I recently read a book about mindfulness and being "present." The premise was that by learning to  love the process, you'll avoid self-judgement, eliminate impatience, end boredom, reduce stress, feel calmer, experience self-discovery, enjoy the journey and be happy. Achieving your goal will simply be a natural by-product. Sounds pretty good! But is being process-oriented really better than being goal-oriented? Why are some self-help gurus today telling us to "forget about goals?"

The word visualization sometimes conjures up images of new age gurus teaching esoteric techniques for personal enlightenment and "attracting" what you want into your life. This causes many evidence-based types to scoff. However, piles of research has shown that mental imagery (aka "visualization") can improve performance. One study suggests that a specific type of mental imagery that you do in the gym can also increase your strength...

There's a technique I started using prior to my first body building contest, decades ago, and it was so effective for helping me nail my peak condition on the one day that counted, I've done it ever since, through 28 competitions, and now, to achieve goals for recreational bodybuilding and fitness. I've recommended this simple secret to thousands of clients and readers over the years and now you can use this powerful tool too...

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a physique, fitness, or strength competitor, or you’re a recreational health, fitness or sports enthusiast, if you have goals and you know when you want to achieve them, then I guarantee the tool you're about to learn about will skyrocket your training, diet and overall fitness success. It can also help you establish any new habit or break any old one. It's also one of the simplest strategies you will ever use. It's so simple, you have to be careful not to dismiss it until you try it. Anyone can do this, and without much effort. Oh, it's free too...

Many programs, initiatives and aspirations aren't acted on because the best time to start wasn't taken into consideration. If a call to action catches you in the middle of you busy life when you're entrenched in other routines, it's easy to ignore. Psychologists are now saying that the best time to motivate yourself to start is when it feels like you have a clean slate. This is a time when no old habits or routines are working against you. It's called the fresh start effect.

Only a small percentage of people stay motivated to keep going consistently month after month, year after year, continuing to pursue fitness and continuing to improve themselves. What's the difference between these people and the masses who drop out? The answer may lie in the type of motivation they use because there's one kind of motivation that's stronger and longer lasting than all the rest

For years, bodybuilders have preached about the importance of the mind to muscle connection. Physique athletes believe that improving your ability to concentrate on the muscle you're training, and feel the muscle contract, will increase activation in the target muscle and reduce the involvement of secondary muscles, and that this in turn will increase muscle growth.