"Be yourself. Everyone else
is already taken".
Oscar Wilde
Our desire to be a different body
shape to that we already possess is one of the obsessions of the age and most
of us are subject to this at some time or other.
We
all know what it takes to be in better shape and unless we are impeded by a
medical condition we know that it could not be simpler: eat less and be more
active. Anyone who has problems with yo-yo dieting and ‘workout phobia’,
however, knows that it is clearly not that simple. If it were we would all be doing it instead of complaining about it. We want to improve our
fitness, we know how to go about it and yet so many of us struggle - clearly
there must be another dynamic involved.
The
first place to look if we are struggling is to examine our motivation
for wanting to diet/workout. If we are having difficulty we are most likely not doing
it for the right reasons - we are not doing it for our reasons. We may be pressured by:
our perception of what other people think of us; how we believe we ‘should’
look; and trying to live up to the body image the media thrusts upon us (the
main aim being to shame us into buying whatever they happen to be selling).
If
we work at developing higher levels of personal awareness, we are able to bring into sharper focus our own emotions and motivations. This in turn will provide
the lasting shift in thinking and therefore habits, that will make yoyo diets and wasted
gym memberships a thing of the past. In short, a well thought through
healthy lifestyle program will focus on:
1. Helping to establish realistic goals that reflect innermost desires.
2.
A step-by-step plan to achieve those goals.
3.
Clearing the mind through meditation so thoughts become less cluttered, allowing distractions to be observed, understood and more readily handled.
4.
The removal of guilt, shame, and self-judgement for how we are at the moment - and the low
self esteem issues that come with them.
5.
A positive attitude to a change in lifestyle and the acceptance of
setbacks as a basis for continued forward momentum and not a reason for
backsliding.
6.
Accepting full ownership of the journey and ultimately of the success it will
bring.
The
success, or not, of a health & wellness programme has a great deal to do with our
social conditioning and mental attitudes. If we are carrying burdens of, for
example, unrealistic expectations, guilt, and shame – that is the weight loss
we need to tackle first. By focusing on the inner challenges we face, as an
integral part of healthy lifestyle goals, we can achieve a real and lasting change - the way we want it!
Alan Keyse is a fully qualified Business and Life Coach who now applies his 30 years of experience as a sales executive to coaching Emotional Intelligence to business leaders, executives, managers and their staff either in one-to-one sessions, in groups, or speaking to larger audiences.
Alan Keyse
keysforliving.org
email Alan
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