As we come into the New Year, we often think about changes needed to move us toward a more positive outlook, attitude, and physique. We center the beginning of our year on vision boards, meal plans, and workout routines, which are often soon left behind and/or forgotten by the middle of the year. So, what happens between the first thought of doing something different for our betterment to us settling for practical, familiar habits out of convenience? Instead of “New Year, New You” maybe it is time to start thinking about “New Year, New Mindset.”
With the forceful changes we see occurring during this current pandemic, it is time to start building a way of thinking based on the what, how and why of health. COVID 19 has hit us with a spectrum of emotional, social, and physical traumas, still leaving us feeling uncertain about our present and future. However, this virus is not the first pandemic, nor will it be the last. Now more than ever, we must determine what we can do to remain balanced on every possible level of life.
It is perfectly great when we approach a New Year and the more positive energy it brings throughout many homes and communities. However, for each person to maintain this energy for themselves, it is best we focus more on our individual purpose.
It is important to have a personal reason for any season; one’s individual why of showing up to show out. So, look closely into your talents, dreams, and messages to guide you into your purpose for this New Year. Try focusing on a sort of “lifetime” Vision Board in order to begin to transform those visions into goals. Seeing your greater purpose can now become the driving force to your actions.
The funny thing about action is that it takes energy. There are so many of us who are blessed with the will and agility to move around and get things done in a given day. We can then rest up and do it all over again. However, at times, we lack reason – the drive that catapults us into
It is perfectly great when we approach a New Year and the more positive energy it brings throughout many homes and communities. However, for each person to maintain this energy for themselves, it is best we focus more on our individual purpose.
purposeful action – and our efforts can often feel like a waste of a perfectly great day. Thus, finding one’s purpose is important. Purpose causes us to move in a direction which will allow us to leave our own mark in time. However, it takes the physical upkeep of what we are made of to sustain the works of why we are here. Therefore, we must think of the culmination of purpose, nutrition, and physical activity as a trinity that positively supports our personal existence. As we fill the gyms to meet our physical fitness goals, let us start to think beyond working out as a means of weight loss. Let’s ask ourselves, “Have I been thinking from a working off or working on mindset?”
Physical activity is good. However, to be more beneficial, it should be incorporated into one’s lifestyle in a more natural way. As an example, workout regimens can be utilized to reinforce one’s career path, lifestyle and psychological health. Most people tend to focus their exercise routines around losing weight, which means their goals center on working “off ” the weight (or waste) they have accumulated over time. This consistency of losing and/or gaining weight leads a person’s mindset to understand physical activity as a task to get to some ideal size. On the other hand, those who utilize physical activity as a means of psychological relief and/or metabolic regulation benefit from physical fitness in a different way. These people are working to relieve mental stresses they may face or building up their body to endure some task (i.e. their jobs/careers, major fitness events or personal goals that push them to the limits). It is best to identify in which category one finds oneself as we create health goals year by year.
Physical fitness can be daunting for a lot of people who fall under the “working off” section. The fact is most of us “workout” throughout the day without even going to the gym. Our daily activities can get so physically strenuous that we finish our days with well over 10,000 steps or lifting 50pounds/day. So, some people are naturally getting the physical exercise they need to tolerate their daily functions. It seems best to start looking at physical activity as a means of withstanding, maintaining, and building one’s lifestyle, career, and mental health status. If you are one of those who finds yourself working off when exercising, the most important thing to understand about physical activity is that it should mostly be used to support and supplement nutrition.
Overall, your workout routines should encompass muscle strength and endurance, flexibility, core, and cardiovascular activities. It is always best to implement exercises complimentary to one’s work environment, daily activities, and mental stresses. We should start thinking “energy out equals energy in.” Most think in reverse. When we wake up for the day, take into consideration the things we have to do (energy out), and then make sense of the nutrients we should consume (energy in) to balance out the energy we plan to exert. Now, most of us understand how proper nutrition and fitness renders the appropriate balance of physical health; however, without purpose, what is our motivation?
Discover more at www.FreshRawNatural.com Inserts from Douglas, T.S. (2021). The Science of Health. Kendall Hunt Publishing. Dubuque, IA.
