Dr. Matthew Anderson's Weight Loss Blog: Creator of Eating To Kill, Why You Want To Be Fat, and The Coyote Diet

ONE REALLY TOUGH QUESTION:

THE MOST LIFE-CHANGING NEW YEARS RESOLUTION EVER

I have one really tough question for you. It may be the most important question you ever answer. Before I ask it, I want to give you some very brief but powerful information. Take it seriously. Your life probably depends on it.

Most people (approximately 90-95%) have almost no f@#$%&*! idea about who they truly are and what they are truly capable of being and becoming. Yes, there are exceptions. We tend to think of them as heroes, saints and generally amazing individuals who have something that we do not have. However, if you think this way you are dead wrong. The truth is everyone has the capability of waking up and becoming a person more wonderful, more accomplished, more creative and more a blessing to the world than they can imagine.

How does this happen? Better yet, how could it happen to you?

It could happen to you if you are willing to give a heartfelt and total answer to the following question:

When will I finally drop my wimpy, childish, grossly inhibited self-image and open my heart and mind to my real God-designed Self?

I am not kidding about this question. Most people never seriously ask the question and fewer seriously answer it. However, the ones who do change the world and I don’t know if you have looked lately but the world could use some help....from you.

A serious answer to my question does not make you selfish or narcissistic. Instead it moves you a giant step closer to becoming the person God put you here to be. That person is more incredible than you can imagine but she or he is what this world needs.

If you are well acquainted with my work then you are probably aware that I feel a particular calling to this subject: Helping individuals wake up to their true and best selves. I have spent quite a bit of energy developing highly effective spiritual and psychological techniques and tools for facilitating this process. I hope that you will take advantage of some or all of them.

To start this process, I am sending you this FREE Self-Test to determine if You Are Asleep At The Wheel Of Your Life. By reading this self-test and applying the homework, you have taken the first steps to creating a more meaningful life for yourself and those around you.

Once you have taken the Self-Test I invite you to continue the process of the Wake Up Call for your own life through my New Year and New You Package.

Here is your self-help wake-up test. Enjoy!

Asleep at the Wheel Checklist

1 I am over 21 and I still have almost all of my parents’ values.

2 I am seldom introspective.

3 I have never gone to therapy and probably never will.

4 I have never read a self-help book.

5 I think I really know who I am in almost every facet of my life.

6 I seldom explore new ideas or belief systems.

7 I still eat the same foods I ate before I was 21.

8 I avoid people who have different values and beliefs than I have.

9 I think this whole idea of the Unconscious is silly. What you see in me is basically all there is.

10 Over the last 5 years I have learned nothing new about myself.

11 When I have difficulties in relationships I usually see the other person’s faults and not my own.

12 I seldom take risks of any kind.

13 I believe that I can achieve all my life goals by the time I am 40.

14 I don’t have exciting life goals. I simply want to get by.

15 I seldom feel inspired or enthused about my life.

16 I am currently living the life my family expected me to live.

17 I have lived in the same city my whole life.

18 I am afraid that really waking up will cause me to make scary changes in my life.

19 I spend most of my time with people who do not challenge me to grow.

20 Safety is more important to me than growth.

21 I know what other people think of me (friends and enemies).

22 I have never attended a self-help workshop or seminar.

Homework

1 Review the list above and notice which points spoke to you. Make a note about

Why.

2 Notice which points made you uncomfortable. Write them down and see if you can identify the real source of discomfort. Assume that there is something for you to learn from that kind of discomfort.

3 Select one item from the “Asleep” list above and create a plan to begin waking up in that area of your life.

4 Take a trip to a large bookstore and visit the self-help section. Browse through the books until a book “grabs” you. Buy it and read it. This is one way your Unconscious will begin to support your waking up process.

For more tough-minded Wake Up tools, please go to www.DrAusa.com or call Dr. Anderson for individual consultation at 561-362-4049.

Miraculous Goals For 2008

Do you wake up each day filled with passion about what you will do with your day?

Are you completely dedicated to something that requires you to use all that you are?

When you attempt to describe your future are the words vision, meaning and purpose part of the description?

Are joy, enthusiasm and inspiration your frequent companions?

Sadly, most people cannot answer yes to all four of the questions above. However, most people would like to be able to say yes but do not know exactly what to do to make that a reality in their lives.

If you don’t have the life you would love to live then it may be because you are too much like I used to be. I created expectations that were far below what was actually achievable and then made them come true. I almost lost one of the most fantastic opportunities of my life because of my “small” picture of what I thought I deserved.

In the last 35 years I have discovered that the vast majority of people are individuals who have unrealistically and unconsciously limited their ideas of what they can do with their lives. It is no wonder then that they could not answer an enthusiastic yes to my questions.

I want to support you to set miraculous goals for your life. I hope my story will inspire you to do that.

It was 1972 and I was completing my second year as Associate Pastor of a small church in Massachusetts. A church member who had been my friend and mentor approached me with a question: “Would you like to do counseling and consulting full time”. I said no and that was that.

When I told my wife she became very agitated and started yelling at me. “You are an idiot! Of course you want to do counseling and consulting full time. That is all you dream about. You dearly love counseling and consulting. You love it. Why did you say no to him?”

Upon reflection I had to admit that my wife was right so I spent the next two weeks engaged in an intense inner search for the reasons behind my denial. What I discovered miraculously changed my mind, my work and my future.

I discovered that I did in fact have a dream of being a counselor/consultant but I also had some extremely self-limiting attitudes that blocked the path to the realization of that dream. I felt undeserving and I could not see how I could overcome the obstacles that seemed to block my way. In addition, I had fears about my ability to do well in the profession I dreamed about. (I could go on here but I think you get the point – I was an idiot and I was standing in my own way.)

Finally, I had a breakthrough and decided to return to my mentor/friend and share what I discovered about myself and see what he had in mind. It was one of the best decisions of my entire life.

The mentor/friend was Stan Olsen, co-founder of Digital Equipment Corporation. He suggested that “we” start a non-profit organization dedicated to consulting and counseling and make me the director. I said O.K. and we scheduled our first board meeting.

At the board meeting (Stan and two other men), they announced that they had already made a number of decisions that involved me. Here they are. When I heard them I was astounded.

One. My salary was to be twice what I had been making at the church.

Two. They asked me to list the courses and seminars that would best train me for the work I was to do. I made an extensive list including training in organizational development, small group therapy and a long and involved program in Gestalt therapy.
They said yes to each and every item on my list!

Three. They then “requested” that I go back to school and get my doctorate. They agreed to pay for all expenses for the duration of the program.

Four. Stan Olsen had donated $100,000 to make all this possible.

The point: If I had given in to my self-limiting ideas my life would have been very different and certainly far less satisfying.

The message: Open your mind and heart to your best and highest dreams and say yes to anyone who wants to offer their support. Miracles will follow. Have a miraculous new year.

*If you want more helpful tools and guides for your own inner journey please see the information listed below and visit www.DrAusa.com .

THE BEST GIFT YOU COULD GIVE YOUR SELF

Lets start with a statement many people might think is strange or outrageous but is actually a powerful truth:

The best gift you could give yourself for the holidays is the gift of SELF-LOVE.

If you love your self a lot you will be able to make healthy decisions about your body (including your weight loss), your relationships, your work and your life purpose. If your level of self-love is low (everyone loves themselves at least a little) then you will find it difficult to identify and act on positive and life giving ideas and opportunities.

If you struggle with weight loss then you would be wise to evaluate your ability to love and accept yourself exactly as you are. Lack of self-love makes it very difficult to find the will to make positive changes in our eating, exercise, mental and spiritual habits.

We decide that we need to lose weight and begin a program with enthusiasm. For a while we make progress and then for no clear reason, we lose all focus and return to our fattening habits. We commonly blame ourselves for being “lazy or lacking in will-power” and that makes our self-love go even lower. This is a toxic cycle and cannot be broken unless we make progress in our ability to love who and what we are.

I am sure that someone is reading this article and thinking; “Oh, no. I have tried to love myself for years and I have such a hard time of it. Will I ever be able to love who I am?” I used to think that way so don’t despair. I made great progress with this issue and you can also. It takes a bit of work but there is no work more worthwhile than learning to love your self. It benefits you and all who know you. Everyone wins when you love you a lot more than you do now.

Big question; How do I learn to love myself a lot more than I do right now?

Let’s start with the awareness that you already love your self at least a little bit. I am not trying to use some “pop-psychology” on you. You actually have a part of you that already loves you and will sometimes assert itself and guide you to do something self-loving – like reading an article about increasing your self-love.

If you want to make big progress in your ability to love you then you will be wise to believe me on this one. You have a part of you, a basic and indestructible part, that loves who you are no matter what you have done or failed to do. There are many names for this part both psychological and spiritual but it does not have to be named to exist and have an effect on your life.

Your task is to nurture and strengthen that self-loving part until it takes over and guides your thinking and acting. Then you will experience a healing miracle in just about every aspect of your daily life, work and relationships. You will be guided by a love that really cares about your well-being and your decisions will constantly reflect that guidance.

Here is a simple exercise that I have shared with members of my Food Addicts Boot Camp. They have used it to make great strides in their ability to love themselves and so can you. The exercise is deceptively simple and far more powerful than you may imagine until you try it for 30 days. Go for it. You are worth the effort.

Exercise in increasing self-love:

Ask the following question as many times a day as you can remember then do what seems right.

“If I loved myself, what would I do right now?”

You will see real progress if you do this exercise as if the quality of your life depends on it… and actually it does. Let me know what happens.

*If you want more helpful tools and guides for your own inner journey please see the information listed below and visit www.DrAusa.com .

Holiday Package Special

***This special offer is going on now through January 1st, 2008***

To all of my very loyal readers and internet clients, I am offering a holiday package that has never been put together before!

Buy my 3 CD set, Journey to Self-Love and receive FREE my internet course entitled The Journey Of Love ($49.99 value).

The best gift I can think of for the holidays is the gift of Self-Love. If you or anyone you know has thought of doing inner-work as described in my article above this package is for you.

Here’s how to order:

Step 1. Go to www.DrAusa.com

Step 2. BUY In CD Tutorials the Special Holiday “Love” Package including:

CD - Your Journey To Self-Love
Length: 3 hours

Three intense hours of personal, one-on-one guidance to help you on your journey to loving your self by Dr. Matthew Anderson. Learning to love your self can be the most important journey you ever take. Unfortunately, most of us have difficulty achieving a high level of self-love. We remain stuck in patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving that block our ability to live and enjoy our lives to the fullest. However, it is possible to breakthrough those blocks and discover your self anew as loveable, worthy and valuable. This discovery will transform your experience of who you are, what life is really about and what you can become.

RECEIVE FREE:

The Journey of Love
10 week internet course

Each lesson will be an intimate experience of love discovery with God, yourself and with all of the most important areas of your life. Each lesson will include an inspirational lecture based on the teachings of ancient and contemporary spiritual lovers like Hafiz, Rumi, Jesus, Kabir, and Rilke. Your weekly lesson will also include specific (optional) homework designed to make the lesson applicable to your daily life, growth and aliveness. Once you sign up for this course you will receive an email lesson with homework every Wednesday.

Buy my 3 CD set, Journey to Self-Love and receive FREE my internet course entitled The Journey Of Love ($49.99 value). A $99.94 value for $49.95!

Happy Holidays to all of you.

Dr. A