What Are You Feeding Yourself?

Successful Life Mindset

The Importance of Gratitude

Tracy sits down once again with his close friend Cliff Ravenscraft to get a dose of happiness as they look at the power and importance of gratitude and why it’s so important to know what you are feeding yourself, both mentally and physically.

Be thankful for each amazing gift you have and determine to focus on it.

Savor the moment

Tracy asked Cliff how things were going and Cliff’s response was that life was great and getting better every single moment. Tracy knows Cliff is a person who has harnessed the power of appreciating the moment. Cliff reinforced this by saying “any day above dirt is a good day”. We need to learn to savor each moment.

“Woe is me” vs. “Blessed is me”

Cliff has a friend that was always a “woe is me” kind of guy. One day the man called and wanted to come over to see Cliff. Cliff told him he was going out for a walk, but if the man was willing to walk along he should come on over. The first 15 minutes the man complained about everything. Finally, Cliff told the man to stop. He asked him how many times in the last 4 years he and his family had been without shelter – homeless. The man said never. Cliff asked him how many meals they missed because they couldn’t afford food. Again, the man answered none. Cliff said the one word the man needed to focus on was “gratitude”. Cliff pointed out that the man had a car to drive over to Cliff’s house. He had a cell phone to call him in the first place. These are both things many people don’t have. He should be grateful for what he has been blessed with instead of focusing on what others have been blessed with. Don’t compare your life with someone else’s life. Be thankful for what you have in your life. Tracy agreed wholeheartedly. He pointed out that our lives will always go in the direction of our most predominate thought. We need to think positive thoughts, to concentrate/focus on the positives. Where is your focus?

Food for thought

Tracy had a friend with a similar problem of negativity. He asked his friend what are you putting into your life? The man was confused, so Tracy asked him if he listened to the news on the car radio on his way to and from work. The man said yes. Tracy asked if he still hung out with the same friends he complained about while he was at work. Again, the man said yes. Tracy told him from leaving for work to arriving back home, he fed his sub conscience negative thoughts and situations all day long. Tracy asked him to pledge to listen to podcasts and recorded books that Tracy suggested for 30 days. The man agreed to do it. After the first week Tracy called to see how things were going. The man was still negative. At the end of the second week, he called Tracy to say he was actually enjoying one of the podcasts Tracy had suggested. After the third week, he called to share something good going on in his life. At the end of the 30 days, the man called and was emotional about how much he wanted to thank Tracy for bringing a sense of positivity into his life. He was a changed man.

It starts when you Believe

Cliff told of the ups and downs in his physical fitness life. Three years ago he reached an all-time high of 268 pounds. He was sick, tired and knew he had to get serious about getting fit. He got inspired by a podcast and began a 3-point physical fitness routine. 1) Increased intentional physical activity 3 to 5 times a week (walking), 2) learned how many calories his body needed, not wanted and began to count calories and 3) researched nutrition and began following a Mediterranean based diet (not a formal diet, but following the same nutritional foods as the Mediterranean people – among the healthiest in the world). In 1 ½ to 2 years he was down to 210. Then he was ill and got behind in work along with other distractions and soon lost the way to his routine. In nine months, he was back up to 254! On August 24th, he reread the book, “The Strangest Secret” by Napoleon Hill. This time he got it! He began his routine again with 2 important steps to his routine. 4) I don’t care about pleasing people anymore – became a phrase to live by. He could no longer let pleasing others interfere with his physical fitness. He had to learn to do his walk and answer emails later. And 5) He asked himself “Where does my providence come from?” He needed to remind himself that his providence comes from God, it is not from anything he does on his own. He carries a card that says “I will be less than 200 pounds by the end of 2012” – a card that has his signature following that statement. It is a constant reminder of his goal.

Getting Physical

Tracy likes a book “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss which asks the question are you working to be busy or working towards a goal. We should never work just to keep busy. When our work is done we should stop and make good use of the rest of our day. Spend time with family and/or friends, read or relax.

Our physical activity also helps our mental fitness – make it a habit. Tracy and his wife run each morning. Some mornings are easier to get up and at it than others, but they are benefited each morning. Once the run is over, they spend time together just walking and talking while they cool down. They are more fit and enjoy the extra time together.

Keys to it all

Everything comes down to the three keys to success: Believe, write it down, and talk about it. For Cliff, he began to believe he could get back on track, he wrote down his goal of being less than 200 pounds by the end of the year and he podcasted about it, told Tracy about it and talked about it on the podcast. Without action, knowledge is just knowledge. We must believe and write down our goals, but without action they will not be reached. To be successful, you must have a positive and successful life mindset. Believe you can reach your goals. Write them down and share your thoughts and plans for reaching those goals with yourself and others.

Things to Remember

• Be grateful for all you have
• Feed your sub conscience positive thoughts
• Believe – Write it down – Talk about it!

Connect with Cliff

You can find our more about Cliff at: PodcastAnswerMan.com or follow him on Twitter at: @GSPN

Let Tracy Know Your Thoughts…

Contact him at – Send Email • twitter.com/tracyjtrost • facebook.com/DirectorTracyJTrost

If you use Twitter use Hashtag #SuccessfulLifeMindset

Tracy’s movies, books and more are available through his website trostmovingpictures.com

Remember, live your life to its greatest potential!

P.S. – If you enjoyed this episode please share it with others using the links below or at the top of the post. Thanks!