Every now and again a person may start to take a look at their life and realize that changes need to be made. Their lifestyle has essentially started affecting their health in a negative way. At risk for everything from weight gain and weight-related diseases to mental health problems and addiction, they want to change for the better.
You start eating right, getting more active, sleeping better, and eliminating stress and toxic situations from your life, but it’s not long before you end up right back to old habits.
Why does this happen? Why is it so hard to make a change, and more importantly continue down that path? Even after realizing that the change is necessary for your wellbeing and happiness, the drive you need to press on dries up after some time.
The truth is, this happens to a lot of people. While there are many reasons why it’s hard to continue doing what you know is best for you, figuring out which factors apply to you can help you move past it and live a happier, healthier life.
Some of the things that prevent people from making real change and how to overcome it.
Negative Mindset
You cannot make an effective change if you’re not in the right frame of mind. If you have low self-esteem and don’t believe in yourself, this hinders your ability to accomplish more. If you’re feeling guilty, doubtful, ashamed, angry, resentful, or anything else negative eventually, your mind wins and you stay in that state.
This is likely the hardest thing you have to do to make a significant change. Change your mindset. You have to learn how to difusse the negative talk and lift yourself up. Write down some positive affirmations and repeat them to yourself every day. “I can do this.” “I am worthy of a better life.” “I will achieve my goals”. In the beginning, it may feel strange and you may not even believe it, but as you repeat it to yourself regularly and work towards your goals you will believe every word.
You Need Help
No one on this earth is perfect. At some point, everyone needs to rely on others for assistance. Unfortunately, many people are either too proud or too ashamed to ask for help. So, they keep struggling on their own or give up altogether.
There are certain things that you simply cannot overcome on your own. If you struggle with depression and have tried natural remedies to heal from it, but don’t see any real progression or your symptoms are getting worse, then, maybe you need a therapist. Similarly, if you developed an addiction and tried to kick the habit but keep relapsing or experience extreme withdrawal symptoms, then perhaps you should look into companies like Reflections Recovery to help you down the path to sobriety.
You’re Biting Off More Than You Can Chew
When you made the decision to eat better, exercise more, get more sleep, eliminate stress, and live a healthier lifestyle, chances are you started taking huge leaps. Perhaps you dumped every bit of junk food and sweet treat out of your house and restocked it with healthy foods with the hopes that you wouldn’t crave those old foods again. Now, you’ve fallen off the bandwagon on your diet because you tried to do too much too soon. Or, maybe you never worked out a day in your life but decided to start going to the gym 5 days a week for an hour a day but your body isn’t used to it so you give up.
Change isn’t easy. It takes a complete adjustment mentally and physically. So, when you try to make changes in your life it is imperative that you start off slow. If you’re trying to eat better, start by incorporating more vegetables into your day first. If you’re going to have a burger, have a salad on the side. Eating pasta or pizza? Throw some veggies on it. As you get used to having more veggies in your diet your pallet changes making it easier for you to incorporate more and reduce the amount of junk you’re eating.
The good news is that you’ve come to the realization that the negative lifestyle choices you were making were having a terrible impact on your health. The idea that you want to change is something to be celebrated. However, to get on a more positive path and truly turn your life around for the better, you have to figure out what underlying causes could be holding you back. Maybe your mindset needs adjusting, perhaps you need assistance, or maybe you bit off more than you can chew. Either way, you can correct these problems and get back to improving your life for the better.
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