Will This Merry-Go-Round Ever End?
You can modify 5 key lifestyle factors to better your health and well-being. They are all equally important, and they are equally challenging to get back on track. But if you have motivation, do the research, and have the right tools at your disposal, you can get these factors—and your life—back on track!
The 5 modifiable lifestyle factors are:
- Diet
- Exercise
- Stress
- Relationships
- Sleep
I want to explore the middle factor, stress. If you’re a human who is alive and breathing, you’ve experienced stress at some point in your life.
For many of us, we live in a constant state of elevated stress levels. It’s, unfortunately, a byproduct of the society we live in. Many of my patients have been operating at such a high level of stress for such a long time; they think that it’s just the way life is supposed to be and feel.
I Can See Now…
Here’s a good example. Imagine you’re going about life; the world is always just a little blurry. You can see, mostly, but the lines aren’t crisp or clear. You figure that’s just the way life is, right?
But then this happens…you go to the eye doctor for your yearly checkup, and they test your vision. They put the lens machine in front of your eyes, and suddenly, the letters are clear!
You leave the office a few minutes later with your new glasses. You can now see the leaves on the trees, read billboards on the highway, or finally witness your child hit a home run at their softball game, admiring how that ball flew over the fence!
All of a sudden, your world has been forever changed. You didn’t even know it needed to be changed in the first place. Unfortunately, this is how many of us deal with stress and our thoughts.
Life on Autopilot
Throughout the day, your thoughts can sometimes feel like a never-ending merry-go-round. It’s almost as if we feel trapped in our minds without seeing out of it. So we grit our teeth, look downward, and push our way through. The good news is that our thoughts are something we can train and improve over time.
Did you know most humans generate almost 60,000 thoughts per day? What gets us into a pickle is that most of these thoughts are involuntary. We’re living our lives on autopilot instead of thinking intentionally.
This is what is happening inside your brain:
Everything falls into one of these 5 categories.
Circumstances:
Something happens in your life. This is a fact or situation simply stating what’s happening. There’s no drama in this, and everyone in the world would agree on this fact.
Example: My daughter just graduated from high school.
Thoughts:
These are sentences in our brains about our circumstances. As I shared above, they’re generally automatic, but we can train ourselves to think about them on purpose. This is where our power lies.
Example: I can’t believe my daughter graduated from high school and is moving into adulthood. What will it be like without her at home with the rest of the family? I’m not ready for this.
Feelings:
Our thoughts about our circumstances create our feelings. They’re usually encapsulated into one word and reflect how we experience the circumstances.
Example: Overwhelmed, Sad, Anxious.
Actions:
This is what we do or what we do or don’t do because of the feelings we have.
Example: I will insist that my daughter attend college at a school less than 30 minutes away so I won’t have to be too far away from her anytime soon.
Consequences:
The results from our actions. It’s important to remember that these can be positive or negative.
Example: My daughter misses out on a fantastic scholarship opportunity at a school a few states away because I want her to stay close so I don’t feel overwhelmed, sad, and anxious.
You Have the Power to Change This Scenario
If you’re currently living in a constant state of stress, you may be tempted to think that the example scenario above is the only possible outcome from the circumstance presented. But I’m here to tell you that’s not true.
I’ll also tell you that it’s not an easy process. How you think and feel are things you’ve been doing automatically for decades. For example, I’m quite a few years into this process, and even up until now, I still have to work at it every day. I’m starting to notice improvement, though!
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life
You can start changing how the story is told by training yourself to recognize specific thoughts that enter your mind.
Have you ever heard the saying: every story has two sides? The same is true about the story you choose to tell yourself. The facts stay the same, but your perspective changes. This can significantly decrease your stress level, positively affecting the other four modifiable lifestyle factors.
Another thought I can choose to think about my daughter graduating is, “I’m so excited for what the future holds for her.” This leaves me feeling excited. My actions are supportive and focused on her success instead of my loss, and the result is we’ve raised a thriving young adult.
Break the cycle of toxic thinking today!
My clients and I work on our mindset every week. It’s part of the puzzle leading to optimal health. There is a lot of life that is out of our control, but you can change your thinking, despite the circumstances to dramatically change your life.
