I have a few friends who routinely spend two weeks every year in a high end (aka pricey) wellness resort, being deprived of food, flushed from the inside and scrubbed on the outside – all to quickly lose weight and/or reset their systems.
They are the “all or nothing” bunch.
Two weeks of impressive discipline. Only to be released into the real world, fall back into previous habits, and quickly gain back all the weight they lost along with other physical imbalances.
Why is it so easy for some people to be extremely disciplined when faced with a (self-imposed) challenge and find on-going moderation so hard? Yet others manage to live a balanced life with ease?
I used to think it was a personality thing. I no longer think it is.
It has to do with passion and purpose. And if that sounds far-fetched, hear me out.
The motivation to go on an extreme detox diet or a fitness challenge is often driven by basic human needs for survival, safety, and procreation. You come to a point where you feel like crap, look like crap and at some point, your subconscious starts screaming at you: “dude, at this rate you’re not going to survive for very long, you won’t find a mate, you won’t be able to provide for your family – fix this.”
When the reset or detox has been completed, and you are feeling well and looking good (for now) your basic needs are met.
At this point staying balanced and on track becomes difficult UNLESS you tap into next level motivational drivers.
Enter passion and purpose.
When you are driven by your true higher purpose and this purpose serves you AND society at large, you don’t want anything holding you back.
You want energy, productivity, and focus at your full disposal every time and all the time. You can’t stand being held back by hangovers, digestive issues, brain fog, a growing waistline, or sleepless nights. You have a contribution to make, goals to achieve, your best life to live.
At that point it becomes easy to make the right decisions: like saying no to societal pressure to drink, preparing a healthy meal vs ordering fast food, giving up vaping, saying no to dessert, going to bed on time, or working out every day.
If you’re struggling to maintain balance in your life, the real question to ask is this:
Have you found your true purpose, passion and meaning in life? Is your purpose aligned with the higher good? Do you feel you are actively contributing to a better world? Do you wake up every morning with excitement and drive?
THAT is where you should focus your efforts.
How?
- By exploring your interests and following the things that light you up.
- By spending some time every day quieting your mind, being present in the now and allowing your intuition / higher self to guide you.
- By envisioning your ideal future – vividly imagining what your dream life looks and feels like and keeping that vision at the forefront of your mind.
- By recognising negative beliefs, self-imposed limits and thought patterns (things like: “this will never work, it’s just who I am, I can’t…, I am not good enough”) and crafting new beliefs and statements.
Somewhere on that journey of Self Optimisation, Health Optimisation becomes the natural and obvious thing to do.
Be Well.
