MAKE ONE CHANGE

Are you feeling good? The right answer is yes! Seriously, if you have been visualizing and feeling yourself to be a happy, energized and healthy person every day, you will say yes. Now you get to build on this positive foundation.

Change That Lasts

Now that you have a vision for your health, you are buzzing with anticipation for all of the changes you are going to make. You are ready to train for the marathon, become a vegan and plant a year-round garden. The only problem is, you haven’t run since high school, you don’t know an artichoke from an aardvark and you’re wondering if you own a shovel. Nevertheless, you have a lot to do and want to do it right now!

Believe me, you can accomplish all of your great ideas. 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.

The Key Step

Throughout these pages, you’ve delved into your attitudes and belief about what good health is to you. Some of the questions may have seemed repetitive, but the purpose is to uncover what you really desire. What you have done has gotten you where you are, but it won’t take you to where you deserve to be. 

Achieving better health is learning to dig deeper and dream bigger. The following questions will propel you past the obstacles which have prevented you from creating a healthy life. Be sure to answer each question fully before moving onto the next one. As always, use a paper and pen while sitting in a quiet place.

1.   Hold your vision of perfect health in your mind and feel how you would feel. What is the difference between your ideal and your current state?

If this one makes you wince, you are as engaged as you need to be. The only question is, are you willing to risk choosing what you truly desire, so you can move forward?

2.   Is there a healthy activity or habit you would like to start?

This doesn’t have to be an extreme example like, “I want to do 50 pullups or run a marathon.” What are some of the day-to-day activities which you miss out on right now because you are too tired or uncomfortable or in too much pain? Maybe you can’t play with your kids because you’re exhausted all the time. Perhaps you aren’t dating because of how you are judging your appearance.

Another way to look at this is to consider how your current state of health keeps you “stuck.” Are you in the medical matrix of going from doctor to doctor seeking a cure? Do you go from therapist to specialist to healer to trainer looking for something else? Perhaps you feel stuck in the maze of going from diet to diet seeking an answer.

This is a lifelong journey. What is one thing you would love to be able to do today, which you haven’t done? The first thing that comes to mind is probably the right answer. Trust yourself in this one step. You know what to do.

3.   What’s stopping you from taking the step?

Beyond chronic and genetic diseases, which may not be realistic to “cure”, you want to live your best life on a physical, emotional and spiritual level. The question is, what is the benefit or payoff you get from your lack of excellent health? Put another way, what is the risk? If it seems difficult to understand what you could possibly gain by being unhealthy, perhaps the following real-life example will help you.

Please note: the name has been changed to protect the privacy of this individual.

Jessie was in her 20s and struggling with her weight. She knew she needed to take better care of herself, but she couldn’t seem to stop overeating. We were in the middle of a workout session when I asked her, “what is the risk of you losing weight?”

“I’m afraid of being too attractive.”

“Why would that be scary to you?”

“Men would keep bothering me,”

“How would that be a problem?” I asked.

“I would get distracted from my goals.”

“Why?”

“I would enjoy it too much and start to sleep around,” she answered.

“What is the risk of that?”

“I’d feel awful and lose my self-esteem.”

At this point, she got very quiet. She looked down and was very still for a moment until she smiled. She had broken through to a core reason she was struggling to eat less. This “Aha” moment emerged by simply asking questions, which helped her reveal fear holding her back from being healthier.

4.   Now, use this process for yourself. Write down the healthy step you wish to take. Then, repeatedly ask yourself the question “What is the risk of that?” or “Why?” Write your response and ask the same question again, again and again until you reach your core fear preventing you from taking the step you know you need to take.