A POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE IS AS ESSENTIAL IN TRAINING AS IT IS IN LIFE. A SOLUTION-FOCUSED APPROACH TO WEIGHT-LOSS AND FITNESS IS ALWAYS GOING TO SUCCEED WHERE A PROBLEM-FOCUSED APPROACH WILL FAIL!

Are you currently living the dream? Do you wake up each morning with a bundle of energy to live the life you dreamt of as a child? Do you even remember those dreams?

As children, we dream big. There are no limits to what you can achieve. You can be a professional soccer or rugby player, a doctor or even an astronaut.

Finance, physical attributes and knowledge are never factors that can limit you realising your dream.

Your mind expands as you think of all the possibilities. It is your dream and no one can take it away from you; unless you let them, that is.

As we got older, parents, friends and coaches place their limiting beliefs upon your shoulders until you feel the weight overpower you. You give up and accept what you are told — you can’t afford it, you’re not good enough, no one has ever achieved that and you won’t be the first.

All these anchors may pull you down and stop you from achieving your potential. The treatment of children as they grow up with their dreams is similar to the capture of a young elephant.

When baby elephants are in captivity, they are secured to a stake to keep them from running away. When they attempt to move, the stake restricts them from progressing.

As the elephant ages and increases in size and strength, it is the same stake that holds it back.

It is the elephant’s belief that he is not strong enough that prevents it breaking free from its chains. A fully grown elephant would pull a tree from the ground, but it believes this small stake can hold it back, so it doesn’t attempt the feat.

When you have a dream or a goal, you need to become solution orientated rather than focusing on obstacles or challenges. Motivational guru Tony Robins has said that success leaves clues. Successful people focus on solutions and they don’t dwell on their problems.

When I consult with prospective clients, they focus on what they don’t want to be like: “I don’t want to be big and full of muscles;” “I don’t want to be too skinny;” “I can’t eat those foods;” “I can’t run because of my injury.”

When you focus on what you don’t want, you are never going to achieve what you do want. Instead of saying, “I can’t run” or “I can’t eat that,” ask yourself, what exercises can I do and what foods can I eat.

When you ask yourself a better question, you always get a better answer. That is why it is imperative that you set yourself clear and concise goals.

So if it is to be slimmer, be specific about what clothes size you want to be able to wear, what you are prepared to do to achieve it and when it will be accomplished.

The laws of attraction, popularised by Rhonda Byrne’s book and movie known as The Secret, are about attracting into your life the things you focus on.

When you think, you activate the retinacular activation system in your mind to behave like a radio — to tune into the thoughts in your head and link them with the happenings in your company and your society.

If you have good thoughts and dreams, your brain will notice the positive things in your life to help you achieve those thoughts and dreams.

If you have negative thoughts, you will notice the negative thoughts going on in your life and in your surroundings.

So what does your self-talk go like? Do you ask yourself why am I overweight? Then ask yourself how you can get lean and get the body you want.

We become what we think about most. So, if you want to improve your health or realise your five-year-old dream, you need to break free of the chains that are limiting you.

Unleash your potential and, as former Mr Universe winner Milos Sarcev said to me, accept no limitations as a limitation. Age, time and finance are poor excuses; where there’s a will there’s always a way.

You’ve got to do small things every day that bring you nearer to your dream.

You will get challenges along the way but understand that Thomas Edison did not create the lightbulb until his 10,000th attempt.