Your thoughts determine your actions. Your actions determine your habits. Your habits determine your character. And your character gives birth to your destiny. —UNKNOWN

The following is an edited excerpt from Judy Molnar's Book, "You Don't Have to be Thin to Win." Chapter 2

Judy talks about the process or journey:

"The process of making changes in your life is just that—a process. When faced with the opportunity to make positive changes in your life, it helps to give some thought to developing a strategy to make those changes happen. Like everyone who wants to improve his or her health, there are two areas that I had to focus on changing when I made a decision to get healthy: exercise and diet.

I looked at my life as a teeter-totter, and my job was to stop the bouncing up and down and create a balance. I'm not talking only about the weight highs and lows. I'm also talking about the mental ups and downs. For me, balance meant not only improving the physical but also developing a spiritual and mental self. You might see this as heart, body, and mind. I had known the many ups and downs of dieting. I had to focus my attention inward to get myself in balance.

I even came up with a motto, "Finding It My Way." Then I took a few steps toward making changes. "

First Judy defined some "Mini-goals" These are the goals for each and every day. Judy's mini-goals were:

Step 1:    Become aware

Judy had to become aware of where she came from, then figure our where she needed to go. This meant taking a good, honest look at herself—the things she did and why she did them, both positive and negative. What was working in her life and what was not?

This is something I highly recommend that each of you do too.

Judy started this process by taking time to write and reflect on how she was going to make some changes in her life. One of the first things she did was write down some of the things that she needed to work and focus on.

According to her, You don't have to write a lot—sometimes just a few words will say all you need to say.

Here is a quick list Judy came up with: