So much of health is all about habits and actions, but where do these all stem from? What if we don’t have to make as many changes as we think we do? What if there was one powerful thing that makes a lot of difference?
That thing is mindset.
Mindset is sometimes called “the story we tell ourselves.” It’s our attitude toward things in our life. And we have control over our mind.
I mean we seriously do have control over our own thoughts, and this leads to our habits and actions. So, mindset really is key when you are looking to achieve anything in life!
And research is showing that it may be far more powerful than we thought.
I am naturally a positive person and my default has always been to find solutions to any situation or problem I may have. However, I have only really scratched the surface until recently.
Over the past 2 years I have personally been working on my own mindset as well as learning about how the brain works.
I am now qualified in EFT (emotional freedom technique), a super easy and yet powerful technique to deal with fear, anxiety, trauma and anything where you want to turn a negative in to a positive. You can even use EFT to reinforce how you want to be i.e. confident, successful etc.
As well as that I am also going through an intensive programme that looks at how we utilise our brain for all aspects of our lives. It is incredibly enlightening!
These ‘brain’ based skills have enabled me to help those with emotional eating via my Mind Over Food Matter course. The people on this course have changed habits they had for years and years. It has literally been life changing for them. Send me an email if you need help with emotional eating – it WILL change your life!
I have also helped so many one to one clients to really nail their health goals using the power of their thought and mindset. Even today a young lady came to see me after a wobble with her health (I had previously helped her completely eradicate severe eczema and stomach issues) and for the vast majority of our time together we were talking about how she can use her self-talk and mindset as a positive way to health.
So, how can you use mindset to help you achieve your goals and ambitions?
Very interesting health mindset study
Here’s a quick story about a fascinating study.
Researchers at Stanford University looked at a group of people’s health and wellness lifestyle habits, as well as health markers.
What they found was that the people who thought they were a lot less active had a higher risk of death than the general public. And, they also had up to 71% higher risk of death than people who thought they were more active.
Even if they actually weren’t less active!
Their thought had a direct impact on the outcome of their health EVEN if they weren’t even DOING the thing that were thinking about!!
Holy moly!!
How is this even possible that people who simply thought they were less active had higher risks, even if it wasn’t true?
There are a couple of ideas why. One is that maybe if we feel like we’re less active, it may make us feel more stressed. And stress isn’t good for our mental or physical health.
Second, there may be a bit of a mind-body connection where the body embodies what the mind visualises.
I firmly believe the second to be true! As someone who has taken part in competitive sports, I KNOW that you can use visualisation to manifest something physical.
I also know that when I can visualise exactly what I want I can always achieve that result.
The mind is incredibly powerful.
So, can you use the power of your mind to help with your health goals?
Health mindset strategy 1 – Aim for good enough
Almost no one eats perfectly seven days a week. It’s inevitable that obsessing over the quality and quantity of everything we eat, or drink isn’t necessarily a great mindset to have.
It can bring on binging, shame, and guilt – none of these are great ways to get healthy. We want to get healthier by making better choices and building better habits. And these are usually best done incrementally – one step at a time.
So, instead of having a black and white approach where everything is good or bad, why not try aiming for good enough to empower ourselves to make better choices, instead of perfect choices.
Health mindset strategy 2 – Stop making tradeoffs
When you try to earn a gluttonous weekend by eating clean during the week, you’re making a tradeoff. You’re telling yourself that, as long as you’re good most of the week, you can go wild on the weekend.
And that’s not awesome because the mindset is jumping from one extreme to the other. You’re controlling what you do all week, and possibly thinking about how to indulge over the weekend. Just live as though you’re trying to do well every single day. Like you care about your health and wellness. You’re doing your best, and that’s good enough.
Health mindset strategy 3 – Stop the negative self-talk
Have you ever noticed how one thought can lead to another and another and before you know it, you’re down the rabbit hole of self-sabotage!?
If your body responds to what you think why on earth would you constantly say to yourself, your fat or ugly or always tired or whatever else you may say constantly.
It will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Why not turn this on its head and start using self-talk in a positive way. Imagine all the things you could achieve if you truly believed anything was possible.
Conclusion
Mindset for health can be a powerful tool for better physical health. There’s a proven mind-body connection that research can measure.
Thinking positively and dropping the black/white and good/bad labels, can help you reach your health goals.
How is your mindset for health? Which of these tips resonate with you the most? How are you going to implement them in your life? Let me know in the comments below.
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