Think Again

Our thoughts can be changed.  Yes, this is true.  We can review our thoughts and determine whether they are based in reality or not.  Our thoughts determine our feelings.  We act based on our feelings, so this is a critical first step in changing behavior--shifting mindset so that everything else that follows can improve.

Here is a common thought that gets in the way of change:  "I can't do it."  Just by saying this to yourself, in your head, helps you believe this falsehood is true.  You start feeling it really is true, so much so, that your feelings determine your actions.  You do something like order a take out pizza instead of making a healthy meal at home.  All this can happen because of telling yourself something untrue.

Make no mistake about it, behavior change is hard.  On the other hand, it is practically impossible if we tell ourselves that we can't do it.  The truth is that we can change if we decide to.  We can change if we shift the mindset to something more positive.  Our thoughts become our feelings, and our feelings play out in our actions.  This process is gradual and full of rewards. We have to work at it and repeat it over and over again until it becomes our new mindset.  And then--even more rewards. 

We are one month into 2018, and lots of people have already abandoned their healthy resolutions.  We don't need to be those people.  We can be the people who keep going.  We can be the people who choose to look at things differently to get different results.  That's a powerful and positive place to be.
Embrace it.