I have used meditation and visualization for years. But I admit I have gotten out of daily practice since the craziness of summer. So this is a great reason to get back into the habit!!

While meditation has always offered me a kind of inner strength, visualization and affirmations are very powerful in changing negative thinking which stops us so often from acheiving our goals. I remember reading a Zig Ziglar book where he talked about feeding positive affirmative thoughts to his kids not only on a daily basis but while they slept as well because he belived the affirmations would meet fewer negative obsticals while the kids were asleep. He would check them before he went to bed and tell them how great they were. How smart, how cute, how capable, how honest... and he really believes that it made a difference. I do too.

I've never been a real negative person but we all catch ourselves at times downtalking. I used to hate saying my affirmations. Not because I didn't believe them but because I thought they sounded corny. But eventually I found some that I loved and that empowered me and began to repeat them. I would write them on note cards and read through them out loud. I still write them in lipstick on my bathroom mirror (as well as my short term goals if they need focus). The one that is most powerful to me and spends the most time on my bathroom mirror is the belief that "I can do this." Great minds must affirm alike, Allison.

Whether it's weight related or paying bills when the money seems tight... I know that I can do it. I can figure it out. And when it's on my mirror and I see it everyday... well, it speaks to whatever challenge I am facing at the moment.