Our mindset defines our perspective and these fundamental attitudes will naturally affect what we do and where we go. Having a positive and successful mindset can lead to creating success-making habits and finally achieving long-term goals. To help achieve this: First consider what you want to achieve, and then commit to it. Set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) goals that motivate you.
A big part of what DEEM Health incorporates into a healthy lifestyle, is the “M” in DEEM –“Mindset.” Currently at this time of year, many Christians are in the midst of Lent. What does Lent and DEEM, particularly the “M – Mindset,” have in common? First of all, it’s important to understand what Lent is. Lent is a 40-day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. During Lent there is a time of self control a “Mindset,” through many different disciplines: fasting, doing something good for someone else, giving up something that maybe hasn’t served us well, or implementing new healthy habits as exercise or eating cleaner. Not surprising there are similarities in Lent, that can be put into practice to help achieve our own health and fitness goals. When we have a negative aspect of our life that is constantly nagging at us, it is hard to move forward with any of our goals. See below what lent does for people and put in perspective the commonalties and struggles that could relate towards your own health and fitness goals:
- Learn humility. It is a humbling exercise to battle controlling influences in our lives. We are forced to stand face-to-face with our weakness’s day in and day out. And whether we win or lose over the course of lent (40 days), even the intensity of the struggle supplies profound humility.
- Embrace new habits. Whenever we seek to remove habits in our lives, we are granted the opportunity to replace them with new healthier ones. We are allowed to ask new questions about the life we are living and what new aspects we’d like to incorporate.
- No judgment. We are often quick to judge the weaknesses of others, but rarely put our lives under the same level of scrutiny. Battling through a season of fasting often forces us to realize that the adversary of addiction is far less easy to conquer than we have otherwise thought.
- Tranquility. Exercising self-control in one aspect of life (abstaining from deep fried foods or desserts or being committed to moving more) provides a greater possibility to utilize it elsewhere in our lives. Perhaps we would be more effective in overcoming impatience, anger, or indulgent eating in our lives if we exercised our muscle of self-control in other ways to bring us to a calmer tranquil space. Just like a muscle, self-control grows stronger through use and exercise.
Many external items that subconsciously control our lives are not always healthy. What we want, desire or even show complacency too, can all contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle. But we have become so accustomed to having such conveniences and distractions in our lives on a daily basis, we too quickly confuse what is really needed for a healthy life. Breaking away and freeing ourselves of some of these influences, helps put things back in proper perspective and gives us the strength to move towards a healthier lifestyle.
So, I challenge you to go through a Lent type process to help with your health and fitness goals.
Mikkie Nettles-Pollon,
Certified Personal Trainer/
Holistic & Sports Nutritionist
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