How to Get What You Want

Sun is out today and I hear the hum of the mower next door so I’m opening my window to smell the fresh-cut grass. Everything feels alive today and new. Vital.

I like it. And,  yet I don’t want this energy to come around just once a year. My theme for 2017 is Vitality and I’ve been feeling it and thinking about it and taking on behaviors tat support this sense of energy and health. I’ve been exercising more, eating more fresh foods, creating some different things. And I feel energetic.

By the end of last year, I just felt tired. Like how-soon-can-I-go-to-bed? tired.  I want to feel vital, energized, engaged, and healthy. So, for the last few months I’ve been focused on choosing the words, actions, and beliefs that will help me get there.

The words we use are a big deal. The shape our reality by influencing how we think and act.

Andrea Brouwer, a researcher and psychologist at Winona State University told me that the more active the word or statement people use, the more likely they are to make healthier choices and achieve their goals.

Say, you want to lose weight. Instead of declaring that you’ll never eat another brownie – which is just crazy talk if you ask me — use active statements about what you will do.

You could say, “I am a healthy food eater,” instead of “I will not eat dessert,” or “I am an exerciser,” rather than “A person who exercises.”

People who identify as “doers” are more motivated and more likely to make healthier choices and positive changes than those who use more passive language, Brouwer says.

So, what do you want? And what will you do?