IN the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Genesis 1:1-5 (KJV)
Often when we think of “Beginnings,” the mind immediately goes into overdrive to envision the desired expected end. This sometimes leads to adopting the “Begin with the End in Mind,” (BEM) planning process. Seeing the outcome before it is achieved can be exciting! This concept is known as Habit 2 of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey states:
Habit 2 is based on imagination–the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental (first) creation, and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint. If you don’t make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default. It’s about connecting again with your own uniqueness and then defining the personal, moral, and ethical guidelines within which you can most happily express and fulfill yourself. Begin with the End in Mind means to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination, and then continue by flexing your proactive muscles to make things happen.1
The BEM process is seen clearly in the book of beginnings, Genesis, Chapters 1 and Chapter 2. Therefore, if God used BEM to form the world, I’m convinced it is the way to reach any goal. Using this process, many people have experienced success in building successful businesses, successful marriages and even in losing weight. By keeping a mental picture of their desired expected end in the forefront of their mind, hitting their target became easier. But, before you race forward to buy that new dress or suit in your dream size, we must first tackle what I call the “middle process.” You know that part of the weight loss process that makes getting to the end point challenging.
When we decide to embrace and move forward to something new, we make a decision to embrace change. Weight management is embracing a change to a healthier lifestyle. I have watched women in my family, church and former places of employment struggle to maintain eating and exercise habits, to manage their weight, only to see them disappointed time and time again. They would try the newest diet and/or exercise program only to eventually learn that weight management is not a quick fix. After all, quickies never last. Each woman had the desire to change. However, change cannot be sustained by desire alone. Reality has shown me that desire alone does not have the power to enable anyone to make the necessary adjustments to achieve any goal. Once desire is present, we must enlist the mind in the change process.
The mind must be the project leader for your weight management project. Forming the right mental attitude about weight loss will enable you to tap into the motivation to move forward in the successful pursuit of your goal. Once you transform your mind to embrace the change, mind commitment becomes the driving force for you. This driving force will then steer your motivations to the pursuits of right decisions toward your goal.
Do you over eat? Do you eat when you are angry? Do you eat when you are sad or just because food is present? Do you commit to exercise a certain amount of time per week but fail to keep your commitment? Do you tell yourself you are going to start taking vitamins, yet never get around to doing it? If you answered yes to any of these questions, have you ever asked yourself why are you motivated to these actions? Have you ever asked yourself why you do what you do when you do it? The answer is connected to your mind, personality and your motivations.
You can achieve desirable weight management in your life by understanding your motivations and how they affect your health and wellness. Your motivations affect your eating habits, exercising habits and the value you place on taking nutritional supplements. Your motivations affect your view of what is required for you to maintain your desired weight and whether you are willing to make the changes required for adopting a healthier lifestyle. To truly experience new beginnings, which I equate to change, you must make the choice to renew your mind. I admit new beginnings can often be hard, but the rewards are also often great!
You can achieve your desired weight once you understand your motivations and learn how to control them. Armed with this knowledge, you can now move forward in successfully working through the middle process by Developing Relevant Objectives to Pursue and Progress, (D.R.O.P) toward a healthy lifestyle. Once you make a healthy lifestyle your goal, you will begin to see the weight drop. Hearers, dreamers and wishers do not reap rewards. Mind Doers, those who take action, led by the mind, reap rewards. Therefore, to achieve healthy weight goals, become a Mind Doer who sees the end from the beginning. Then, you can make the necessary adjustments, “flexing your proactive muscles to make things happen” and walk successfully through the middle process to what you envision.
“In the Beginning,” when God created the heaven and the earth, it all began with a vision, a new prospective of what He desired the heaven and the earth to be before they were. When God said let there be light and there was light but “Darkness” or “Night” was still connected to the light until He separated the light from the darkness. So it will be in your pursuit for weight loss. You must separate the dark things that motivate you to wrong choices. You must separate those things that distract you from a healthy lifestyle. Adopting a healthy lifestyle ultimately leads to healthy weight management and a healthier you. As you keep these thoughts in mind, you will move toward to your “Light” or “Day.” You will move forward to your place of ultimate health and weight. But while in process, do not forget to celebrate and appreciate each step and every accomplishment you make. After all, God took six days for creation and at every point in the process he stopped and said, “that it was good.” Therefore, be patient with yourself as long as you stay with the process you will reach your ultimate weight loss goal.
Footnote: 1 https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit2.php
About the Author: Terri Prayer is President and CEO of Inouiwa Technologies, LLC and Servant Leader of Willing Hand Women is an entrepreneur who believes in social entrepreneurship. She is a Certified Human Behavior Consultant, Spiritual Gifts, and a Certified Wellness Motivation Coach who holds an MBA from Hampton University and a Bachelor of Science from Norfolk State University. http://terriprayer.myshaklee.com
