea from a frustrated billiard player, who wrote "Choking nine balls? Help!

 

Is there a cure for choking and loss of momentum?

Choking and loss of momentum are seen on a daily basis in every sport.  Errors and mistakes are inevitable and part of amateur and professional sports. 

Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune humorously wrote about choking by one of baseball's super stars, Soriano:

Mental Fitness Programming Applied to Overcome Anxiety about Surgery

The Turn Around Choice of the North Star Medal Fitness Program has been designed to reduce anxiety, panic and fear. 

In fact, this Choice can be used to reduce and manage all self-defeating behavior.  Yesterday, I taught a client how to apply the Turn Around Choice to reduce anxiety and fear about flying in an airplane.

At first he was skeptical.  Then he went through a stage of disbelief as he never thought of this approach to reduce his fear of flying.  As he began to understand how he could reduce and manage his fear of flying, he relaxed.  He felt confident.  He exclaimed that the general public should know about this procedure. 

We talked about how this procedure could be applied to solve so many problems like addictions, other fears and problems with poor impulse control. 

As we talked, I began to feel rather foolish.  I had completely forgotten to apply the choice in my own life!

You see, later this morning I will have shoulder surgery.  I had completely forgotten to master my anxiety, fears and indecision regarding the surgery with the Turn Around Choice.  I admitted my oversight to my client.

Immediately, I applied the Turn Around Choice to relax me regarding my surgery.  It worked.  Yesterday and today I have an inner calmness about the surgery.  I also know that I can use the Turn Around Choice, if my fear or panic return.

I also emphasized for my client one more fact.  Even though a person knows the secrets of mental fitness, mental fitness relief will not be experienced unless the Turn Around Choice is consciously made.

Remember, We Live within the Environment Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Is Your Passion Real?

"Why don't I do when I know I should"?

This was a question asked by one of my very astute clients.  She has been struggling with learning how to take care of herself when she anticipates or experiences criticisms from others.

I'm quite sure that there are many answers to this question.  My client knows she must be performing her mental exercises to become stronger than her problems and strong enough to overcome criticism from others.  Yet, she finds herself unable to maintain focused thinking about her self.  It is so foreign and so hard for her to focus on "caring for herself".

When I listened to University of Michigan Football Coach, Rich Rodriquez, he talked about part of the solution.  Coach Rodriquez put it this way about his team:

Brian Tracy on Mental Fitness

How Important Is Mental Fitness?

Brian Tracy in his Sales Success Newsletter wrote about the importance of mental fitness in selling.  Mental fitness is not only important in selling, it is crucial for living a successful life.

This is what Brian Tracy had to say about mental fitness: