… and have the health you have always wanted.
In the first part of this article I talked of an amazing article by the palliative nurse Bonnie Ware. She spent time talking to patients she was looking after in their last days.
What grabbed me so hard was when she talked of the ‘phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom.’ I thought wouldn’t it be amazing if we could find this clarity while having years to enjoy it, not just weeks?
Here are five ways which you can start the process of living the life and health you have always dreamed of.
1. Life story
Write your life story, from the point of you at 60 or 70. Find some space. Somewhere you love to relax. Just close your eyes. In your mind imagine a specific time and place you are enjoying the life you really want. Feel the emotions, smells the smells, think in descriptive terms, and then just write.
Use words and phrases that inspire, talk of these emotions, details are vital, you really want to feel this. Talk in the first person, and present tense, as though you have done this and are there. Just let loose and don’t analysis. Give your brain permission to switch off from the fear and doubts we all have. Just go for it.
After you have finished. Read it back. Then in a few days read it back again. But this time write what you like about it, and how this person makes you feel.
2. Understand what has stopped you from getting to that place
We all have limiting beliefs which hold us back. The thoughts that we react to are those trying to stop us making a change. They are there for a reason, parts of our brains want us the same today as we were yesterday. It’s self-protection. But the first step to removing these is to understand they exist, and much of the times they are just plain wrong. Write these down.
3. Take responsibility
Let’s get harsh. You know what you want. You understand what has stopped you. But do it anyway. Nothing great that anyone achieved was easy. Stop blaming things or people around you. Your lack of willpower. Not having enough time to go to the gym. Or not putting yourself out there for a new job doing what you love. Or putting yourself out there to find someone who will make you happy.
Only you live your life and you have to know YOU are the one who is responsible for it.
4. Write down what makes you happy
Writing down what makes you happy each night actually changes the shape of your brain. Yep it’s true. You can actually manipulate the functioning of the brain; its called neuro-plasticity. And it will make you happier.
We often worry about what we don’t have. But how about being thankful for the things we do have? We all have things we are grateful for. This makes me think of point 4 and 5 in the first part of this article in which Ware talked of spending time with friends and allowing oneself to be happy, she says the latter is a choice.
Indeed I concur. Most can write down that they have amazing friends. Don’t underestimate this. And being happy is a choice, but you need to make that choice by doing. Take responsibility and do it every night for 30 nights. See how it makes you feel.
5. Embrace living on the edge of your comfort zone
Many people believe that building a life which surrounds them in comfort will make them happy. But the truth is the exact opposite. Choosing to live with being overweight and unhealthy is often there because of very deep-rooted emotional reason in our brain trying to protect us from change. Our brain has chosen for us to be fat. But we can change this. Understand while being in such a place is hard, it’s harder to move oneselves from there.
But the rewards at the end are worth it. So don’t make do. Don’t live in comfort by burying your head in your arse.
To truly be happy and live your life story as above you have to push yourself to the very edge of your comfort zone. I know. I finally left a job, which I stayed in for too long because I was fearful of missing out on the riches of the financial markets. I came to the realization I wanted something different for myself.
But I first had to overcome my ego which I had gained from being a financial trader (at the time people were impressed by this unlike now..ha), I had to deal with my own fears and insecurities. And that was not been easy. But motivated and inspired by those around me, and those I read about, I decided to do it.
Ware’s insight ‘when people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled,’ surely resonates with us all. We all had these dreams when we young, and not affected by negative beliefs, but how many of us can say we are really driving towards them.
Ware says ‘Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.’ This is so revealing. By moving out of your comfort zone and facing your health issues, and making hard changes we have this health for our whole, amazing life.
Author Profile:
Tim Drummond’s career in the health industry has taken him from a Personal Trainer to a globally acknowledged Health Coach and Mentor. A published author the book ‘The 30/30 Body Blueprint.
He has contributed to national press including The Sunday Times, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Express. He is a passionate blogger via www.TimDrummond.com. He co-created Arete Fitness who specialise in transforming the health, lives and bodies of busy women around the world. Arete’s mission is to reinvigorate the outdated perceptions of female health and fitness…. 30 minutes at a time. www.Aretefitness.co.uk