Two Questions to Keep You Well
It's 10 days til Christmas! Yes, I'm a counter-downer :-) I wanted to share two questions to ask yourself as you move through this time of year (and ANY!) that will support your wellness.
What am I doing right now?
Why am I doing it?
I know, they seem super simple and not much like questions that would rock your wellness world. But that's just it… the stuff that works for us long term is really pretty simple.
These two questions keep us grounded and present and they hold us accountable! When we create a habit out of asking ourselves these questions, we cannot get away with things that are harmful to our wellness unless we really want to. They also help us create the balance we so crave without the judgment of external standards. If I ask myself these questions and they involve making classic Christmas cookies with my daughter, you better believe I won't feel about consuming that sugar! If I ask myself these questions and I find myself mindlessly plunging my hand into the candy cane jar mid-afternoon on a Tuesday… I may come up with a different choice pretty quickly!
What the diet & fitness industry has pegged as a problem with willpower, is really a problem of mindfulness. When we blame our willpower for not being able to follow through with our plan, or with choosing to eat “this, not that” we are internalizing a sense of shame about ourself. On a deeper level, we are thinking, “I am not good enough because I didn't do the right thing.” Remember that we will NEVER outperform our identity, and those deep beliefs about self are motivating all of our behaviors. If I don't believe I'm good enough, why would I ever want to make better choices for myself?
It's a slippery slope that turns into a toxic cycle: Make mindless choice. Beat self up for mindless choice. Feel bad about self. Seek external comfort to avoid the pain of this feeling. Make another mindless choice.
(and that's just one example of how it may look!)
You should know, however, that research shown us that willpower is NOT exclusively responsible for successful behavior change! It is only ONE aspect of our human existence! We cannot diminish our ability or identity down to willpower. We are spirit identities with unique qualities and characteristics. We are minds that are shaped and conditioned by an exponential number of factors in our lives. We are bodies that hold things and need things and operate according to what we are holding and how we are getting what we need.
Mindfulness may be a very trendy term right now, but the meaning is something humans have always needed and will always require in order to be our best selves. It's the ability to be present and have purpose- with our thoughts, our choices and actions, and our ability to learn from the past and have impact on the future.
When we ask ourselves those two questions, we are causing a slow-down, and an intentional observation of ourselves. This puts us back in charge of our choices, back into awareness of our desires and how they line up with our needs…or not. Doing this empowers us to be the managers of our own wellness experience.
We can all learn to THINK in ways that promote our highest purpose and our greatest wellness. Don't forget that the Worthy Wellness Project covers so much more than just food and exercise, but also provides weekly education and tools for being able to use our minds in a way that promotes our best, most fulfilled self! Not to worry, there is PLENTY of food and fitness talk… but we don't leave out the other parts of who we are and how we human!
xoxo,
Amanda
P.s. Anyone who signs up by December 19 will get access to my end-of-year goal setting workshop!
