The New Year is always a time when people evaluate where they’re at and what they can do to better themselves. Goals are planned, resolutions are set, people start the year feeling motivated to accomplish what’s before them. Though setting out to achieve these goals is a great pursuit, resolutions are often not followed through with. It’s said that only 8% of people who set out to achieve New Year’s resolutions actually fulfill them. It’s a wonder then, why this is the case. Is it possible that starting with a healthy mindset could potentially affect whether or not we are successful in our pursuits? Here we will discuss ways to create a healthy mindset so you can step into your goals and resolutions from a healthy starting point.
1. Self Talk
Part of creating a healthy mindset is developing positive habits. Goals are achieved when we take steps to build healthy habits on our way to achieving the overall picture. A great starting point for achieving a healthy mindset is healthy self talk. How we view ourselves can make all the difference. If we constantly look down on ourselves it will be challenging to find the positives in our lives, let alone create them. A healthy identity matters.
For instance, low self esteem, which comes from negative innerspective thoughts, is something that many people struggle with. Things like comparing yourself to others for example, affects how you look at yourself. Because people are created unique, we will never measure up to being like anyone else, so our focus should be on who we are as an individual rather than who everyone else is and who we’re not. Focusing on the best version of ourselves and how we can share that to the world builds our confidence and leads to a happier and healthier mindset. Feeding our minds with words like worthy, enough, valuable, important, beautiful, etc. build us up rather than feeding our minds with words that tear us down. Words are powerful, so we should be wise in how we use them towards ourselves. If we are created unique then we are meant to stand out and shine! Not blend in like everyone else.
2. What You Put In You Put Out
Every new year begins with someone wanting to make better eating decisions and it’s understandable. We just get done pigging out on holiday meals leaving us feeling bloated and a little heavier than we started. Last years habits may have led us down a path where we found ourselves eating more junk food than we wish we had and gaining more inches that we wish we didn’t. It’s a positive goal to attain as eating healthy will not only help us drop inches and feel better about ourselves, it also helps our bodies to function at its optimal level. Eating healthy foods provides our body with key vitamins and minerals that even affect the brain and how it functions.
Think about the types of foods and drinks that you put into your system. Do they offer any nutritional value? Are they highly processed, full of unnatural ingredients and chemicals? What you put inside your body affects how you think and feel. Your energy levels will be affected, clarity of mind, your sleep and even your moods are all affected by what you put inside your body. The greater the nutritional value of what you eat and/or drink, the greater the results when it comes to your physical well being. Eating healthy foods will equate to a healthier mindset!
3. You Are Who You Hang Around
They say that you are who you hang around. That’s a powerful statement but it’s safe to say that it holds truth. Positivity will breed positivity and negativity will breed negativity. You don’t always realize it right away but if you take a step back and evaluate your current state of mind and pay attention to those that surround you, you’ll probably notice some common characteristics. Complaining, criticizing, blaming, making fun of others and speaking negative words are just a few of the thousands of examples out there of a negative mindset. If you want to gain a healthy mindset you have to surround yourself with others that carry a healthy mindset too.
Not only do positive people rub off on you, they often have a powerful impact on your life. Positive people are known to encourage others. They see the best in people and want what’s best for them. They’ll push you to follow after your hopes and dreams, cheering you on rather than not saying anything at all or worse, tearing you down so you don’t go after anything. Connecting with positive people creates a sense of security as you begin to realize that you are supported by others and have people in your life that you can lean into. Having these kind of relationships with others will have a profound impact on your mindset.
4. Stop And Smell The Roses
Have you ever stopped to smell the roses? If you haven’t, you should. Not only do they smell good but the practice of taking the time to stop what we’re doing and take a moment to rest, breathe and enjoy where we are plays a significant role in the mindset we carry. It’s common knowledge that we live in a day of age where we are constantly on the move. Not only are we constantly moving, we busy ourselves as if this provides us with a level of fulfillment in our lives. As if a busy life equates to a successful life. Though busyness may not always be something we can avoid, we can make adjustments to it.
Things like being present at the dinner table with those in your company, looking out the window on the bus ride to work, going for a walk on your lunch break to get fresh air, getting off your social devices and paying attention to what’s around you and making more time to be outside are all ideas that provide opportunities to see the smaller things in life, which often end up being the most important or holding the greatest significance. When we take the time to step away from the day to day norms, we are allowing ourselves to appreciate life’s moments. We end up realizing that these are the things that truly matter and though we may be busy, we can stop to enjoy them in the midst of our busyness.
5. Play!
It’s easy to think of this word in relation to children as this is all they seem to do! But what about when we become adults. Are we allowed to play in the midst of carrying our many responsibilities? An even better question….will We allow ourselves to play in the midst of our responsibilities? The gradual uphill slopes in life tend to lead us into a mindset that primarily focuses on taking care of the many needs in our lives; creating a disabled view of what life can actually look like. We forget that we can make time for ourselves and still take care of the responsibilities we carry.
Some of the ways we can integrate this idea in our lives is by finding a hobby you’re interested in, participating in a local recreational sports league, taking an art class or signing up for a local paint night, making plans with friends and taking your vacation time! These are all things that not only give you breaks but give you a sense of purpose and bring you joy. If your life is on constant repeat and all you’re doing is what you feel you have to do you’re likely to burn out and possibly even crash. We need playtime to keep our minds set on healthy living. We need to take the time to enjoy ourselves and others around us, otherwise we are apt to develop an unhealthy way of living which will contribute to a negative mindset.
There are a lot of different approaches one can take to develop a healthy mindset. These are just a few that can set you in the right direction. The important thing to remember is that it’s not so much the goal but the process it takes to reach the goal. Be easy on yourself. Take baby steps and don’t beat yourself up if you hit a bump in the road. These are all normal and will happen from time to time. The key is to keep moving forward. Don’t give up!
