5 Beliefs Holding You Back From Living Your Best Self

I believe there isn’t one person out there that doesn’t want to live healthier. Who truly doesn’t want to have more energy, live medication free, grow old with their loved ones, and live their best self? No one! However, there are many people that are not interested in making their lifestyle better because they lack the right information or they think they have to give up the things that make them happy.

There is no denying that living a healthier lifestyle makes our life better in every way. Here’s a glance of what you can expect when you live healthier, eat better foods, move daily, and get quality sleep each night:

• Reduces your risk of heart disease, stroke, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes
• Balances cholesterol and improves sex hormones and fat-burning hormones
• Improves cognitive function, focus, and reduces risk of Alzheimers and dementia
• Strengthens social networks and relationships
• Helps with weight management
• Improves mood and energy levels
• Improves longevity

So, if our health is so important, why don’t we “invest” in it?

Here are 5 beliefs that hold people back from living their best self.

Don’t let these limiting beliefs stop you!

1. Time.

How often do you hear people say, “if only I could find more time.” But, you can’t find time. It doesn’t live under the bed or in the closet. You have to create time and remember that you own your time—no one else can give it to you. Take time to invest in you. After all, if you don’t take time to invest in your health, how can you invest in your future? Without a body, where are you going to live? How will you be successful?

2. No Fun. Boring. Flavorless.

I 100% agree that “dieting” is boring! The word dieting implies that you are restricting something for health reasons and no one wants to live a life of restriction. This not only includes the popular low-fat, low-carb, Atkins, Zone Diet, etc, but it also includes vegan, vegetarian, raw, and paleo. The bottom line is that food restriction of any kind doesn’t work for people long term. Whatever behavior or plan you choose, it has to be something that you can maintain long-term. The key to long-term health and happiness, is building a lifestyle where you don’t have to give anything up and nothing is off limits—you just have to make everything better and upgrade the quality of your food and beverage choices. It’s a lifestyle where you can actually eat nutrient rich foods that taste good. Combining healthy and delicious is the home run!

3. Too Expensive.

I am here to tell you that it is not too expensive to eat healthy–it’s too expensive to get sick. Food is an investment to the body. Imagine what high quality food can do for your health and performance? It’s not about what you are spending on healthier foods, it’s about how effective it is at giving you the results you want and allowing you to experience a better life. The truth is that Americans spend a fortune on diets, protein powders and supplements versus taking the time to invest in a healthier lifestyle. According to research, Americans spent $21 billion on supplements in 2015 and the numbers are only getting higher. Their profit margins, however, are about 10 times as high as those of food items. The healthiest diets cost about $1.50 more per day than the least healthy diets, according to new research from Harvard School of Public Health. Over the course of a year, $1.50/day more for eating a healthy diet would increase food costs for one person by about $550 per year. This price difference is very small in comparison to the economic costs of diet-related chronic diseases, which would be dramatically reduced by healthy diets. Food is the most powerful medicine. Ingredients are information for the body. When you give your body high quality ingredients, it knows what to do.

4. Too Complicated.

With all of the information out there it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to living healthier. If you are thinking, “well I have tried so many diets and nothing works for me,” then you are in luck because at On Target Living, we don’t teach a diet, we teach a lifestyle that sticks. We know diets don’t work which is why there is always a new diet on the market. It’s about learning how to use intuitive thinking and common sense to make choices versus relying on facts, data, and science. Examples: Do you really think we get energy from an energy drink? No, that’s silly. We get energy from the sun, healthy food, daily movement, and sleep. Is adding butter to your coffee really the magic formula for better metabolism? Definitely not! Why not enjoy butter on something that is much more worth it? Isn’t coffee good as is–organic coffee that is! Why spend a fortune on processed whey protein powder when you can add a healthier plant based protein like hempseeds at $0.98 per serving? Start to eat more mindfully, pay attention on purpose, read the ingredients, and be aware of how much and how often you indulge.  It’s important to eat in a way that makes you feel healthy and happy.

5. I Want It Now!

Sorry to tell you but short cuts don’t work—they will never work. If you went to your financial advisor looking to create more wealth for yourself, do you think they would tell you to go to Vegas and win big and win fast? No, building wealth takes time. It is a process and the process has to be a bit challenging in order for it to have a greater reward. Do we really want to indulge in that stale donut at the office when we could wait for something that so much more rewarding and way more worth it come Sunday morning? Instant gratification does not lead to long- term happiness. When it comes to a healthy lifestyle, don’t rush the process. Start to build your healthy lifestyle by taking small steps and forming habits.

The hardest part is just getting started. It takes so much energy to constantly start and stop a new diet versus living in a lifestyle state where health and happiness feel effortless. Use this handout as your guide to living your best self.

Now that you have some tips for living your best self and reaching your true potential, I wanted to leave you with ONE big piece of advice.

“It’s not what you know, it’s what you do.”

We are all guilty of this. We tend to always know the answers and what our best interests are even though we don’t always practice them. Knowing is one thing, but doing is another. The biggest tip of all, is to understand that you may not actually know everything. When we stop learning, we stop growing. Continue to go into the world with an open mind, be curious, be interested, ask questions, listen, and continue to learn from others. You can always learn something new in every situation. Be mindful and aware of these opportunities and soak it all in.