Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 158 of the Wildly successful lifestyle podcast! I usually try to keep each podcast “evergreen” which basically means someone can listen to it a year from now and it is still current.
I’m breaking from that just a little bit because I want to talk a little about current things happening because I believe our mental health could be in jeopardy if we continue down certain paths, and I also believe we can do something about it, but we have to be aware of it in order to address it. Which is the way with fixing anything, you have to be aware of it first, right? But there’s also a thing called “getting out ahead of it”. We can get out ahead of things to make our life way better…mentally, physically, financially.
For example, It would be way easier to never start smoking than it would be to be smoking and try to stop….so if you get out ahead of it, it’s much easier for you.
It is way easier to not start gambling than it is to stop gambling once you’re addicted. Does that make sense?
So if you see a pattern of something happening that could be detrimental to your long term wellness, whether it’s mental or physical wellness, it’s easier to stop before it becomes a habit or a problem or before you pick up the pattern at all.
For example: a Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant moved in around the block from us, when it first got here, I thought hey I’m gonna grab a donuts. it sounded good to me, but then I thought, you know what? I drive by this all the time, if I start right away by getting a donuts that could be a repeated pattern that’s detrimental to my health goals and also the way I want to look in my clothes so I didn’t even start it, not even once. And look, one time isn’t gonna hurt you but some of us, I would say most of us, get into patterns where our taste buds can run the show, so if you can just do once then more power to you, but for me, I knew it could be an issue so I didn’t want to even start it. I didn’t give myself a chance to create a bad habit. I got out ahead of it.
Ok so now for what I see as a potential big problem for our mental health.
The media and some leaders seem to be pushing this narrative of wanting everyone to be fearful of everything but mainly each other. More than that to view other people as dangerous, even small children. I don’t know about you but that does not resonate with me. I cannot imagine a world where I am fearful of a young child or of a sweet little 90 year old grandmother. Yet, this is what it seems is being pushed. If something doesn’t resonate, you don’t have to buy in just because someone on TV or the internet says it. What do you think? That’s the most important thing we can do right now is be aware of What WE think, what resonates with each one of us. You have an inner guidance system for a reason…it’s to guide you, to help you make decisions, to direct you to the information you need to make the right decision because we aren’t always going to know what to do but we can make the best decision in the most informed way if we learn to trust our instincts. I think that’s why COVID has been so hard for Americans. We are kind of used to being left alone for the most part. We can believe what we want and think how we want but more recently I’m noticing people thinking less and less for themselves and needing someone else to tell them how they should think for really important things, like your own health.
I started thinking about this recently when I was driving in the car after being in a scenario where there were several people giving their opinion about vaccines and what other people should and should not be doing. I was driving along and I was so confused because people have very very strong opinions and they really have no idea, they are just regurgitating what they heard on the news. And all news right now seems biased one way or the other right now.
So I’m driving and thinking I wish I could talk to someone that really knows, someone that could tell me what’s right and what’s wrong? Where do I find that? And then it hit me like a brick. Wait a minute. “What do I think?” What feels right to me?” That’s really all that matters. It’s my life, if I choose to take on the ideas and thoughts of others as my own then I am the only one that has to live with the consequences. No-one else. If I decide I want to buy into the fear of others and the never leave the house idea then who suffers? Me, that’s it. Maybe the people that live with me, but then they have to decide if they want to live like that too. If we choose to believe a thought given to us by the media or a politician that doesn’t resonate with us, it feels off but we believe it anyway, then it’s on us. We can’t blame the people giving that thought, because they are paid to do it. So what do we do?
We get out ahead of it. We question everything. We think for ourself. There’s a question that I ask myself over and over : What input am I allowing to affect me today? What influence am I under? Are these my beliefs or are they just what I’m hearing over and over so that I can’t tell the difference? Does this belief I have resonate with me or Do I believe it because the group believes it, do I believe it because it’s the easy, passive way? And I don’t know the answers to these questions for you. If you quiet your mind, your inner guidance system will give you the answers, and what you do with it is up to you.
Now, I personally have been just trying to stay off the news as much as possible. Remember the donut thing? I know that my brain will want more and more of the drama so I try to get out ahead of it before it grabs me. I’m responsible for my mental health the same way I’m responsible for my physical health. James Clear recently said “A body filled with junk food struggles to move well, A mind filled with junk thoughts struggles to think well.” What are you filling your body with? What are you filling your mind with? We each are responsible for the food we feed our body and the food we feed our mind. No-one cares as much about our body as we do. That’s just how it is. I for one am glad I have me on my team. Is your body glad you’re in charge?
Dr Osborne was straight with me when we talked he said, Heidi, when we are meeting, I will give you everything I have to keep you as healthy as possible, but once we are done with our appointment I’m on to the next patient after this, so you have to take it upon yourself to follow through on the protocols I give you. I loved that honesty. It was refreshing. He gives me all the information he has, but I have to do the work. And, I’m not doing this because I have major health problems. I’m doing this because I want to get out ahead of any major health problems that food can and does cause.
Same thing goes for our mindset. We have to get out ahead of the negativity.
We use a lot of energy, almost frantic energy when we let our self be influenced by people that are making no sense, whether we are influenced to prove them wrong or influenced to follow blindly…both can be detrimental to our long term mental health because we are expending energy that could be put towards things that grow us, things that nurture us, things that make us better. but the drama of the whole situation is so enticing because we are always searching for something that validates what we already believe and there is plenty of that out there, but what’s true?
That is the million dollar question right now. And my million dollar answer is trust yourself to know. If something feels right in your gut, it probably is. Like Dr Osborne’s healthy eating plan where we eat mainly whole foods, no processed foods, that feels right to me, it’s not easy but it feels right. And when something feels off, it probably is as well. Like thinking that Sweet 5 year old little girl is dangerous because she’s too close to you or she isn’t wearing a mask, that feels very off to me to look at the world in that way. Now things may resonate differently for you and that’s ok too. I respect other people who view things differently, no problem there.
From now on, until we have a news source that is unbiased and unbought, we all have to think for ourselves. If we find someone that is knowledgeable that we trust then great, go with that but question anything that feels off to you, never follow blindly again. So it may not be easy and you may not be following the crowd but you’re definitely setting yourself up for long term success by getting out ahead of anything that threatens your physical or mental wellness. I love you guys and I’ll talk to you in a few days.
