North Star Mental Fitness

Mental Fitness and Childhood

Dad and Mental Fitness may seem like a strange combination.  To me they are intimately connected.  My Dad taught me me a lot about life, love, giving, and success

I was raised after the great depression.  As a child I experienced the victory at the end of World War II.  I recall the rationing of gas, food stamps, and no or limited food in stores.

Above all, I remember what my Dad taught me about life and success.   

Why Did I Gain Weight?

Weight loss deleted:

She has been very successful in losing weight.  She was going to the gym and eating right.

Then she started to gain weight.

What went wrong?

Accepting Frustration

Frustrations are inevitable and often times unexpected.  I am in the process of moving my office.  Obviously, there are numerous frustrations associated with this undertaking.  However, I never anticipated the additional frustrations associated with having to change my website.

I now have a new website www.Northstarmentalfitness.com.  I no longer will be blogging at Northstarmentalfitnessblog.com.  Changing my website was not anticipated and has created tremendous frustrations.

Is Mental Fitness for You?

Take Care of You.  Take Control of Your Life.  Think to Be Strong.  Think to Be Stronger Than Your Problems.  Organize and Empower Your Mind with Mental Fitness Strategies.

Life is full of changes, risks, disappointments and challenges.  Mental fitness training can help you find the strength, clarity of thought and confidence to successfully take care of yourself, even during difficult times.

The goal of mental fitness is to make you strong enough to achieve your goals and solve your problems.  The goal of mental fitness is much larger than solving specific problems.  You can be stronger than your problems.  You will find peace of mind and solutions for any and all of your problems by increasing your mental fitness.

At North Star Mental Fitness we believe everyone can improve their mental fitness.  We can all improve our mental fitness by concentrating and making our thinking more organized, efficient and powerful.

Just ask us how!

You can have the tools to turn your past failures and disappointments into successes by applying mental fitness strategies from the North Star Mental Fitness Program and the e-book, I Live within the Environment Created by My Choices.

Remember, You Live within the Mind, Body and Environment Created by Your Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

 

WE HAVE A NEW WEBSITE

We are pleased to announce that www.northstarmentalfitness.com has replaced northstarmentalfitnessblog.com.  All of the posts from the former website can be accessed through northstarmentalfitness.com.

Please add www.northstarmentalfitness.com to your list of Favorites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wambach Never Doubted That They Would Win

"There aren't many moments in women's sports that are purely unbelievable sports moments, but Abby Wambach's perfect header off of Megan Rapinoe's perfect feed in the 122nd minute against Brazil yesterday was one of those moments. It is a play that makes your jaw drop and that you must watch repeatedly and studiously to grasp how it might have happened, and even then you can't quite believe that it still happened that way, because it was perfect." This was the picturesque description of the United States women's soccer team snatching victory from Brazil in the 2011 Woman's World Cup written by Emma Carmichael.

I was mesmerized by the unbelievable play. It was very clear to me that the win was not an accident. It was obvious that the team had confidence and unbelievable mental fitness.

Emma Carmichael presented numerous quotations from the players that demonstrated the effect of mental fitness, confidence and never giving.

"Rapinoe is praised for her aggression (for the ability to friggin' smack it, for example) but not necessarily for exemplary control. But it took an aggressive soul to retrieve a ball from the middle of the field and to have seen — just barely in her line of vision — Wambach's right arm pointing towards the right goalpost.

Any person who has played a sport and played it well knows that feeling when a play feels instantly right. In the replay angle that shows Rapinoe's delivery best, she gazes up after making contact with the ball and then, against her momentum, takes a few steps back, staring after it like she knows that it will go exactly where she intended it to go.

The "beast" in question was Wambach, who had been — for her standards — off the mark in group play, especially in her aerial game. She stands about six feet tall in spikes, and her height brings a threatening element to her game. But even with some faltering, and even in a contest that had pitched every possible setback against her squad, Wambach said later that she never doubted that they would win.

A lot of people today are attributing this to the American team's mentality, and to a certain kind of American spirit in sports. Sundhage, who is Swedish, said that she found the American attitude of "pulling everything together and bringing the best [out] of each other" to be "contagious," Solo called it "a feeling" that can't really be coached, and Wambach said that the team always felt that "all it takes is one chance."

Even Marta had previously acknowledged it. The Brazil star has been around for five consecutive losses to the Americans, and when a reporter asked her what made the difference, she pointed to her head and explained, 'It's the mentality."'

Wambach never doubted that they would win. This is the expression of confidence based upon mental and physical fitness. From a mental fitness perspective, there is a mentality that will not allow a person to give up. No matter how bad or pressing circumstances are, there is always a solution or a victory.

Remember, We Live within the Environment Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Mental Toughness Questionnaire

Are you ready to take a mental toughness questionnaire?  I found this questionnaire at Competitive Advantage.  This questionnaire will assess your

1. "Reboundability or your skill at mentally bouncing back from setbacks and mistakes"
2. Your ability to handle pressure
3. Your ability to concentrate
4. Your confidence level and
5. Your motivation.

All of these skills are important for mental fitness as well as mental toughness.  Although the questionnaire is for athletes, you can apply it for coping with any aspect of your life.  You can take the mental fitness questionnaire by clicking on questionnaire.

After completing the questionnaire, you will have a better assessment of where you are in terms of mental fitness and toughness.  You will know if you need to engage in mental fitness training.

Remember, You'll Live within the Mindset, Body and Environment Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

 

When Won'tpower Is Stronger Than Willpower

Cranky Fitness wrote about Willpower and Won'tpower.  Crabby McSlacker focused most on the failure to reach goals on the basis of willpower.  He insinuated that there is won'tpower. 

I sure like the idea that people have both willpower and won'tpower.  I know there is won'tpower.  Haven't you had run-ins with won'tpower!

Time and time again, we try to accomplish goals on the basis of willpower only to be thwarted by an insidious, constantly changing, unrecognized force called won'tpower by Crabby.

Crabby shared his own experience: "I actually do wonder if we have natural limits on our willpower, and can only tackle so many challenges at once. At least I observe this phenomenon in myself all the time. 
Anyone else find that if they're putting a lot of mental effort into one goal, the other stuff starts to slip?"

Can we all identify with Crabby's hypothesis "It's like there's a concrete amount of willpower in my psychological bank account. And if I try to write too many self-improvement checks? The damn things start bouncing."

Because of the difficulty with trying to solve life's problems on the basis of willpower, I created The North Star Mental Fitness Program.  I knew willpower was insufficient for completing self improvement projects.  I thought the willpower has to be made stronger.  I thought the solution must be multifaceted, more complicated, but still possible to obtain.

I liked the concept of mental fitness as it parallels physical fitness.  We all know that physical exercises can make people stronger.  So can mental exercises make people mentally strong enough to solve their problems or reach their goals. In the North Star Mental Fitness Program, there are 15 strategies or exercises for increasing the power in willpower or for giving us the tools for solving our problems and reaching our goals.

There are strategies for building one's focus, putting focus into action and keeping momentum soaring.  There are strategies for coping with frustration and turning won'tpower into willpower.

It does not work to try to beat won'tpower into submission by using willpower.  The harder you try to destroy won'tpower, the stronger it becomes.  Sometimes our unconscious mind specializes in won'tpower and fights against our conscious efforts to achieve self-fulfillment.  When won'tpower appears, it is much like an acting out, screaming child. It must be dealt with immediately. You cannot ignore a screaming child nor won'tpower. 

If you are not reaching their goals and solving your problems, get help for your won'tpower.

Remember, We Live within the Environment Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

 

Brain Fitness Programs

As a clinical psychologist, I am frequently asked to evaluate people for memory loss and other areas of cognitive decline.  After evaluating people, some are prescribed medications by their physicians.

Frequently, I encourage people to use brain fitness programs.  There are brain fitness programs to improve memory, eye-hand coordination, visual-spatial problem-solving, attention and focus, and processing numbers.  I discovered a very practical website, Play with Your Mind.  This website offers a lot of different brain fitness programs.  I highly encourage you to visit this website and utilize their programs.

Unfortunately, many people with memory losses and declining ability to function, are unaware of resources for improving their functioning for delaying the process of cognitive decline.

I really want you to keep this post for a resource.  There was a post at Play with Your Mind entitled Brain Fitness Programs and Websites.  You'll have to look no further for brain fitness training and opportunities.  This will be a wonderful resource for you.

Brain fitness programs are relatively new, but extremely important for people who want to be fully functioning for as long as possible.  These programs will stimulate and challenge our senses and cognitive abilities.

These programs are different than the  North Star Mental Fitness Program, which provides exercises to improve decision-making, taking care of oneself and making one stronger than one's problems.

The  North Star Mental Fitness Program is a practical program for making life's decisions, while most brain fitness programs are developed to improve various sensory and cognitive functions.  Both mental fitness and brain fitness programs are important and necessary, although different in their objectives.

You can use the North Star Mental Fitness Program's strategies for improving your life focus and for making life decisions easier and more satisfying.  You can use the brain fitness programs for sharpening your senses and thinking abilities.  We need both.

Remember, We Live within the Minds and Environment Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Living New Year's Resolutions

As we approach the beginning of another New Year, you can turn New Year's Resolutions into Successes with a mental fitness procedure. 

Most people fail in keeping their resolutions because of lack of focus, weak commitment and insufficient will power. 

Successfully, reach your New Year's goals by using The Power Choice from the North Star Mental Fitness Program.  You do not need will power to be successful.

From a mental fitness perspective, there are three necessary steps for success.  

Freedom from Life Dysfunctions

Everyone has successes that have turned into failures.  Successes that have turned into failures, I call Life Dysfunctions.  Everyone has Life Dysfunctions. 

It doesn't matter what has caused your dysfunctions.  Your dysfunctions could be the result of your genetic makeup, your personality, your familial environment, your educational experiences, your government's interventions or your living in a depressed economy.

What matters is what you do about your dysfunctions! 

Do you continue to pursue past successes even though you are continuing to fail? 

Do you continue to think about your life in a feeling good way, when you are feeling discouraged and disappointed?

Do you continue to grieve and complain about the losses in your life?

Do you want freedom from your Life Dysfunctions or do you want to remain stuck in misery?  It does not matter what your particular dysfunction is.  What matters is that you make changes.

If you want freedom from Life Dysfunctions, it is important to make new choices.  Sometimes, you may not know what you need to do to change.  As a result, you do nothing.

The Freedom Choice from The North Star Mental Fitness Program has been crafted to help you become free from your dysfunction.  When you don't know what needs to be done, make a Freedom Choice. 

With the Freedom Choice you prepare your mind for making functional changes and choices in your life.  You begin by thinking the thought "I want freedom from" your dysfunction.  Just by thinking that you want freedom from your dysfunction, you will begin to make new choices.

Also, there are also other empowering choices to help you overcome your Life Dysfunctions in The North Star Mental Fitness Program.

Remember, You Live within the Dysfunctions Created by Your Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach