Mentally Fit: How changing your mindset helps you achieve your health and fitness goals

Mentally Fit 

How changing your mindset helps you achieve your health and fitness goals.

By Kim Miller and Shannon Dougherty

Photo by Vikki Colvin

So many individuals are seeking out strategies and tips to help them achieve their physical goals. New exercises, trends, gadgets, and tools come out daily, many of which claim to be “the secret” to getting fit. The thing that is most easily overlooked and is always a surefire way to success is mindset. Mindset can completely transform you more quickly than any specific exercise routine. Additionally, even if one does lose weight or improve their fitness abilities, without a healthy mindset, it’s difficult to maintain.

These three techniques prove to be excellent ways to get into the right mindset to achieve your goals.

Change Your Self-Talk

Take a few days to pay attention to the dialogue the plays in your head. What are you telling yourself daily? Do you believe you are capable? Do you think you are worthy of having a healthy body? “I am” is the most empowering statement you can say, if used correctly. Carefully consider how you want to define yourself. Once you identify empowering “I am” statements, begin to evoke the emotions that go along with those statements.

For example: I am strong and fit. How does strong feel? What would a fit person say or do? How might you carry yourself if you were strong and fit? Feel these emotions as if they were already in existence. The subconscious mind believes what it’s told. It doesn’t distinguish between a truth or a lie, so tell it what you want it to believe.

Express Gratitude

Gratitude can instantly put you into a growth mindset. Gratitude and fear cannot exist in the same space, so focusing on things for which you are thankful helps immensely when it comes to appreciating progress and achieving goals. Rather than focus on what you cannot yet do, think about what your body is already capable of doing. For example, be grateful for the ability to go outside and walk, run, or hike––regardless of speed. When moving through a workout routine, thank your body for anything it can achieve, even if you feel like you have a way to go before you hit your goals. Gratitude can turn who you currently are into enough. Being in this state of mind opens you up to possibility and excitement about the future.

Rewrite Your Story

Individuals often have a mental block when it comes to getting healthy and fit. They don’t see themselves as a person who can embody these qualities. They may want that but when asked about it, they respond with a host of reasons why that is not them. For example, some blame genetics. Others might say they don’t have the time or the opportunity. People also say they don’t have the knowledge on how to exercise or eat well so they cannot be healthy. These are all stories we tell ourselves about who we are, and when we believe them that is what we focus on and they become true. The most important step to obtaining vibrant health is to change your story and tell yourself that you are a healthy and fit person. The longer you focus on that and believe that to be true, the more steps you’ll take toward that goal. Eventually you will find yourself there.

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.

© North Valley Magazine

Scroll to top