Today, I want to run through some of the usual thought processes and actions we are likely to adopt in our efforts to get fitter. More than that though, I hope to inspire you to change, for your good and well-being, the way you perceive and act in relation to every aspect of your daily lives, events, situations, circumstances, problems, relationships and any goals you may have set yourselves. Change your mindset, act in a certain way and you will achieve those goals.The things you want out of life will fall within your grasp. As a practical example, I wish to apply the principles I will be sharing with you, in our battle to get fitter.

Let's face it, for some of us every day living experiences and even the thought of getting out of bed can be like a theatre of war but this faction, in the main, will have been created by our own perception and attitude to things as they happen. In other words, these particular battles only rage within our heads and the good news is that all the weapons we need to achieve victory and control the situations facing us, are also within our heads, minds, brains or whatever we perceive as the omnipotent force controlling our thoughts and actions. For present purposes, let us use "minds" as the controlling force. Now, we just need to trigger and prime our "virtual" weapons in order to march on. I will immediately say that the comments I have just made are not intended to apply to those suffering from serious mental disorder and certainly not to our brave men and women presently experiencing real wars. They have God’s and our blessings.

What can we do to get fitter? I could talk about giving up smoking and reducing alcohol consumption and eating healthier all of which would certainly make us fitter but I want to concentrate on getting fitter by exercise because it will be easier to visualise the concepts in action. That said the principles may be applied to any of our goals.

The first thing we may consider is to do some running but do not run if you are too overweight. If being overweight is a factor, then choose cycling or swimming since there will be little or no stress on the knee joints. Let us stick with running. We take our first run. Not too far today we want to ease into things. A question! How many times a week should we run; every day, every other day, two or three times a week? How often and how far? The battle has started!

Went for another run today and saw Margaret leaving the store. She wanted to know all about our fitness regime and we chatted for ages. Did not do much running; we will have to make more effort.

It may be better to join a gym since they will have all sorts of equipment to work on. We sign up at the gym and meet a lot of very friendly and helpful members. The first session was great, and we learned many useful tips from our friends. We have been going to the gym for several weeks now but last evening, our friends did not show. We will carry on regardless. Without our friends the gym experience is not much fun and to be honest, the traffic on the roads seems to be getting heavier. It is all taking time.

It may be better and more convenient to set up a home gym. What equipment do we need? We would like a treadmill, cross trainer and perhaps a multi gym but these items are expensive and beyond our budget. What are the bare essentials for our needs and if we do purchase, is there enough room at home to set things up?

We are increasingly confused, and the battle is now raging. We visit stores, browse the Internet, catalogues and magazines which only add to the confusion. We spend days and days trying to figure out our options and all this mind-wrenching turmoil is eating into and destroying our desire and enthusiasm to improve our condition. The result is that we have lost all impetus and the battle is lost.

So far, I have attempted to outline the usual steps we would take to become fitter and the vast and diverse array of choices we need to consider if we are going take the path leading to success. Get it right and we do achieve our goals. Get it wrong and it is the fear of getting things wrong that causes our inner turmoil, and we lose all our battles, ultimately our wars and we achieve little if anything at all. Did we really want to achieve?

Mark Twain said "I can show anyone how to get what they want. The only trouble is I can’t find anyone who can tell me what they want." He also noted that it does not take a lot of energy or will power to keep your mind fixed on something that really grabs you but it is very difficult to stay focused positively on what you do not really want. So applying this principle, we must first decide upon what we want if we are to achieve our goal! This is easier said than done because even if we are clear about what we want, the choices available to us can accelerate confusion, this blurs our vision which in turn frustrates our ambitions. I have tried to make this point in my earlier comments. Can we learn the principles to laser our thoughts towards a positive focus on what we really want? The answer is a resounding "YES"!

Now, we need to apply some science. Don't worry, I am not expecting you to run off and engross yourselves in Einstein's Theory of Relativity or Darwin's Theory of Evolution. No, this science is already within us, lying dormant within our minds, and we now need to release its powers to propel us into our desired position. All the weapons to fight our inner wars and battles are there at our disposal. We simply have to un-lock, prime them and put them to our use. How is this done?

The primary component is vision and I want your imagination to really focus on this point. It is indisputable that everything man made on this planet started with a thought. Without this thinking process, nothing would have been built, nothing would have flown, nothing would have sailed and nothing processed for the good and well being of the human race. This thinking process, however, required more effort than a mere fleeting image of something that may materialise in the future. It required vision as to its particular purpose, the benefits to mankind or particular societies.The vision to work out the planning and details of manufacture and construction and no doubt the vision that the result would bring in the money.

Thoughts, no matter how comprehensive or detailed will not help us unless we take action. Referring back to our pioneering thinkers, they had to act in a certain way, the right way, in order realise their vision.If things were not built or manufactured in the right way, they would not have materialised into a stable or workable thing whatever that may have been. The same is true of our vision to achieve our goals and get what we want.Taking the right action was also essential. It is the same for us but it is much simpler.That is unless your vision is to build the world’s tallest building or something of that nature. Once we have created our detailed vision, that will direct us to the right path and the right action we should take. But we must act in order to achieve.

The developed world has created some phenomenal individuals and it is difficult for most of us to appreciate the power of the minds of these people. Now imagine this. In the world as we know it today, there is limited scope for "pioneering thinking" but if we applied those same intensive thought processes to our everyday lives and married it with our vision of that we are seeking to achieve, the possibilities are boundless.We would know exactly where we were going and how to get there, we would avoid everything likely to cause confusion and frustration because those barriers would not be part of our fixed and unshakeable vision and we would achieve. Achieve everything we desired. Just try it! And thank you for spending time with me.