North Star Mental Fitness Blog

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

Why Quitting Smoking Doesn't Work

- Each day, nearly 6,000 children under 18 years of age start smoking
- Nearly 2,000 will become regular smokers.
- Annually 800,000 new smokers join the ranks of the diseased.

Approximately 90 percent of smokers begin smoking before the age of 21. According to the latest smoking statistics in 2001, a national survey of high school students revealed that the overall prevalence of current cigarette use was 28 percent. Nearly 20 percent of 12th graders, 12 percent of 10th graders and 5.5 percent of 8th graders smoke cigarettes daily. These statistics provided by Credible Reviews.

For more statistics on smoking in the text of smoking, I refer you to Smoking Statistics provided by the World Health Organization.

All these statistics indicate the need for people to stop smoking.  The reality is clear.  Smoking is bad for health and the health of others.

Although it is realistically and practically important to stop smoking, motivating yourself to "quit" or "stop" smoking is likely to fail for the following reasons: 

Wrong Solutions For Stopping Smoking Create Relapse!

I received a wonderful comment regarding my blog, Re-wiring Urges.  Lora wrote:

"I LOVED your post on re-wiring the urge to smoke.  I'm a smoker and have quit way too many times to count.  One time lasted 15 years.  So...what else do you have in your bag of tricks for smokers?  I'm all ears!"

Thank you Lora for e-mailing me such a nice comment.  After thinking for a few minutes, I reached into my bag of tricks.  Then my mind wandered back to Lora's dilemma.

Lora's dilemma is well-known to many smokers.  The dilemma is, why do people relapse?  Why can't people maintain a state of quitting?  Why can't people stop smoking forever?

What I found in my bag tricks for non-smokers may surprise you or even shock you.

The Five Second Program for Breaking Bad Habits!

The Turn Around Choice from The North Star Mental Fitness Program Is a Five Second Program for Breaking Bad Habits!

Yes, you read the statement right.  You can break bad habits, if you are willing to take five seconds out of your day when needed to break your bad habit!

Impossible you might think, but from my personal experience I know it works.  This simplistic and easy, but still unbelievably effective works, because of the unique understanding of how to break bad habits.

Here is the secret.

A Review of 6 articles: for Breaking Bad Habits

It is time again to make New Year's resolutions.  At this time of year, we are motivated to Break Bad Habits.  In order to help you make resolutions for breaking bad habits, I have reviewed the following blogs.

Adam Voiland of U.S. News and World Report explained why we make bad choices even when we know better in his article, "Want to Break a Bad Habit?  Try This".  Adam explained that we sometimes make bad choices because we want immediate gratification and do what is easiest.  He wrote the answer is to "build systems into your life that reward healthy choices or make healthy choices more convenient than unhealthy choices". 

Adam encouraged us to not forbid ourselves or others from making bad choices and to not punish ourselves or others for making bad choices.  "We know, in fact, stress and negative emotions often lead to things like binge eating, drug relapse and emotional buying.  Incentives work much better."  I believe Adam's ideas are excellent ways to neutralize the effects of the "innate human defiance,"  which was listed as one of the reasons "Why It's so Hard to Break Bad Habits," which was an article written by Jeanna Bryer for Fox News.com.

Why It Is Hard To Break Bad Habits?

The New Year is coming.  The time for making New Year's Resolutions is rapidly approaching with excitement and trepidation.

We know it's time to Break Bad Habits, but, often times, our confidence and hope have been shattered by past failure and disappointment.

Because of the bad consequences associated with bad habits, we suck in our gut, take a deep breath and commit ourselves to Breaking Bad Habits.

Jeanna Bryer of Fox News.com wrote a very relevant article "Why It's so Hard to Break Bad Habits".

When Does a Tool Become a Tool?

When does a tool become a tool?  This may seem like a strange question to you. 

"A tool is always a tool", you might think. For example, aren't your screwdrivers, hammers or pliers always tools?  You bought tools, because you wanted to have them in your toolbox for when you need them. 

We like our tools, because they are not perishable like fruits and vegetables.  Tools have a long life, unless misused or fatigued because of years of service.

Of course, you say "a tool is always a tool". 

If you think a tool is always a tool, you are both right and wrong.  How could you be wrong?

 

Mental Fitness Is Necessary for Weight Loss

"Work Your Mind, Not Just Your Body" is a very insightful post written by Debbie Rocker at Yahoo Health. Debbie wrote:  "Fitness isn't just physical".

The essence of rational emotive therapy and mental fitness training is expressed in Norman Vincent Peale's statement, "Change your thoughts and you change the world".  This means change your thoughts and you change your weight.

Do you believe this statement made by Debbie: "Let’s not waste time on changing our bodies when they will only change back if we don’t change our minds, too".

Smoking, Diabetes & Blindness

I found this interesting on the relationship between smoking and diabetes related blindness.

HEALTH: SMOKING HASTENS DIABETES-RELATED BLINDNESS. MICHAEL D. BENNETT, M.D., vitroretinal surgeon at the RETINA INSTITUTE OF HAWAII, specializes in the treatment and prevention of diabetes-related eye diseases and macular degeneration: "Among other risk factors, smoking hastens diabetic-related blindness.

It is really important that ophthalmologic practices educate patients and their families about the connection between smoking and vision loss and counsel them on quitting. Staff members can be trained and receive certification to perform non-offensive, helpful interventions with tobacco users. Doctors and staff should identify tobacco users early on and develop a plan of action to assist them in quitting smoking.

I hope this information will be helpful for those who smoke and especially for those who smoke and have diabetes.  From a mental fitness perspective, there are ways to think, relax and use visualization to reduce stress instead of smoking.

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach 

Codependency Debunked

Codependency was declared "the most universally accepted counterproductive label in the recovering community and even today creates shortsighted understandings of the recovery process" according to Charles Parker of the Core PsychBlog.

Why did Dr. Parker say that?