Have gratitude for where you are today!
When we come from a place of gratitude, you have less room for worry, fear, anxiety, and confusion. Be grateful for your body and your mind. Be grateful for your current circumstances, no matter how far you are from your “ideal” situation.
Have hope/faith that you can/will improve.
Have confidence that you can change. If you don’t currently have hope and faith, fake it. Begin to think and speak it into reality.
Determine why you want to change. Be clear!
Your reason must be bigger than a number on a scale or your pants size. This is something that pulls at your heartstrings. For example, do you want to get healthy so you can keep up with your grandkids? So you can travel and enjoy life when you get older? So you can get off medications? Live longer? Set an example for those around you? Remember your “why” as you go to the next step because if you forget, you will likely quit.
Take actionable baby steps that get you closer to your goal.
A goal without a plan is just a dream. You must put your plan into action to see any results. This could be as simple as filling your water bottle and remembering to drink it throughout the day. Another example is setting your alarm to wake up for your workouts.
Form habits.
Once you continue to take those baby steps, over time, a compound effect will happen. Before you know it, those simple, consistent actions will become habits, and habits compound to become who you are.
Change your mindset.
It is possible to change your mindset; it all starts with your beliefs. What your mind can conceive, you can achieve. Start by training your mind to believe you can make the changes necessary to create a new mindset. Here’s a great example: say you are someone who doesn’t know how to cook. You might find yourself saying “I don’t cook” or “I don’t know how to cook.” If you keep repeating that, your brain will believe it. But, once you boil water and add noodles, you are cooking. Start to say aloud “I am learning how to cook,” or “I am becoming a cook,” and you will start to change your mindset about what you are capable of accomplishing. It is possible to change your mindset, just start acting like someone who can cook. Start doing what cooks do and before you know it, you will begin to identify yourself as a cook.
– Joan Dandeneau, Fitness and Nutrition Coach and Issaquah Highlands Resident
