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Motivation: The New Years Resolution

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By: Sam Ibraham

Another year is quickly coming to an end. You watch yourself in the mirror, you grin, you sigh, you shake your head in disappointment. What to do? You have played this hopeless game of roller coaster diets, exercise videos, supplements, fitness devices and all to the same end.  You ask the same questions and ponder the same things you did last year the only thing that is new is the new year….

So now what? Does this mean that you should not buy that annual gym membership that you may have only used 1 time last year. Does it mean that your looking for a new radical diet to convince yourself that this will be the year of success?

Dear reader, day after day I receive similar questions from genuine, concerned and struggling people, good people from many walks of life. They and you as well struggle to be your best, but unfortunately there are many factors that prevent you from your goal, or so you will tell yourself.  Remember the old saying “He spend his health to gain his wealth and with his might and main….He turned about and spent his wealth to gain his health again”  Like all things in life that are worthwhile, one of the most worthwhile investments is in yourself, your well being, and your health.  When you realize that everything stops and starts with you, this will come more to realization. You see we are creatures of habit, often bad habits that become harder to break particularly when they are vested in comforts such as eating in front of the tv (distracted eating) which I have mentioned in previous blogs, driving to the corner store less than 500m away, and the famous drive through after a long day as time will not allow otherwise.

Dear reader, as you know the aforementioned has never been or will never be criticisms that are made rather statements of fact that must be 1. acknowledged  2. understood  and 3. acted upon.  We all know what we do “wrong” however the New Year should be a time of acknowledging the right we need to do, understand what needs to be done through planning and act on it through small diligent efforts everyday, much like building your investments and retirement.

I have mentioned before, the approaches you take should never be radical, but incorporative. So you practice distracted eating in front of the TV and do not realize how many more calories you consume which is contributing to your weight gain. Solution, practise distracted cardiovascular fitness while the same tv is running as you begin accomplishing 10, 20, 30, and 60 minute progressive milestones that you never thought possible!  Distraction does work, the fact of the matter is finding significant and meaningful distraction to get you through.  Once completed you begin marking notches in your belt day after day as you meet those goals, improve your fitness level and the “pain” is now tolerable (mentally and physically).

Dear reader, this New Year and every year thereafter needs to be about your best, and bringing the very best of what you are forward. This is done with small daily concerted efforts which start with how you behave around the common places you visit, live and eat.  Use your “bad habits” (TV example) and begin phasing new traditions around them that are realistic, livable, and  then watch small everyday efforts transform you into a New Year you never thought possible!

To your  most successful New Year and best Health!

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Motivation: Strength in Numbers

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strength By: Sam Ibraham

I have a powerful saying and it goes something like this: “Passion endures, even when everyone stops looking”.

We are creatures of habit as well as community beings. No matter who we are we are affected by our environment and in many ways influenced and are products of it…in many cases we like and in some we do not.

My series of questions that I often get in the clinical environment during health screening or health maintenance is “How do I keep pushing forward when people stop looking”.  This was a young lady commenting on how motivated she was to maintain an excellent exercise routine and diet when in public and when being watched. As a product of our environment she dared not to stop cycling and dared not to order what she should while making smart choices at restaurants. Why you may ask?  and in the same instance you correct yourself and understand that it is the same reasons that motivates you to do the same….that fear of being judged, looking foolish or better yet failure.

So what is the remedy, we cannot combat our environment, and in many ways cannot change it, so now what?

The answer is simple, do not conform!  Use the very environment that inhibits you to help you.  Notice how you perform when you are being watched either with food choices you make, the exercise you do, the presentations at work. These can be what I call positive stressors, although uncomfortable at times it drives you to succeed as to put your best foot forward.

So what does this look like?  As the New Year comes million of gym memberships are purchased many of which will never have a single visit! This is not a ploy to boycott gym memberships but rather an opportunity to make your resolution come true. If an environment of strangers in a gym keeps you working hard of fear of looking foolish or failure try taking your friend to ease your environmental factors. Studies show we are more motivated and push through tasks when accompanied by another.  By making each other accountable you succeed together. As your confidence builds the “stranger phenomenon” will still work but now you have built yourself intrinsic motivation, sort of like building up your credit score to qualify for that big purchase.  The payout here is your health and wellness, and I know you can do it!

 

Motivation: The Affirmation

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By Sam Ibraham

Take a deep breath in and out, you have just completed yet another day successfully?

The answer is Yes! and although it has been a tough day you are now at the end of it.

In our day as professionals, mothers/fathers/stay at home caregivers/students/prospective workers we forget something very important…..self affirmation and self care.  We are quick to offer advise, encouragement, and affirmation to others but what about ourselves.  Staying motivated also involves an element of self-care.  You give and you must also receive. The channels by which you receive is different for everyone. Some from your spouse or partner, your family, friends, co-workers or just your community. These are important however they do not replace your intrinsic need to self-nurture.  Let’s reflect for a short time on your daily routines. Your morning coffee/breakfast/newspaper.  You rush to appointments/commitments for family, children and life in general. Missing something…..?  Where are you in this equation?  How many times have you stopped at the end of the day first to ask yourself, how did I do today?  then to reflect on what you did today and thank yourself for a job well done.  There are those of your who will undermine yourselves and say my job is not important, my position is not important, my status is not important. Get into the habit of correcting yourself and replacing “my job is not… my position is not… my status is not…..”  for “You have come through another successful day and completed it, congratulations”.  This is beyond the power of positive thinking and beyond a “pat on the back”.

This brain is an ever complex, multi-sensory, multi-functional organ that commands every thought and physiological and psychological process in your body. It is a complex processing and multi co-ordinated center of neural networks that act and re-act from stimulus.  What you feed this brain of your is what it will continue to process and react with.  Like anything in the body it must be trained, conditioned and cared for.  Part of your self care involves feeding your brain with realistic messaging that we often take for granted, even if this means the obvious.  Replacing what you do instinctively (negatively) as part of our human process and how I have mentioned in previous blogs and recognizing what was real, for example the successful end to your day.  We thrive on rewards systems, recognition and motivational feedback mechanisms. One of the most important processes is recognizing everything you have done in a day, even if it is obvious or rudimentary.  Your job now is to put thought into action.  To your health and wellness, until next time.

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Motivation: The Routine

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By Sam Ibraham

You have heard me say it before and you likely know what I am going to say again…..

As the new year makes its way closer so does the promises of a new beginning, a fresh start and the hopes of something new and inspiring. The answers at the time you conceive them are clear however the body is weak and more so the motivation is simply not there. So what is the secret?  What is the real magic for this upcoming year and those thereafter?

Human beings are masters of repetition, we learn by it, we live by it, and sadly we also die by it through repeated errors this is witnessed on a personal and global level.

I have blogged in the past about what has and has not worked, what could and could not work, what restrains us from accomplishing our goals and ways to sustain it.  Is there really a tried and tested method?  How will I guarantee success this new year without total disappointment as in the past years?

One method to overcome this rigorous cycle of defeat is to utilize the same mechanism that often prevents you from succeeding and diminishes your motivation…..repetition.

Your goals are grand and almost untouchable as you see them so try doing something you would never expect to work.

Each time you succeed at something big or small you tend to repeat the process?  Since your method has worked why reinvent the wheel. Start with the little things as I have mentioned before and with what you can realistically commit to today. When today has been mastered start working on tomorrow, tomorrow until you can learn to handle planning consecutive days. Building on small success helps you prepare for larger success, will keep your expectations real, and help you learn and correct what your doing from today so you can carry it forward tomorrow and onward.

Repeating small successes can help you accomplish that longterm goal by realistically focusing your efforts one day at a time…

This is food for thought!

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Motivation: The Yes, the No and the Possibilities*

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By Sam Ibraham

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How many two letter words do you know that have any meaning at all?

Should these be words that you are concerned about, or even realize you should?

From the time we are born we are socialized into coming to know what is good and bad, wrong and right. From the earliest days you can remember the one word that continued to resonate in your mind was the dreaded “No”.  It held with it consequences and the remembrance of gestures that reinforced it far beyond when the event took place.  The word “No” is known to every human culture and language, the opposite of the affirmative and used to express many aspects of language. It is a word that you have likely heard from before you can remember and one that was used to defer poor behaviour, to condition, sensitize and even protect you against what you did not know.

Many of us have taken the word and grown up with it never allowing it to be redefined and as a result the “No” which is apart of our sub-conscience is nearly involuntarily spoken, acted upon and gestured. Although it has important implications in justifying right and wrong the issue of imbalance comes to affect our motivation to succeed and to grow.  Learning is a product of many complex environmental and social processes which becomes embedded into our day-to-day functions. When we continue to conceptualize the philosophy of “No” and prevent it from affirmative action, and even calculated risk then we come to greatly disadvantage ourselves and never reach our full potential.

Some rules of order as I have come to reference them to help understand the impact of “No” on goal setting:

1. I often remind many who lack motivation and who consistently reference “No…i cannot”, they are asked to reflect on if they truly “cannot” or simply “will-not” as the two are very distinct.

2. The next step is to replace the two (letter word) for three (letter word).  Try replacing the “No” for “Yes”.  Often acknowledging the affirmative offers another choice and one more that was never available, which opens greater possibilities and potential.

3. Affirmative movement: Once “yes” is recognized it can often be the motivation needed to formulate goals from newly discovered options.

Whether your plan is to lose weight, commit to those new years resolutions, or work to that next promotion the “No” becomes a well known deterrent that must be realized and reasoned as we have done above. The understanding of the “No” and how it affects your life and aspirations is a significant step in understanding the possibilities to enhancing your health and wellness.

*the opinions expressed are those of the author and are not to be taken as specific action plans, or to replace medical or psychological therapies. The expressed opinions are not intended to replace advise given by a healthcare provider for a specific conditions or circumstance, nor should they be inferred. Consult your healthcare provider.

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Motivation to Quit

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By Sam Ibraham

You already know what I am going to say. Likely the same thing your wife, husband, daughter, son, brother, uncle, friend, your healthcare provider, and spot the dog have told you for years….. “You Need to Quit Smoking!”

The central idea idea has not been your own and this is part of the root cause. So lets looks at both sides in an objective fashion. For those who do not smoke it is more important for them to understand that smoking is an addiction and has a legitimate physiological and psychological impact that cannot be denied. For those that do no smoke we ask your patience and understanding that quitting requires motivation and some serious professional and personal support.  Also remember it is not that smokers will not quit, many times it is that they cannot quit!

Jane Doe*, 86 years old, a mother of 5, and grandmother of 11 comes to see me after over 60 years of being a 1.5 pack per day smoker and today has decided to quit. You may have a visual image of this woman now and our human nature tends to stereotype this scene. As you may have visualized a woman beyond her stated age, years of muscle wasting, stained finger nails and tissues, hoarse voice, and notably wheezy. Now comes the big question weighing on your mind “why now?”.

Smoking cessation as we term it in the the healthcare business is a complex interplay of psychological and physiological mechanisms that must be understood to help the people that matter most (you) to quit.  The following are stages that I and your doctors/healthcare providers have recognized that you proceed through and advise you accordingly:

  1. pre-contemplation: your not thinking about quitting, but you weigh the risks and benefits of it. If the risks outweigh the benefits you progress to the next stage.
  2. contemplation:  part of your wants to quit, but your not quite ready to give up the pleasure of cigarettes. When the negative risks outweigh everything you proceed to the next stage.
  3. preparation: an important step where you identify the triggers to smoking, plan ways to avoid the triggers, coping mechanisms, and staring to get together support mechanism to give you a psychological advantage.
  4. action: here is where you walk the talk and put into place your intentions with all the motivation and effort you have summoned from within. I have furnished my patients with stop smoking medications and other effective treatment in addition to the rehearsed plan. This phase is difficult due to cravings, irritation, and withdrawal from the physical and psychological aspects of smoking.
  5. maintenance and relapse: your at the checkered flag and the race is over!  Not quite. Unfortunately maintenance is just as important as the process itself. The longer you are smoke free the more confident you will become in maintaining it. You will continue to need to watch over yourself and gain support until you are self-sufficient. An occasional check-in to your support mechanism and healthcare provider is a good idea.

So Jane Doe, has for years contemplated smoking cessation and her reasons to quit even after 60 years are primarily for herself, as they should be for you. She never cited that she was doing it for her children or grandchildren, but herself!  This was the indicator of true readiness.  Realize that on average you may fail at smoking cessation 5-7 times before you quit for good, this should not be a discouraging factor but rather realistic expectations on your way to success, so failure is part of the process.

So the story ends, or is it now beginning for you or someone you know?  The choice and motivation to stop smoking needs to come from within to be a lasting change.

Here’s to your health and wellness.  Until next time.

*Names used in this blog are for illustrative purposes and do not reflect real names of people.

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“Most of all, r…

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“Most of all, remembering that each time to try you come one step closer to success, each time you fail you come one step closer to knowing how to do it better”

This quote is supplemental on understanding how we motivate ourselves and the outcomes resulting.

Motivation: “Not all Apples are Alike…

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By Sam Ibraham

As a professional health consultant and primary healthcare provider I am asked by my clients, patients and colleagues the secret to good health and fitness. I understand the virtues of good health and role model this behavior in my personal and professional life. Many of the people who seek my help ask about the “secrets” of health and fitness have one underlying and predominately identifiable concern, low motivation! The reasons for this are multiple and can be confounding and each individual has separate and unique circumstances that should be noted. For Jane Doe* her antidepressant as she noted was not doing what it used to for her. For John Smith* being overweight all his life continued to drive down his motivation and self-esteem creating a ripple effect of years of sabotage.

I have made references in past blogs about where physiologically in the brain motivation lives and some underlying realities about it. For the scope of this blog the focus is on nutritional motivation and “no apples being alike”.  We all require motivation to carry out the most basic functions of life many that are taken for granted until afflicted major mental health or physical ailments. Motivation, following that basic life functioning is met then lives in a different plane of fulfillment which can include body image, desire to fulfill tasks and dreams, and what I call living into the future which is at the highest level of the functional pyramid.

I have mentioned before how “the little things” matter and that no change should be made overnight, however the decision to change is different from this concept and needs to be adopted first!  We all contemplate healthy eating and are bombarded by media and imagery about food almost to a nauseous state. Unfortunately this onslaught of media is used to impact a food industry that we could all consume less of, that being processed and prepared foods. Could you image a world that advertised golden apples instead of golden arches?  How often do we “eat with our eyes”? how significant is the environment to shape how we feel about food and the food choices we make?  Interestingly the answer is as you suspected and our decisions and lifestyle do become products of the choices we make.

So is the answer to shut down all your media, newsfeeds, and all technologies to start making healthier food choices? Does this mean you have to sell your car and start walking to work?  Or better yet is this the end, and the beginning of the war on fast food?  The answer as I have stated is not a radical one, it is not an overnight change or an effort to boycott businesses. The same mental imagery that “wired our brains and de-motivated it to eat this way, is a similar pathway to motivate and energize it” to where it needs to be.

Nutrition like everything else is a choice, you choose based on what you know and what you see.  You evaluate what is good or not good by how you interpret information and media. Although the change will not happen overnight, here is what you can do to help out, “the little things”:

1.  Re-orientation to your grocery store:  GET TO KNOW HOW YOUR GROCERY STORE WORKS!! Sounds odd? Your ‘basics’ are all located on the periphery, at the furthest reaches of the store, your fruit and vegetable, diary, meat, and grains.

The store is organized to pull you into the center regions where anything but your whole foods are located in.  Start by visiting these areas of the store, collect your food from here first and foremost, selected whole foods (the foods that come naturally from the earth and do not require processing). Once you understand how your grocer store works, map out a plan of attack and stick to it, staying about from the central areas and limiting your chances of picking up something you should not be.

2. Make your list and check it twice:  Its very much like Christmas except Santa is not in charge here.  Making a list of the foods you know you MUST to buy not OUGHT to will help make you successful. Make the list based on the American/Canadian/European or your country specific food guide and ensure that you buy from these categories. Enter the grocery store with your new knowledge of how it is set up, remind yourself of why you are there and stick to your list.

3. Have and exit plan: making your list means you will minimize your time in the store and maximize your overall time productivity. The faster you enter and exit the store with your knowledge of how its set-up and your list, the less likely you encouraged to buy things you ought not to, saving yourself time, money and limited sabotage in your diet.

4. Practice makes perfect: If you know a seasoned expert you has done the above, enlist their help and watch how an expert meticulously navigates the steps. You will realistically need to repeat this exercise at least 30 times before it starts becoming routine for you. If you have children and they come to the store with you, this is an optimal time to teach them about the virtue of healthy choices and let them make a roadmap of the grocery store and target the key areas.  Couples who shop together are best to individualize tasks, in this instance the “divide and conquer” works.

5. Learn how to reward yourself: This is not an activity in self-indulgence where you break every good that you have done. Human beings live and improve by a rewards system, we are genetically wired to seek rewards. When food shopping, the reward for a job well done should NOT be a food reward rather the reciprocal.

“Most of all, remembering that each time to try you come one step closer to success, each time you fail you come one step closer to success”

Disclaimer:

*names used in this blog are entirely fictitious and do not represent persons or affiliations to persons medical histories or problems. This blog is the opinions of the author and should not be taken as a treatment plan for any mental or physical ailments without consulting your own healthcare provider as circumstances are unique.

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Motivation

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 By Sam Ibraham

We all have a story to tell. Some of those stories will touch you, some will break you and other with incite you. Our human capacity to do more and be more is relative to how we are motivated and how we can motivate.

I have always come to say “be stronger than your excuses” and this has been one of the single most motivating themes in my life and in those that come to me to seek an answer that perplexes them or that need a pick-me-up.

My life is empowering people to the very best health they can be, that being physical and notably mental health. Some come with the expectation of being handed out pills, others put every ounce of their power to refrain from being diagnosed and labelled as they would see it.

Some come because they are overweight, some because they are depressed, others come for a friendly face and a non-judgemental appraisal. In the end they are all seeking the same answer, which is how do I just get up and start moving forward? How do I take those first steps? Where is my MOTIVATION?

My job is to give these people objective answers to their questions, or to treat in some cases. My passion lies in helping them takes those first steps which are the hardest for all people and then read their success stories on how they did it.  For Jane Doe it was someone who would listen, hold her hand and take those first steps with her to weight loss. Jenny is a successful fitness model and entrepreneur. For John Smith it was overcoming an addiction and no prospects of hope as no one believed in him.  John Smith is pursing doctoral education and is an expert counsellor with a prestigious firm and a motivational speaker.

How different are these people from you or I?  How unusual are their stories? Or rather how familiar are their stories?

Motivation is one part inspiration and one part perspiration. Where does motivation come from? How can one hope to even take those first steps to something that has limited them, tormented them all their life, the weight problem? depression? lack of ambition?

How do you feel when you watch that super hero movie? That love story about hope and fate?  Or stories of make it or break it, riches and fame that came from nothing.  We admire great leaders, the Mother Teresa’s of the world, the Oprah, the Bill Gates with remarkable and heart-felt stories. But what makes these people different from you or I?  How do we succeed, how do we get motivated?

The scientific answer of motivation being controlled by the pre-frontal cortex of the brain may not do much to help you in motivating you to your goal, however understanding that motivation is something you can charge yourself with may inspire you.

No goals happen overnight, nor should your plans to change occur over one night. This is very different from making an active decision to “say” I need a change.  Here are many realistic and attainable things that do work:

1. Don’t try to change overnight, but make the decision to want to change one small thing at first.  Making a decision to say I need a healthier lifestyle, whether that mean weight loss, improved diet, more exercise, or the need to just be more positive IS within your power to do!! Once you make this decision you WILL find yourself energized, and hopeful.

2. Succeed by making a plan: This is the second hardest thing to do, as you may not know where to start. Ask these questions What is my goal? What do I want to see happen in 1 week? 1 month? 3 months, 6 months? and 1 year?  By asking these questions you are starting to build your plan by brainstorming. Brainstorming is this easy!  Write your ideas in columns under 1 week, 1 month and so forth.

3. Be realistic:  It is unlikely you will fit into a size 4 dress, a 32 pant, or be ready for the runway in 1 week!  Realistic goals will set you up for success. Unrealistic goals tend to find nearly all people discouraged and given up, losing their motivation to carry on.

4. Words of inspiration: we are creatures of habit and community. No matter how introverted we are there are elements of community that all of us strive to have, to fit into and gain feedback and reassurance for. Find someone who knows you and will acknowledge what you are doing, knows your plan and your goals. You will start to realize that once people are aware of your “plan and goals” this becomes a motivating factor on its own as there is an element of performance. If you do not have anyone post the picture of your size 4 dress in a visible spot that you can see everyday!  Keeping your goals in mind means REMINDING YOURSELF!

5. Check-In and Check in Often: people who get off track normally do because their is no accountability. Find someone who you can check in with everyday, either physically if possible, by phone, by text, video call etc. “Checking IN” means staying connected, a major part of staying motivated.

6. Understand failure is part of the process: Anyone trying to quit smoking? You have likely quit 5 times already and feel you will never quit right? Understanding that failure MUST occur inorder to succeed is part of the process. When you fall back, go back through your steps and start again, and again. Remember there is only failure when you stop trying entirely.

7. Be stronger than your excuses: The hardest part of the journey after meticulous planning is taking the first steps forward. Look at that photo of your dress, remembering that song you will dance to at your wedding, or that body that you dream of that will be your, once you take those first steps and repeat them everyday!

8. Reward yourself: Most Importantly we are creatures who are encouraged by incentive, if you walking that mile today means that you will have that spa day, or that not smoking that cigarette is one day closer to that European vacation then keep those rewards alive in your mind.

This is my prescription for the day, and stay posted for more on this topic in the next blog.

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