By Katherine Gotthardt and Linda Dulicai
You wish you could change your habits. You need to change your habits. But do you want to change your habits? This is an important question to ask, especially when you are considering going down a new path to wellness.
Wanting is very different from wishing and needing. The latter two mean “I should.” But “wanting” is desire. Most of us, when we really desire something, will go out of our way to get it or achieve it. Yet with becoming “weller,” we tend to shoot ourselves in the foot. Why?
Let’s take a simple example. Exercise. We know we should do it. We need to do it. But somehow, every afternoon, when we’ve carved out an hour to walk, something comes up at work and we end up sitting in front of the computer instead of walking. We say we have no control over it, that our schedules are just too tight, and because of that, exercise gets put on the back burner (or removed from the stove all together). We just shot ourselves in the foot. Why?
Well, it could be that exercise is painful. Let’s face it, if we’re out of shape, walking can be pretty strenuous. Or maybe we’re on Facebook and we just don’t want to give up the comfort of sitting in a cushy seat. Or maybe we really believe what we are doing is so important, we can’t take a break for an hour. In the end, these aren’t reasons. They are, in fact, excuses.
Ouch.
Yes.
Taking accountability hurts, doesn’t it? Yet, taking accountability can increase chances of success by fifty percent, making it one of the biggest determining factors of whether or not we reach our goals. If we’ve already shot ourselves in the foot, though, and then on top of it we refuse to take accountability, we’ve dumped poison into the wound, making things worse. In fact, if we don’t watch out, we might be facing some gangrene. Now we are well into guilt.
Here’s the thing. We have to want to improve our health. We know exercise helps. So it follows, we have to want to exercise, really want it. So make yourself want it. Here are some ideas to get you started.
1. Affirm the goal out loud. Even better, stand in front of a mirror while saying it. If the aim is to get healthy, say, “I want to get healthy, and I will do what it takes,” and, “I deserve and am worthy of having radiant good health.”
2. Take small steps. Change your direction and you will reach your goal.
3. Do what it takes and remind yourself while you are doing it that you want to do it, that you chose to do it because you are accountable.
What it comes down to is this: we can stop shooting ourselves in the foot by wanting to be successful and taking accountability for our actions. Getting “weller” is possible, but only when we truly want it to be.
Want to get started helping yourself? Plan to attend our workshop, “The Visionary You” on October 11th at The Golden Lighthouse, Herndon, VA. Find out more by calling
540-428-1949 or emailing linda@the-healthy-zone.com.
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A practitioner for more than 37 years, Linda Dulicai is a Certified Natural Health Professional and an Advanced Loomis Digestive Health Specialist educated in more than 25 modalities of wellness. She is CEO ofThe Healthy Zone.
