We all understand the value of adopting a healthier lifestyle. In fact, most of us want to hit the gym and make the right nutritional choices, albeit theoretically. The issue is that there is a big difference between wanting to do something, and actually doing it.
The busy lifestyles and the stories we keep telling ourselves are partly to blame for this. However, it is absolutely difficult to attain certain levels of positivity and health without changing our mindset. In this article, we will look at why positive thinking aids in achieving a healthy lifestyle and what you can do to get yourself on track.
Your mindset keeps you stuck
Many people are always thinking of ways to improve their exercise or eating habits but end up doing nothing about it. One buys a sneakers and a pair of training pants but suddenly doesn’t feel motivated to hit the gym, and so on. If you find yourself in such a situation, don’t beat yourself up – you are not alone. And if it’s any consolation, almost every person has done this. Not sticking to the right diet, not starting or growing the business, not hitting the gym and so on are common concerns. But once you understand why you feel stuck, then you can start to overcome the problem.
I am too busy
With so much to do and less time, it’s easy to fall into the trap of saying “I am too busy.” You can be busy, but not “too” busy. It could be that you have consciously or unconsciously structured your life in a way that your needs come second. According to one life and business strategist, all you need to do to overcome the “I am too busy” thing is prepare. Of course you will be too busy to hit the gym if you have not spared time for that. By scheduling your exercises and analyzing your upcoming week, it becomes easier to identify potential issues and come up with solutions.
The “what if” mentality
Human mind has a way of questioning everything new – what if I’m not good enough? What if other people are already doing it? What if it doesn’t work? The brain does this to protect you in case you are planning to do something dangerous. But if you give “failing” more focus than it deserves, you will not see the possibility of succeeding. It’s natural to choose to maintain the status quo – it’s the easiest thing to do. But doing the same thing over and over won’t give you different results.
Procrastination
This is the action of postponing or delaying something – and is one of the main hindrances blocking you from making the right choices and living the life you always dream about. According to some studies, people regret more the things they have not done than those they have done. Besides, guilt and regret from missed opportunity tend to remain in people’s minds much longer.
You could be procrastinating because of lack of self-discipline, decision paralysis, exhaustion, laziness, too many goals, self-image conflict and so on. To stop procrastination, you’ll need to self-assess, reassess your goals, commit, visualize success, break it down and set a date. Talking with experts or people with the same goals as yours can also help out.
The damage is already done
We are all humans and are bound to make different mistakes along the way – some bad, some worse. However, what differentiates a successful person from an unsuccessful one is that successful people pick themselves up fast. Rationalizing missing a workout or critical opportunity by telling yourself that the harm is already done, and there isn’t a reason to indulge further only makes things worse. Making mistakes is part of life. It is okay to miss a day or two of your workout – you can easily compensate for that. But if that snowballs into multiple days or weeks, you will take a long time to get back on track.
I deserve
This one here is another common thing that people tell themselves when they are about to do something wrong. “I have worked so hard this past week, so I’ll take a month off,” or “I went to gym so I can just eat up everything,” etc. If you are working out to lose weight, you don’t want to replace the calories you have burned with a bigger serving.
