If you’ve ever tried to make healthy lifestyle changes, you’ve probably fallen flat on your face like Bob from that Simpsons episode with the rakes.
But it turns out it’s not entirely your fault for the failure.
Research says our brains don’t stop forming until we’re 25. After that, your beliefs are pretty much set. And if you want to change your life after this golden age, you have to work very hard.
Basically, it’s a real struggle to change your life once you decide how you feel about it.
But it is possible.
I know it’s possible because I’ve turned my life around after the age of 25. For one thing, I’m pretty sure I’m less dumb these days. But I have also changed my relationship with my emotions and with food, for example. And those two things are a really big deal to me.
But I could have changed these things without one thing that I think gets overlooked when it comes to building better habits and making lifestyle changes that actually stick in the long run.
In my opinion, the lack of this one thing is why most people stay the same way forever, never being able to change for the better no matter how hard they try.
Without this one thing, all your efforts go down the drain before you even start trying to build better habits.
And this one thing might surprise you. So what is it?
Faith.
Not to a man in the sky but to the idea of being the best version of yourself BOX exist.
Why?
Because when you’ve lived a certain way for long enough, you think that’s “just who you are” and “you’re not the kind of person who does X, Y, Z.”
But you can change too faith is critical.
Here is an example of how faith has helped me.
I was an anxious mumbler when I was a teenager and in my twenties. I thought I would always be like this. I couldn’t see a version of myself out there that could stand on its own two feet and achieve the things I’d always dreamed of.
But I’m closer to that version of myself than I’ve ever been, and it’s all because I’ve stuck to faith. I had to believe it it was strong, even though everything inside me was telling me otherwise.
If you don’t believe in yourself, no outside support is going to help you make the lifestyle changes you want.
When you keep your faith, you can begin to make significant changes.
After all, no one can go jogging for you. No one can lift a bar for you. No one can ask for a raise for you. No one can change what you put in your mouth but you.
And you can do these things for yourself on a consistent basis only when you have faith in yourself.
You have to believe in something that doesn’t exist yet. And that’s a hard thing to do, which is why most people fail with their diets and mess up and burn New Year’s resolutions. It’s not lack of will that fails them, it is lack of faith.
Like a god, you have to believe in something greater than the current version of yourself.
So how do you build faith in yourself?
This is the hard part. Some people will have no problem having faith, but most of us need to build it, especially if we don’t have much faith in ourselves at this point.
A good place to start is by planning the kind of person you would like to become. Then make that person your version of god. Believe in this best version thyself.
Make a list of the habits that the best version has
For example;
- They stretch every day before work
- They eat healthy foods 70% of the time
- They get up and train three times a week
- They drink 8 cups of water a day
- They are kind to people
- They do not react through emotions, but are aware of how they behave
- They help others
Whatever habits you want to have, you must first believe that they are possible. And if your desired lifestyle changes come close to the above, they are certainly possible, even if you haven’t done any type of exercise for years and currently eat junk all day.
You box change it at any time.
Once you have an idea of what this best version of you looks like, go crazy and design them. Stick them on your fridge or place them on your counter.
Make a list of all your accomplishments
You probably have more accomplishments than you know. You might be stuck in the mindset of “I never win anything” and “I never get lucky!”
But the truth is you do.
I thought that too. But when I look back carefully, I have a bunch of accomplishments that I’ve completely forgotten about because I didn’t see them as important. It could be something as small as winning a fitness award or winning a tournament of some kind. You’ve probably got a medal or two in your attic that you’ve forgotten about.
Although these small achievements may not seem important now, they are all proof that you are capable of changing and being more than you imagine. They represent a moment in your life when you reach a new level.
And these achievements don’t have to be athletic. They can be anything. Maybe you aced a spelling test, for example. Or maybe you got an A in a class.
When you lack self-belief, make a list of all these small accomplishments to remind yourself that you can do more when you apply yourself.
Forgive yourself and draw a line in the sand
In order to build faith in yourself so that you can finally start making healthy lifestyle changes, you need to let go of the old version of yourself once and for all. But in my experience, you can only do this after forgiving yourself.
You don’t want to demonize the old version of yourself that didn’t believe in yourself, or you’ll only encourage negative self-talk and miss the point entirely.
You have to draw a line in the sand and say “Okay, this was me then, this is me now.”
you can’t become the best version of yourself without making peace with the old you first.
Wrapping it all up
When it comes to healthy lifestyle changes, faith is essential. You literally have to believe in something or a version of yourself that doesn’t exist yet. You need to challenge your core beliefs about yourself or your old beliefs will pull you back into bad habits again and again.
But there’s a better version of yourself beneath the surface that lives the kind of habits you want to live. First believe that this person can exist to allow them through.
Sean C is a writer, passionate about improving oneself by maintaining healthy habits and doing things that make life more meaningful.
