Your mental images manifest in your physical world. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself:

1. How can you become lean, fit and healthy if all you think about is gaining weight and eating your favorite unhealthy food?

2. How can you possibly be successful if all you think about is failing or losing?

3. How can you possibly make more money if you focus on being in debt?

4. How can you possibly get a better job if your energy is spent thinking about how much you hate your current one?

"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" James Allen

When I was obese, most of my mental brain energy was spent thinking about food. I would read those women's magazines that had food advertisements in the first 20 pages. I would stand in line at the supermarket waiting to buy my high-fat, sugar-loaded items and salivate over the artistically designed foods in those beautiful gourmet magazines. When I watched television, I would sit completely still during every food commercial drooling all the while my mind was ingesting the images.

I became what I ingested, thought about and studied. I became a storehouse of excessive calories. I became what I thought about... fat! If I was ever to experience a change, I had to change. I had to methodically change:

My Mental Fuel (Fuel is energy) what you give energy to grows!
My Mental Images (instant brief snap shots of yourself)
My Thoughts (meditations of images)
My Mental Pictures (complete life like scenes of yourself)
My Choices (decisions) and ultimately My Actions (every physical movement)

You see, in life, everything counts. Therefore you must count everything.

Sow a thought, reap an action...
Reap an action, sow a habit...
Sow that habit, reap a destination!

You are where you are, right now at this moment, because of your consistent thoughts, images, and actions, which is the composite of your habits.

From this day forward, if you want to change your future, you must change your Mental Fuel.

In order to achieve your ideal body, your ideal state of thinking, your optimum level of health and performance in all areas of your life you must change your mental diet. You must get rid of all negative, self defeating and destructive material, conversations, unnecessary relationships, images in your home and workplace.

Replace negative thoughts with empowering images by changing what you read, what you watch on TV and the Internet. Change the music you listen to. If you're depressed and you want to get to a higher more invigorating state, don't listen to sad "poor me" drippy songs. Put on some high energy moving and grooving music. Put on what I call great memory music. You know, the music you played when everything in your life was awesome. Let your mind take you back there to that place. Soon you will feel powerful again.

"esreveR" your order of thinking. (Reverse Type)

You do this by asking yourself empowering questions. You are a unique individual. You have your own picture of success. If you don't... GET ONE!

Find some quiet space and start asking and answering these questions. Print out this page and write out your answers in detail.

* What does my ultimate picture of success look like?
* What can I do to feel successful today?
* What can I read, study, ingest that signifies success to me?
* What do I need to do to be successful?
* Who can (really) help me achieve my success?
* What are the first three things I am going to change to start my success process?

1._______________________________________ 2._______________________________________ 3._______________________________________ 4._______________________________________ 5._______________________________________ 6._______________________________________

Never look back at your past mistakes. That's why they call it the past! You know what didn't work, you know where your strength is. Call upon it. Develop your own success program. Each of us have our own ideal image of success!

Start now. Go out a buy a magazine that reflect your destiny and only look in that direction. Forget your past, believe me, everyone is tired of hearing about it. Look to your future see your reaching, see your journey. We are all on a journey through this life... Maybe we will meet along the way. I hope I see you at the top!

Victoria is a world-renowned keynote speaker, ranked as one of the top four "Superstars of Self-Esteem", and has twice been runner-up for IDEA's Business Person of the Year. She is the star and producer of 23 dance fitness videos and her own television show, "Victoria's Body Shoppe". She has written several books on personal development, nutrition, and exercise and is a contributing writer for a wide variety of publications, including Shape, Elle, Vogue, Black Enterprise, Rolling Stone, Longevity, and USA Today. Visit Victoria's website today at http://www.victoriajohnson.com/