Make Helpful Life Changes Easily

At least 90% of people will tell you that they do not relish change. Change is not easy because people are creatures of habit. You want to continue living in a specific schedule once you have conditioned your body and mind to function in that way. This makes you feel secure with your surroundings and decisions.

Even if you do not like change, there are ways to make healthy lifestyle changes easier. You can also use tools to welcome change into your life, even when entering new uncharted territory.

Here are three ways to make lifestyle changes easier for you:

1. Establish the Pros and Cons. If you recognize that you need to make changes in your life and are not looking forward to doing so, you can carry out a simple exercise that will make the transition simpler to handle.

Take a sheet of paper. On one side, write "Pros." On the other side, write, "Cons." On the corresponding side, you will note the pros and cons of the change to see the benefits and drawbacks.

• As you complete the exercise, you might realize that the very thing holding you back is a fear of change itself.

Seeing the pros and cons helps you understand how it will benefit you to make the change. This lets you warm up to the thought that change might be a good idea!

2. Incorporate the Change Slowly. Another method to make lifestyle changes easier is to work up to them.

For instance, when the healthy lifestyle changes you need to make center around stopping your smoking and drinking habits, you may not want to quit cold turkey. Instead, you can work up to it. Stop drinking every night with dinner. Next, stop drinking for several days at a time. Do the same thing for smoking so that you are not fighting this lifestyle change.

• Prepare yourself both physically and mentally to help you ease the change into your daily routine.

3. Apply Affirmations. Another way to help make lifestyle changes simpler is to make use of positive affirmations. Positive affirmations are statements that summarize the way you would ideally think or behave.

You can either create your affirmations or look for statements that others have made. The important thing is that you find affirmations that speak to you.

• Words are powerful. As you repeat the exact words over time, they continue to resonate through your mind. When the comments are positive, you will find that you can tap into these positive thoughts anytime or anywhere.

If you are worried about making a healthy lifestyle change, you do not have to be. Instead, you can tell yourself again why you want to change. Say something like, "Changes are healthy," or "I do not get stuck in the same habits." When you go over this often enough, it becomes your response to the anxiety you feel. This makes changes more manageable for you to handle.

Some lifestyle changes are more challenging than others to become accustomed to, even when we want to make the changes. Many times just one of these tips will help you to implement the change. While other times, you may need to use an assortment of approaches to feel at ease about the change.

Use the "pro and con" process to see benefits. Then bring the change on gradually while you accept it through affirmations. These methods will help you feel confident so that you can enjoy the benefits of your new lifestyle.