To be truly fit and healthy you must achieve a certain balance between movement, mindset and nutrition. No matter how hard you try, you will find it a struggle to thrive if you are solely focused on one idea or one modality. Examples of this could be a really spiritual person who has a zen-like mindset, but has no or little ability when it comes to using their body in a physical way functionally. Or and athlete who has abs of steel and arms to be proud of, only to be let down by negative thoughts in their head.
The ultimate goal should be to work on each aspect in equal amounts and achieve balance.
One way in which I like to encourage people to work on their mindset is through examining their perspective of the world around them. Now I will ask you to do the same… Take a moment to think about the last time something "bad" happened to you and examine it (a big bill arrived, you had an accident, received an injury, had a problem at work etc). If the event is fresh in your memory it may stir certain negative emotions, but don’t dwell on them. Keep thinking about the incident that happened and examine the outcome. Did any good come of it? Perhaps it was something as simple as a friend or friends reaching out to you, or the incident may have opened up other opportunities in your life that never would have existed for you otherwise. It’s all a matter of perspective!
An extreme example of this may be someone who is facing a terminal illness. Yes the news of a terminal illness is devastating, but some positives may actually come out of it. Instead of being down in the dumps because they are ill, their perspective may change and they may focus instead on living the best life they can with the time they have remaining. It’s just another way of looking at a situation. By changing the way we look at situations we can change how we feel about them and we can change our emotions from only negative, to somewhat or even immensely positive. And don’t we all want to feel a little more positive?
Our beliefs or points of view can either hold us back from succeeding, or they can help us achieve amazing things we never thought possible. They can make the seemingly worst situation seem like the best opportunity that has come along. Again… it’s all a matter of perspective!
The health and fitness industry and what is promoted within it is full of opinions and perspectives; which by accident or design make us feel guilty or inadequate in the way we look at ourselves and others. It's time to change that!
So let's look at some common ideas, thoughts and beliefs and see how we can switch them around to greatly benefit us on our journey of lasting health and fitness.
- "I need to exercise hard to lose weight" - By focusing on my daily healthy habits I will improve my mood, ability to move and get better sleep. Weight loss and muscle tone is merely a side effect of feeling fantastic from the inside out.
- "I don’t have time to exercise and one or two days a week is not enough so I won’t bother at all" - The 1 or 2 days a week that I exercise are fantastic! That’s one or two more days than I’ve done in the past and any time spent moving my body is benefiting me greatly.
- "I can’t eat that I’m on a diet" - I can eat whatever I want whenever I want. However I’m choosing not to eat junk because I know I will feel better if I don’t.
- "No pain no gain" - My body is not something that needs to be beaten into submission. I will get fitter and stronger in due course. Right now I need to celebrate what I can do.
These are a few examples of commonly held beliefs and slogans that can be changed to provide more value and inspiration into our life.
Remember, your body is responding exactly the way it’s meant to according to what you’ve been feeding it with your nutrition, movement and mindset. So next time you get caught in a negativity spiral, take a moment to change the perspective and see what outcomes you can achieve.
I would love to hear from you some of your commonly held beliefs and how you can change them for a more positive outcome.
Clint and Aimee
Primal Influence
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