New Year’s Resolutions: Here’s How to Achieve Them

[Mehdi]

Use this thread to discuss the next post from StrongLifts.com's blog:

New Year’s Resolutions: Here’s How to Achieve Them

[Mehdi]

I'll be sharing tips on how this stuff works exactly and how I've been using it in next article. Please post anything you may have questions about/don't get/etc, I'll answer it in the next post.

Thanks!

[rossi]

Nice tips, it's of course only a teaser for further information.
I was laughing loud about the "basis in science" being "it's quantum physics, but I really don't want to go into those details" These kind of techniques do not need any basis in science to be useful for people who accept them, but this kind of pseudo will strongly diminish the interest of people schooled in science.

[hardestgainer]

New Years resolutions always confuse me. Why do people need to wait for a new year to make changes? and why do people suddenly have to find something to change because of a new year.

[dancon]

No offense Mehdi, but you linked this site like 6 or 7 times in a rather short article.
Just wanted to know if there is a reason for that. Maybe it's just me because i find it rather disturbing and this whole topic reminds me of some kind of sect.

..On the other hand it could also be that i am just not open minded enough.

[fsaekar]

I'm just thankful I found SL.com before it became an ad-fest for fasting and now psychological self-help. A lot of the articles here are golden, and its Mehdi's bluntness about building muscle and losing fat that attracted me and probably 99% of the faithful here at SL.com. Whatever is useful in "Visualization" is most likely just labeling the obvious: if you focus on your goals you'll be more likely to achieve them. But now that it is labeled and we have visualization gurus we can sell it!

What actually motivates me is knowing that through strength training I can attain my health and even aesthetic goals. Knowing that I don't have to bodybuild to get bigger was perhaps the single most encouraging, inspiring piece of info I read on this site. I really don't need or want New Age, mystical self-help, and had I encountered that upon my first exposure to this site I probably would have just hit the back button.

Here's to hoping that in 2010 SL.com stays true to its roots. Careful, Mehdi---we know you'd love to double your income again this year but it could come at a different kind of cost.

[baughmjk]

I'm with dancon and fsaekar. One of the things that attracted me to stronglifts.com was the fact that I wasn't being sold anything. When I see the link to a 'free video' (who pays for a video in the internet age?) repeated over and over in an article that is somewhat weak in content, it immediately puts me on my guard. It's not the kind of article that brought me to stronglifts and it's not the kind that makes me proud to recommend the website to others either.

[Mehdi]

@Rossi
Yeah I won't use the quantum physics angle.

@hardestgainer
Also feel new year's resolutions are dumb. Good time to reflect on year, but don't wait until then to set goals.

@Dancon
Many links because I want you to click on thm. Explain the sect thing.

@Fsaeker
The problem with recommending other people's products, is that I unfortunately have no control over their marketing methods (sales pages etc). So until I come up with my own products, that's what you'll have to deal with. Hence why I do the pre-selling all the time.

You're judging products I recommend based on their sales letters vs. what I write: that's a shame for you. You have prejudices against visualizations (or fasting): your problem. I'm using them, I recommend them, and I want to show more people how to use them so they achieve their goals.

Next post I'll explain exactly how to use it (and it won't be any new age/mystic explanation, it is simply about focusing on your goals the right way). You don't even have to buy their product after you read that post unless you want a product that will do it all for you (which is the mind movies).

So give me specific questions about what you want to know about visualizations/mind movies/what do you want to know exactly/etc. And drop the close-mindedness, this site is not for close-minded people. If you don't share my mindset, I prefer you stop reading. I'm NOT trying to please everyone at all.

@baughmjk
see above.

[pangram]

Pseudoscience aside, I agree that one link to the promo would have been just fine. Many links to the same thing makes it reek of snakeoil to me (the subject in question would anyway, but this reinforces it). This without even having clicked on the link yet.

I'm not telling you how to run your site, but it's "Build Muscle & Lose Fat through Strength Training". Not infomercials

I'm just thankful I found SL.com before it became an ad-fest for fasting and now psychological self-help. A lot of the articles here are golden, and its Mehdi's bluntness about building muscle and losing fat that attracted me and probably 99% of the faithful here at SL.com.

This. It's what IMHO makes this site work.

I understand you're adding things that work for you, but agree with previous posters that the style of these blog posts might put people off. It would certainly make me question the usefulness/validity of this site, had I not been a visitor for a while now.

The close-mindedness appeal is just weak. Just because people don't believe in chakras and acupuncture doesn't make them close-minded.

Cheers

[Sam277]

I don't think it's that much of an issue, if Mehdi's only advertising products he thinks actually work, and in the process creates extra revenue then surely it's win-win for both the people buying the products and Mehdi.

However, a review on some products, ('mind visualisation videos' don't sell themselves in the way 'fat gripz' do), would be nice, and make it feel more legit to a lot of people.

[Mehdi]

Pseudoscience aside, I agree that one link to the promo would have been just fine. Many links to the same thing makes it reek of snakeoil to me (the subject in question would anyway, but this reinforces it). This without even having clicked on the link yet.

I'm not telling you how to run your site, but it's "Build Muscle & Lose Fat through Strength Training". Not infomercials

I'm just thankful I found SL.com before it became an ad-fest for fasting and now psychological self-help. A lot of the articles here are golden, and its Mehdi's bluntness about building muscle and losing fat that attracted me and probably 99% of the faithful here at SL.com.

This. It's what IMHO makes this site work.

I understand you're adding things that work for you, but agree with previous posters that the style of these blog posts might put people off. It would certainly make me question the usefulness/validity of this site, had I not been a visitor for a while now.

The close-mindedness appeal is just weak. Just because people don't believe in chakras and acupuncture doesn't make them close-minded.

Cheers

Well you are telling me how to run the site. Pure review blog posts like this one only make 10% of the total site content. If you don't get that "free" doesn't exist, and only want to get get get, then I'm definitely ok if you leave. I'm not here to please people. I'm here to help people achieve their goals using methods that I believe work. If you don't like the method, that's your problem not mine. I'm not going to hold back on info.

close-mind·ed (klsmndd, klz-) or closed-mind·ed (klzd-)
adj.
Intolerant of the beliefs and opinions of others; stubbornly unreceptive to new ideas.

Mindset is a big part of the game. Sticking to diet is more important than which diet you're on. Going to the gym is more important than the routine you're on. etc. Sure on some place they say "stop being lazy and go to the fricking gym". That's how I learned it. But there are better ways. That's why I write blog posts like "how to wake up early". It doesn't has anything to do with building muscle/losing fat directly, but it does indirectly.

Check how many people think that losing fat is hard. Often they created this belief because they tried to lose fat before, but failed. Usually because they did shit training programs/diets. So they end up on this site, and like what they see. But deep down they don't really believe in this training program/diet neither. Because of past bad experience. So when a little plateau occurs, they pannick, think it's not working instead of pushing through (fat loss never lineair and stuff, stalling normal, bla bla). Add to that all the self-image issues they have built over the years.

Now you could tell people to stop being a pussy and think positive etc. And if they're getting results, they'll lose that mindset over time. BUT there are tools to get rid of this kind of mindset from the get go. The Lefkoe method is a great approach to get rid of mindsets like "mistakes & failures are bad", "change is hard", etc.

Self-help is linked to this site. Maybe others aren't doing it, but I will. Got a problem with that, go to the other sites.


@Sam277
Detailed info is coming. You won't even ahve to buy their product after you read the whole post (that's if you're good with computers). Btw: this is a 20$ product we're talking about, I'm not even going to make a lot of money on this at all.

I'll make another post about my goals for 2010. Since the main one is this site. This way you get an idea of where I'm going with this.

[pangram]

Fair enough. This is your site and you write your advice / guides etc here. I understand that. Yes, I had/have a problem with certain types of posting, just like I see others as excellent and I've taken them to heart. I see your above argument for self-help as valid.

I would contest me telling you what to do - I was sharing my opinion / concerns about this particular post, "discussing it", if you will, per the topic starting post. You can interpret it as an order or a suggestion, I guess. My intent was again to share my two cents.

This website is not purely altruistic, I realise that. I also realise there are loads of scam pull-along sites on the net. It's because my feelings towards this site that I was concerned for it and nothing else - no personal attack, nothing.

[mdonnelly]

I do believe that Visualization can be an incredibly powerful tool as well as so called "Law of Attraction" techniques. I think it's a matter pyschological persuasion rather than quantum mechanics. If it is something like that, I have no clue, because I don't have any type of credentials in that area. I just know it works.

And I do agree that maybe you shouldn't have linked it so many times in the article, but hey, a brother's gotta eat right? I think 2-3 times max would have been sufficient.


The mind movie concept is rather interesting, though I'm sure you need not buy what their selling to do the same thing.

[holvoetn]

At first I was also a bit surprised by the post and the number of links.
But hey, if you do not want to read a certain article, there are plenty others here to read. Your choice.
However, I did gave the topic itself some further thought this morning when driving to work.

Let's bring it to the context most of us claim to be here for: lifting.
Nobody ever tried visualizing making that big lift which is a PR to you ? See yourself getting all prepped, getting under the bar and actually making all reps as scheduled ?
Also see yourself racking the bar again and thinking "YES !" ?
Try it. It helps.
Tiny example, I know but this also applies to bigger stuff.

There are more coaches advocating this visualizing skill.
David Allen, a well-known time-management coach, also claims how important it is.
The first thing you need to do when getting a new project is focusing on how it would look like when it is finished.
And do not hold back, visualize it as being a success. WILD success. "Crowd going mad about it"-type of success.
Then write down the steps to get there.

[Mehdi]

Let's bring it to the context most of us claim to be here for: lifting.
Nobody ever tried visualizing making that big lift which is a PR to you ? See yourself getting all prepped, getting under the bar and actually making all reps as scheduled ?
Also see yourself racking the bar again and thinking "YES !" ?
Try it. It helps.
Tiny example, I know but this also applies to bigger stuff.

There are more coaches advocating this visualizing skill.
David Allen, a well-known time-management coach, also claims how important it is.
The first thing you need to do when getting a new project is focusing on how it would look like when it is finished.
And do not hold back, visualize it as being a success. WILD success. "Crowd going mad about it"-type of success.
Then write down the steps to get there.

Indeed. Everybody is already doing visualizations, and even self-talk (affirmations). But they're usually doing it wrong: focussing on what they don't want vs. what they want ("I'm so fat", "this isn't working", "I'm going to stall again", bla bla). You got to unlearn that behavior by focussing on what you want vs. what you don't want. Decide what you want, be specific, then reinforce it through repetition => visualizing/affirming what you want over & over.

One of the problems with this approach is that visualizing/affirming only really works when you put emotions in there (there are lot of other problems why it doesn't work, will get into details in the next post). When you visualize/affirm what you don't want, usually you feel anxious/stressed/bad/etc => so when you visualize/affirm what you don't want, you need to feel good/happy/etc => not easy for most people (because you don't really believe it, and other stuff).

Mind movies fixes a lot of those problems.