You know that health and wellness are essential to your overall quality of life. Still, awareness alone isn’t enough to motivate you to change. You conduct research, set goals, create routines, purchase nutrition and fitness resources, and begin your journey; however, it’s not long before old patterns resurface. You’re desperately trying to change, but the more you fall short of your goals, the more you believe that healthy living is impossible.
Mind Over Matter
Why is adopting a healthy lifestyle so challenging? Change is difficult, especially when it involves rearranging every aspect of your life. Accomplishing your healthy living goals will require you first to change your mindset. More than having the desire to change, you must unlearn unhealthy habits, identify your weaknesses (or triggers), eliminate obstacles, invest in adequate resources, and keep trying until you get it right. Continue reading for advice.
What’s Holding You Back?
Before you can conquer your healthy living goals, you must identify your psychological barriers. What’s holding you back? More importantly, how do you preserve? Continue reading for advice.
Your “Why” is Weak
Deciding to live a healthier lifestyle to impress someone or keep up with the latest trends isn’t enough to motivate you to stay on track. While you may not want to hear this, pleasing others is an unhealthy battle that always ends in disappointment, and trends constantly change. Ultimately, your drive and ambition fluctuate when your “why” isn’t strong enough.
Your “why” must be anchored to something that genuinely means something to inspire you to change. For instance, if you have children, your “why” could be to have the physical and emotional strength you need to be an effective parent. Another example might be your current health status. Let’s say you were recently diagnosed with diabetes. Your “why” would be to reduce the symptoms, prolong your life, and in some cases, overcome the disease.
Comparisons
Another psychological barrier to healthy living is comparison. While there’s nothing wrong with learning from others and admiring their accomplishments, comparing yourself to others is the quickest way to become discouraged. It lowers your self-esteem, increases stress, and can even turn friends into rivals. Eventually, you start to question your life and your ability to succeed.
So, how do you stop comparing yourself? Start by understanding that uniqueness is what makes you special. Appreciate where you are in your journey, acknowledge your strengths, and make yourself the only competition. You may also need to limit social media exposure until you’ve learned how to overcome comparison.
Procrastination
How many times have you put off your health and wellness goals? Although you know it’s essential, you make excuses or rationalizations for why you should put your plans on the back burner. “I’m too tired.” “It’s just not the right time.” “Taking the weekend off won’t hurt.” “I’ll get to it tomorrow.” However, tomorrow turns into Monday, Monday turns into the first of the month, and before you know it, another year has passed, and you haven’t done anything.
The good news is that you can overcome procrastination. One suggestion is to start small. Unrealistic goals and expectations can cause mental overwhelm, which evokes fear of failure. Taking your journey step by step boosts your motivation, encouraging you to succeed. Another tip is to get support.
Of all the advice on how to improve exercise motivation, accountability partners are likely the most effective. When your significant other, friend, relative, gym buddy, or personal trainer is aware of your goals and shortcomings, they will hold you accountable and provide the extra boost you need to stay on track.
Healthy living is more than making decisions, developing routines, and buying wellness products or services. It’s a substantial change that requires a mindset shift. If you’ve tried to live better with little to no results, perhaps one of the above psychological barriers is holding you back. Instead of giving up, use the advice above to help change your mentality to achieve optimal wellness.
