Want to Lose Weight? Go on a Mental Diet.

According to annual surveys, losing weight is typically the first or second most common New Year’s resolution. Businessweek reports that Americans spend $40 billion a year on weight-loss programs and products. We are obsessed with reducing our size, as if it’s our physical weight holding us down.

I think we’ve got it all wrong. Our problem isn’t our physical weight. It’s our mental weight.

Most of us carry thoughts in our heads that debilitate us. We believe we’re not good enough. We think we’re inadequate, that our idea would never work, that others don’t like us. We engage in crippling self-talk and paralyze ourselves with fear.

We’ve got a lot of untrue junk in our head that stops us from taking action. No matter how good you look physically, if you’re mentally overweight, you’re in trouble.

So this year, resolve to go on a mental diet. Identify the thoughts and beliefs holding you back. Then get rid of them. Challenge these ideas. If you can’t back them up with facts, they may not be true. I assure you, you’re better than you think.

When you free your mind of this fat, you’re mental fitness will enable you to live a lot more effectively. You’ll trust yourself more and do things that will add quality to your life. And with your mind in good shape, you’ll more readily engage in behaviors that will help you get fit physically.

Motivational speaker Scott Greenberg gives live presentations on resilience, leadership and peak performance. For more information call 1-800-450-0432 or visit www.scottgreenberg.com .