What is Your Mindset Regarding Change?

Mindset, “the established set of attitudes held by someone”. This is the dictionary definition. I want to talk about attitude toward change. It’s 2020 and the start of a new year; why do people “start over” when a new year starts? What’s wrong with starting something on a new day, new week or a new month? Nope, people wait for the “New Year” to change some of their vices. The mindset regarding change is different for each one of us.

Change is HARD! I think it’s hard to admit you need to change, it’s hard to let someone else know there is something you need to change and it’s hard to work on what changes need made. I tell my daughter all the time, “If life was easy we would be bored”. In order to work toward a goal to change ourselves, we need to change our mindset toward the word HARD.

Our mindset toward change needs to change ASAP. Don’t wait until you think there is a better day, time, week or whatever you are waiting for. JUST START! Whatever goal you want to achieve, start slow, 1 thing at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself trying to do several things at once; in other words, don’t tell yourself you want to lose weight, stop smoking and stop drinking by starting on a specific date(what’s wrong with today?). How many of you stop eating junk, stop smoking, quit drinking coffee then you feel like crap, so what do you do? You QUIT. It’s OK to fall off the bandwagon, but you need to get back on the wagon ASAP. It’s very hard to restart a plan when you fall off the wagon, but it’s doable and YOU CAN DO IT! Focus your mindset to change 1 thing at a time.

If you are like me, I get sick of hearing people list their New Year resolutions which usually consist of “losing weight”. So I decided, my resolution this year is not to lose weight (however, I could afford a few lbs to fall off)! I want to do better with my general health, change my mindset of thinking “I’m getting old”, and be the best version of myself. If you’re like me, the problem with my thinking is when I want to do something, I get overwhelmed with the idea or the process, which makes me wait just one more day, or start next month. Not this time, I changed my mindset and started the same day that I wrote my goals down in my journal. By me writing them, that means I now have to hold myself accountable right?

SO how can you change your mindset toward hard work so you can achieve a well balanced healthy life?

Some examples of ways to start:

1. Choose 1 goal at a time- this way you focus on 1 thing and get into a routine before you move onto your next goal. This could take 1 month, 2 months whatever. the time does not matter as long as you work toward the end result.

2. Write your goal(s) down in a journal- list them. Write in this journal every day about how you did to get closer to your goal. What worked and what did not work? How can you do better tomorrow? You will soon see a pattern so you can make changes in your actions toward reaching your goal.

3. Put reminders on your phone- Set an alarm on your phone. If you struggle at 2 pm daily with not drinking a cup of coffee, set the reminder “no coffee” in your phone to ring at 2 pm. This will make you think before you drink. You can do this for any goal; exercise, snacking, no bar, no more naps, caffeine etc.

4. Tell people about the goal you are working on- This will hold you accountable. You are not looking for acceptance, you need guidance and someone to cheer you on. And if your best friend knows you are no longer drinking coffee, then she will not invite you to the coffee shop, you can go shopping instead! And, maybe someone else has also worked on the same goal and can share some insight.

5. Find someone to hold you accountable and guide you- Find a friend to workout with. Join groups of people that are aiming for the same goals as you are. Get a health/wellness coach. We will not tell you what to do, we give you tools so you can do it yourself. A wellness coach, wants you to succeed as much if not more than you do.

Now, what changes do you want to make? Get your journal, write 3 goals down. Tell the closest person to you what you want to change and how you will go about reaching your goal. START NOW. You’ve got this, you can do it and you will do it. Yes its going to be hard but imagine how great you will feel about yourself at the end, when you realize that you changed your mindset about change and how it has affected you.

Tina Butt, Health and Wellness Coach and Healthcare Advocate