A lot of weight control diet experts start out their books with the following statement:

"The people who are successful at losing weight are the ones with the right attitude - they believe they will be successful."

I don't know about you, but I find this just a little confusing. If you've already tried 10 diets, and all of them worked (for a while) but you now weigh more than you ever have in your life, how are you going to force yourself into believing that you’ll be successful this time?

And if you don't believe it, should you even bother trying to another weight loss plan?

Some experts believe you’ll get the “right attitude” if they remind you about all the chronic diseases caused by obesity. Being scared is a great motivator, for sure - and total honesty can really help. But will fear alone help you become one of the tiny fraction of dieters who are able to lose weight and then keep it off for a year or more? Or will it just cause more stress?

Other weight loss experts try to act like cheerleaders, doing a printed version of "rah, rah, rah!" This is supposed to infuse you with their enthusiasm. It actually works, for a while. But the excitement wears off as you’re faced with the real-world challenges of losing weight.

And some diet book authors suggest that you chant affirmations on a regular basis. This can help reduce your stress level if you use it as a meditation technique. However, affirmations by themselves won’t make you lose weight. If you don’t combine the positive thoughts with positive action, you’re just engaging in some wishful thinking.

I think we need to take a good look at the idea that you need the right attitude in order to succeed. It implies that you will be successful only if you can change the way you feel. If you think of the people you admire most and who have become successful in any field, one of the things you'll notice is that successful people do what is needed at any given time - regardless of whether or not they "feel like it".

There are days in every person's life when he or she doesn't want to get up in the morning. It even happens to successful people. But successful people get up anyway, and do what needs to get done. In fact, it may be the action itself that creates the enthusiasm that is so evident in the people we most admire.

In other words, you don't need to feel motivated. You need to be willing to take positive action. If you’ve recently purchased a diet book and you’re taking your precious time to read it, that in itself is proof that you’re willing to take action.

Even if you have 40 diet books on your shelf, and you are still overweight, that doesn’t prove that you aren't willing to take action. Your previous failed attempts just mean that you have not yet discovered the techniques needed to overcome your natural drive to overeat or to eat the wrong food. Successful business people often start many failing businesses before they find the right combination that puts them at the top of their field.

Successful people don’t think of past failures as reasons to quit – they think of past failures as learning experiences, and part of the dues they have to pay before they can be successful.

So if you’re thinking about starting one more weight control diet, don’t worry about whether or not you have the “right” attitude. You can change your diet, your health, and your life. Just keep learning all you can about good nutrition and about how your food choices affect your health; join a support group if you need to; or find a nutritional counselor or behavioral counselor if you think you could use their support. Do what it takes.

Even if you’ve failed with a diet in the past, you have the “right” attitude as long as you’re willing to give it another try.