I want you do something with me today. Pause for just a minute and look around you, wherever you are right now, just look and observe and assess the culture. Maybe it’s your own home, workplace, or maybe you’re at the gym or grocery store. Wherever you are there’s a culture that’s being defined and shaped. People gravitate towards the culture they feel comfortable in and want to be like.
If you pay attention you will see this everywhere. For example, look at the difference in culture between Wal-Mart and Brookshires, Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble, Chevy and Ford, or Apple and Dell. They all provide the same service but they deliver a very different culture. Think about your favorite boutiques or restaurants. You go there because of the experience and the culture they create. Great businesses know this and work entire marketing campaigns by adhering to the culture of their customers. They work hard to create a culture that people want to be part of. The product or service may not even be that unique or special but the culture draws people in to stay there for life. If you want lasting change in your fitness or weight loss journey you will need to do the same.
Fitness, weight loss or achieving optimal health is a lifestyle change. It’s about creating a new culture in your life in order for it to be permanent and sustainable. If you want to really transform body, soul and spirit then a culture of health must simply become a part of who you are. After awhile it’s not something you have to think or obsess about all the time…it just IS.
It’s just who you are. Isn’t that refreshing? Just to be it instead of having to pretend and obsess? Real change involves changing your habits and the way you do things. Where you go and MOST IMPORTANTLY, how you think. The biggest hurdle I see is that many people get so exhausted and quit during their transformation because they feel like they are performing or playing the “diet and health kick role”. Deep down inside they don’t really believe that a full and active life of vibrant health could really be for them.
Obviously this is a process that takes time, so today I want to outline some steps you can take to create a culture of health in your life.
1. Clearly Define Your Purpose and Vision
What does your life look like with you as a healthy, confident and vibrant woman? What would that allow you to do? What assignment would that allow you to complete? If you don’t know WHY it is that you want to change then you won’t know if you really want it or not. Here’s what I mean, if you don’t know your purpose then every little obstacle or setback will turn into a huge problem or pain in the rear.
The bible says it this way.
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18
Another version says, “the people cast off restraint”. Inconsistency and jumping on and off the band wagon always comes down to a lack of purpose.
If you don’t have a vision you are likely to throw your hands up at the first sign of trouble and make all sorts of excuses about this coming up or it being to hard or you don’t have time..blah, blah, blah.
Your vision is your fuel. Focus on what will be instead of what is. ESPECIALLY when it gets hard, because it most certainly will. Creating a new culture takes time and a strong vision is required to see it through.
2. Know Your Worth and Love Yourself
You will not create a culture of health by hating what you see in the mirror or trying to perform to certain standards. You have to do it for you and no one else.
Hate never produces anything positive. Despising being fat may get you up and to the gym for a little while but it won’t keep you there. Love keeps you there. Love makes you honor your commitments and it’s the best motivator you can find. The bible tells us love one another as you love yourself. He didn’t say worship yourself or become your own god. He simply says love yourself. You are his creation so why would you not? You get to steward and partner with him in sculpting and fine-tuning his original work of art. The masterpiece that is a human being.
Please don’t listen to a religious spirit that says taking care of yourself is shallow and vain or that women who invest in their health must be selfish and brainless. That’s a load of crap and is the very thing the enemy will use to keep you in bondage and use as an excuse.
3. Check Your Pocketbook
If you want to find out what’s really important in your life take a close look at your finances. People find a way to spend money on what’s important to them. Creating a culture of health is no different.
For example, I spend money on things like knee sleeves, weightlifting shoes, weightlifting belts, health magazine subscriptions and meal planning services. I buy supplements and invest in good workout clothes and accessories. I shop organic if possible and pay extra to eat at more health friendly establishment. I invest in training seminars and read at least three books a month for personal growth and nurturance of my soul. I will pay for what’s important to me and what’s going to help me create a vibrant life. This is who I am and the culture of my life.
Some like to spend money on TV, movies, trash mags, fiction novels, fast food and booze. I’m not judging. I’m just simply observing what’s important to them. I’m observing their culture.
If you need a priority check I challenge you to print out your bank statement for the last three months and take a good hard look. What are you spending money on and actually using to create a culture of health in your life? What’s robbing you of your health? Adjust accordingly.
My encouragement for you today is that you’ll know you have the ability to choose the type of culture you live in and subject yourself to. Be aware of your surroundings and the circles you run in. It may be times to get some new ones.
Invest in you. You’re worth it. Life is right now.
Truth In Love,
Lindsey Nadler
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