Often my task is to encourage people to find their why. People will present with concerns about diabetes, health, wellness, cardiovascular risks, obesity, and much more. The thing is, sure I can give them a healthy eating plan, and coach them about stress reduction, eating healthy, getting rest, exercise, and more. The problem begins with the follow up. People learn the tools they need, but do not execute them. In my opinion often they have not found their why; or their why is too weak.
Yogi Berra has been quoted as saying “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” There is some good wisdom in such a short simple statement. Finding your why, is one of the hardest things for most people. But first, lets define what your “why” is. Dictionaries will define why as a reason, cause, intention, justification, motive, or explanation. When I think of finding your why I am thinking what is your rudder steering your ship? What helps you with direction? Why do you do the things you do? And to be very specific in a health sense Why should you put down the doughnut? Why do you eat more vegetables/drink more water? Why do you make it a point to exercise? Why do you make sure you get enough rest? and the list goes on.
Commonly people will tell me they lack the motivation or will power to make these changes, again I would take this back to a weak why. If your why is “I want to loose 5 pounds before bikini time this summer”, it might not be strong enough to stand up to the test of your favorite cake, pizza, or ice cream. However, if your why is “my father died of a heart attack and I want to reduce my risk of cardiovascular events so I can live an active lifestyle and be able to spend quality time with my great grand kids”, this is more likely to work. Another example of a strong why could be “I am tired of the way I feel, I know the path I am on and it will take me to obesity, heart attack, sleep apnea, lower quality of life, and early death, I am going to choose from now on to make better health decisions which will take me down a different path which leads to greater health, less disease, and a higher quality of life.”
The average person makes health decisions based on a plethora of information. However, I feel that most of this information can be boiled down into two major things. The first is, what is in it for me? The second is, people need proof beyond a reasonable doubt that these changes will take them where they want to go. So lets just take a general healthy eating recommendation of eating a low glycemic diet of vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, healthy fats, eggs, and meat. What is in it for you? Normal weight, better sleep, more energy, less risk of diabetes, less cardiovascular risk, and much more. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt you say, there are many studies that show eating that way reduces risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes risk, obesity and more. To take it a step further I would be willing to bet that you probably know of someone who has changed their life through better food choices and have given you their testimony on healthy lifestyle living. So I challenge you. Today is the day, find your why. Why are you going get the steamed vegetables instead of the fries? Why are you going to cook your own food with healthier preparations? Why are you going to exercise a minimum of 30 minutes per day?