This week’s guest blog comes from Muto friend Dr Hanna Eklund-White, a neurodevelopmental specialist and chartered life coach who is well versed in the benefits of activity.
Some days are hard. You’ve had very little sleep, just had a massive argument with your loved one, and now your PT is on their way to take you for a long distance run. You don’t feel like going and are looking for excuses even though deep down you know it will be good for you.
Sound familiar? It’s OK, we’ve all been there, and all go there on a regular basis. The truth is that most of us face some form of resistance everyday where we know what we should be doing if we were the ‘best versions’ of ourselves but we just don’t feel like doing it.
So, what is the solution to this? Should you just accept that some days are tough and decide not to do that one thing you know you should but don’t feel like doing? Nope, there is an easy solution, so please stay with me.
I am a life coach and neurodevelopmental specialist, and I see clients with enormous potential and ambition but, like all of us, day after day they are faced with massive resistance that blocks their own chances of success. Thankfully, there are ways that you can trick your mind into making better decisions and I want to share with you one of the surest ways to set yourself up to succeed.
It’s all about changing your ‘state’. Listen up…
Our emotional state plays a key role in determining what we choose to do in any given moment. A person who is in a positive state of mind is much more likely to go for a 10k run than a person who is in a negative state of mind. When it comes to any decision in life, it is not so much a person’s capabilities, skills or knowledge that determines what they do but rather the state they are when making the decision. A person in a negative state will concentrate on problems and limitations whereas a person in a positive and empowered state will focus on solutions and on how and when they can take big action to get to wherever they need to go. The good news is that there is a really easy way to make this shift in mindset.
Change your physiology. Put simply: move your body.
By altering your body’s physiology, you can achieve an immediate change of your emotional state. Your physical movements and how you use your body affect how you feel emotionally and mentally. If you slump over and neglect your body, you are more likely to feel negative. If you stand up and begin to move, you immediately reduce any worry, stress, or anxiety you may have. When you change your physiology you change your state from a negative to a positive one and by extension, you set yourself up to succeed. You will make better decisions when you have a positive mindset. You will, most likely, want to follow your dreams again, go for that run, go to the gym, give things a go, and take massive action. So, give it a go. Just a few minutes will do the trick. Then see what you want to do.
So, ask yourself what are you willing to do to give yourself the best chance to succeed? Are you willing to give yourself one or two minutes to change your state? Given that there are 1440 minutes in a day, I think you can spare a few minutes here and there to get yourself into a better, more empowering state. So, just move. Just give it a go. And then, make it a daily habit. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can change how you feel. You do not need to commit yourself to a 10k run. Just commit to running on the spot for 1-2 minutes. Then see if you want to go for that run or not. My bet is, you will.
Dr Hanna Eklund-White
BA (Hons), Pg. Psych. Dip, PhD.
Neurodevelopmental Specialist and Chartered Life Coach