June 01, 2018
5 Real Ways To Motivate Yourself For Change
Writen by Naomi Whittel |
Published on: June 01, 2018
Change is hard. Especially when it comes to changing the food we eat or the timing of when we eat along with the myriad of other components that make up a healthy lifestyle. In the short term, wanting to change can be enough. All that positive emotion and hope gives a jolt of energy to get going. But after a while, when those feelings normalize and the shiny packaging of a new diet wears off, it’s easy to lose touch with that high-intensity emotion that initially sprang us forward to take the first steps.
And then for other people, the desire to change isn’t quite enough to propel them forward to make those first steps. They need more — maybe more knowledge, perhaps a tangible understanding of their end-goal or even more personal coaching to soothe fears around the unknown of a new health program. Where do you fall? I’m the type of person who is always excited about new information. The more I seek out an idea, the greater my enthusiasm grows for it. I realized at a young age that a lot of my intuitive feelings about health, diet, and wellness were aligned with real science that backed my gut instincts. As I continuously explored different paths to healing, I gained more and more confidence in my ability to coach myself into a state of well-being. Here are some of the ways I learned to navigate motivation and use it to get the results I had long wanted.
Get Out of Your Own Way to Get Results and Get Healthy.
Often it’s not so much the mental obstacles in our way of success but our own mentality that’s the problem. For example, you might think that things like your schedule, your children, your partner, your family history, or your own track record stand in the way of your success. While they all may present real and unimagined obstacles, the most challenging part about them is the way you think about them. If you think they are a problem then guess what? They likely will be. But if you can talk to a friend, a coach or write in a journal to navigate ways to bypass these obstacles, soon enough they will lose their power and not feel as overwhelming as they currently do. That work schedule that doesn’t allow for exercise in the day will slowly reveal a window here or there where you can squeeze in 10 or 20 minutes. Yes you may have to get up earlier, use a lunch break or walk instead of commute but with a little creativity you’ll soon see that there are only solutions, not problems!
Now is as Good as Any Time for Change.
One of the things I hear lately is how jazzed women are about my program in my bestselling book, Glow15. They really want to glow, to activate autophagy, to lean out, to eat better, to heal using their own body, to decrease risk of cancer, diabetes, obesity… I believe them, I know they want this, we all do! For some of them though it seems like “later” or “sometime” is a better time than now though. Well let me assure you, there is no time but now. What we can prevent today saves us immensely down the road. Especially in terms of weight. As women begin aging, (as early as our 30’s) and our hormones change, it’s easy to gain a couple of pounds each year. While that seems like nothing to worry about, over the next bunch of decades that weight adds up and we can wake up one day overweight or obese and ask, how did this happen? The longer we have extra weight on us the harder it is to lose. Additionally the longer we are inflamed by carrying extra weight, the higher our risk becomes for chronic disease. So the best thing you can do for your health and for the longevity of your life is to realize that now, right now, is truly the time to take real and impactful steps towards preserving the youth and health of your body.
Ask Yourself, “What if I Was Already Perfect?
So many women feel that they have to be perfect to succeed. It is not true that in order to get results you have to know everything and do everything perfectly. Just make small steps towards being a little better (not perfect) each day. I can’t think of a better act of self-kindness than that! Because what if unbeknownst to you, you were already doing so many things right? What if you only had to make some simple switches to get big results? The chances are high that if you’re reading this you likely care a great deal about your health and you find value in learning about ways to take care of your body. Give yourself a pat on the back — you’re doing just fine!
Transform Your Self-Talk.
There’s a saying, “don’t should on yourself.” All too often we think “I should do this, eat that, be more like her…” I should, I should, I should! Wow — that’s one way to feel really stressed out and bully yourself! So let’s try a different approach. Instead of thinking or saying “I should” try to replace should with “choose.” When we upgrade our self-talk from being a passive player or victim in our life to feeling more empowered, it has this beautiful transformative impact on our whole being. We can go from feeling powerless to feeling completely in control.
Additionally, when we choose something instead of feeling forced into doing it, our results are so much easier to come by since when we feel good about what and why we’re making changes they’re less challenging. For example, if you love your morning bagel but you just read chapter four of my new book, Glow15 and you learned that by eating fat first, and carbs last you’ll make use of a biological health hack to make your cells younger and now you’re feeling all sorts of emotions conflicting with each other. You love the idea of activating autophagy and the science supporting the fat first concept gains your trust and equally excites you. Yet you also love that bagel and you definitely do not enjoy feeling like someone is taking it away from you. Realizing you’re going to have to make some changes feels a little overwhelming and let’s be honest, maybe it even makes you a little angry. I get it and I have the solution for you. Practice communicating (either speaking to a friend or yourself in the mirror or writing in a journal) that you are choosing to eat avocado or one of my delicious Egg15 recipes from Glow15. And then take it a step further and explain to yourself why you are choosing to eat avocado instead of a bagel. Maybe it sounds like this: “I choose to eat avocado because bagels every morning are slowly damaging my cells.” Or maybe: “I choose to eat avocado in the morning because I want those healthy fats to heal my skin and prevent lines and wrinkles on my face as I age.” Or it could sound like this: “I choose to eat fat in the morning instead of carbs because it feels better.” Eat what feels better. Do what feels better. Don’t do, eat or be any kind of person that doesn’t feel good!
Don’t Compare.
Sometimes it’s hard to maintain motivation when we see others getting results better or faster than us. Comparing yourself to anyone but yourself is a recipe for disaster. If you want to maintain a diet or lifestyle for the rest of your life, let your sole focus be on your own self and no one else. Period. There is no one with your exact circumstances, genetics, work schedule, biology, home or work environment — you are completely unique and owning that will enable you to stop draining energy on worrying about why you’re not like everyone else. Trust that you are doing the best you can because you likely are. And if you need a reminder of that, see number 3 above!
You have all the reasons to succeed. You have the tools and the support. So let’s get healthy together! For more opportunities to find your glow, please see if my Glow15 program is right for you!
