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HOW TO CHANGE (REALLY!)
Lasting change is not about willpower in the month of January. It is about cultivating an inner framework that aligns identity, process, emotional resilience, compassion, patience, and choice. When mindset supports behavior, change stops being something you try to force—and becomes something you naturally sustain.
THE CHANGES
One of the great things about being an adult is you can choose new interpretations about anything in your life. Moreover, you can consciously integrate new, empowering associations to any aspect of your wellness. At any time, you can recreate the meanings about your health.
WHAT YOU NEED
If you haven’t noticed by now, the Empowered approach to creating a state of optimal health in your life, is about more than your body. This is about creating a beautiful quality of life by caring for your whole Self. Yes, that is a capital “S” because you are so much more than just a body. Having made it this far into the contents of the book, I trust you agree with this perspective.
EXCUSES BE GONE
Knowing that what you’re thinking in a moment of weakness is one thing, but you also need to know how to defuse the power of the excuse. What follows is a simple process you can use to regain your power whenever one of those self-defeating thoughts arise.
MAKE ONE CHANGE
The thing is, change takes time and happens one step at a time. Your mental energy is finite and every decision you make uses it. This is especially true if you are using “willpower” toward a new endeavor or one in which you’ve struggled in the past. The key to successful change is giving yourself permission to master one change at a time.
CREATE YOUR FUTURE
It is time to build on your clean, strong foundation in this excerpt from EMPOWERED. There are three things which happen when you reframe the way in which you eat and exercise. First, you change from external to internal meaning. Second, you make choices from autonomous strength, rather than following the dictates of others. Third, your motivation becomes positive and not negative.
NOURISH HAPPINESS
The past century has produced scores of studies linking the effect of food on brain chemistry, mood and performance. This science of food has found that certain foods, and combinations of ingredients can influence mood. Moreover, mood can also influence your choice of food.
DON'T WAIT TO MAKE YOUR RESOLUTIONS
Am I willing to decide, is the question you need to ask yourself? What is a decision you have been avoiding in the hope it will be made for you? Are you waiting to commit to daily exercise because work is too busy right now? Or will you start eating healthier when your spouse stops ordering pizza?
THERE IS A BETTER WAY
Why do you really desire (I’d say deserve) vibrant health? The stimulus for achieving this is inside of you – and I’m not just being optimistic. Over 30 years of research from the National Weight Control Registry indicates no specific diet, exercise protocol or pill has been found to manifest long-term weight loss. Instead, changes in thoughts, behavior and lifestyle are by far more likely to create lasting changes in health.
BE FLEXIBLE
Life is not a series of either-or-choices and you always have an option, if you are willing to see it. When you are able to step into the moment and improvise, you allow yourself to enjoy the opportunities, which arise everyday. You can’t change the nature of life, but you can be flexible in your approach.