Creating our first mindset comes naturally. It begins early, and we absorb so much from parental figures before we have the ability to question what we are told. Then, as we grow, more is added. Teachers, friends, groups, as well as lyrics, television, and world events shape our beliefs about ourselves and our potential.
It becomes our personal operating system of rules and beliefs. Some works for us, and some really don’t, do they? So how do we offload and retrain?
Start with beliefs.
What do you believe – about yourself, the world, others, life, faith, politics, news, etc.? For our purposes, focus on your health, shedding weight, maintaining it, and whatever goes into that. This exercise will be beneficial for any area where you recognize your mindset isn’t helping you.
Do you truly believe it is possible to shed the weight you want to shed AND keep it off?
Please write it down. It stays too fluffy in our minds, so getting it down on paper helps to make it real. Give yourself time to do this, but also listen to others as they talk about it. One of the most beneficial parts of my accountability groups is that we hear each other say things that are also true for us, and that does two things: 1) We don’t feel so alone or flawed, and 2) We recognize something we didn’t realize we also felt. Do you believe it’s possible?
Does that belief help me or hurt me?
If it helps you, keep it. If it hurts or doesn’t serve you, consider a belief that will help you. It can be a challenge to let go of a belief you’ve held for a long time, but there is great freedom in letting it go when it no longer helps you.
What do I want to believe?
What belief would help you reach your goal? What would serve you?
Some have said they’d like to believe shedding weight is easy. It can be – but that doesn’t mean it is automatic and takes no effort. Washing my hair is easy, and the process is now automatic, but I still have to do the tasks to wet, lather, rinse, condition, and rinse again. If I stood outside the shower and questioned whether or not this liquid goop would help me or not, questioned the tools and process, I’d waste a lot of time. It doesn’t work until I believe it enough to activate the process – whether that’s washing my hair or losing/maintaining my weight.
Do you want to believe you can do it? Or does it somehow serve you to believe that you can’t?
This was my issue for a long time. It served me to not believe in myself. It served me to believe that no diet out there would work FOR ME even if it worked for many. It served me to believe I HAD to have X or Y food or that food was my only solace. None of those helped me get where I wanted to be.
What do you want to believe?
