The Biggest Lie my Clients tell Themselves
In the almost 20 years I’ve been coaching, counseling and mentoring clients and students in eating psychology, healthy lifestyle behaviors and nutrition, I have seen it all.
I’ve seen people drop decades-long “stories” they once had about themselves that, when reassessing and recalibrating, realized were no longer true and have not served them well.
I’ve seen self-proclaimed vegetable-haters eventually enjoy bountiful vegetables and plant- rich foods of all colors.
I’ve watched stress-eaters become confident-eaters and binge-eaters become conscious- and mindful-eaters.
Healthy living can come easy to those who follow my methods and techniques because they never arrive out of “force”, “shoulds” and “rules”.
True success comes from coaxing out what I call “intrinsic motivation” - which is the motivation for the behavior itself, not for the outcome of the behavior.
We all have “stories” we have about ourselves and the beliefs we hold around our weight, our portions, our appetite, our health, and so on. The beliefs are the culmination of years of input from media, peers, parents and close observation in our lives that inform our decisions about how or what we eat, how we look, what we should weigh, etc. They are years in the making and are hard to dismantle.
Through mindset work, we are often able to make a ton of progress, at least in recognizing when old, more toxic or negative thinking creeps in and how to remove yourself from that thought pattern.
One of the hardest to pull apart is this one particular lie that clients tell themselves and is often the one that messes up any progress they’ve already made.
“I don’t think I can do it”
Yep, it’s just that simple phrase that will bring you back to square one and have you abandon any effort you’ve been making to change, be it losing weight, eating healthier, exercising more etc.
You have to believe you can do it.
If you don’t. It’s already game over. You’ve already decided the end of the story. When you don’t think you can do something, it’s because you have evidence that you failed before. Maybe you’ve made multiple efforts to make this change in your life, and it’s always ended up the same way. So, of course you’re wary. Of course you’re scared to try again.
The fear you’re feeling is just evidence of how much you want it.
So, here’s my loving advice. If you’ve been struggling with consistency. If you’ve been trying again and again to change, and you’re at the point where you think it just may not be in the cards for you, hear this.
You 100% can do it. You know how I know?
Read above. You just have to stop saying “why can’t I do this?”
And change it to “how can I do this?” and already new neural pathways start being formed.
You have to believe you can do it. And I’ll add one more thing. You have to have to hone the 3 P’s every day
Practice.
Patience
Perseverance
And lastly. You have to define success differently and pat yourself on the back for SMALL wins, not just when you’ve hit milestones or specific numerical goals. Success begets success. The more you acknowledge and praise your small wins, the more motivated you’ll feel to continue and the closer you’ll get to meeting those larger goals.
I have 2 coaching spots open for this month. If you’re ready to find out exactly HOW to change that old, lying mindset that keeps you stuck….now is the time for coaching.