Better Health: Why Change Is Your Friend

Better Health: Why Change Is Your Friend

Having a healthy lifestyle, physically and mentally, is a direct result of consistent positive actions and thoughts. Being consistent creates habits, but if those habits are negative, it can become increasingly difficult to break free of them. It can be even harder for those living with some form of chronic pain, depending on the diagnosis. Regardless of what kind of chronic pain you’re enduring, you can take action to have better health by making positive changes in your life. First, we’ll take a look at how habits form to help guide the way you think about making changes in your life.

How Habits Form

Researchers conducted a study and found that 45% of what people do is habitual. This makes sense, especially in today’s day and age. We have so much information bombarding us through different forms of media that it’s impossible to process it all. We also have many responsibilities to attend to, so the brain adapts to this by creating habits that don’t require much cognitive effort. Habits form at different rates for different people, but generally, it takes about 66 days to form one. They have a strong influence on our lives and are hard to change, but we can use it to our advantage because we have this knowledge.

Areas of Your Life That May Require Change

Change can be your friend because if you put in the hard work to form positive habits for the future, they’ll become second nature. Here are a few areas of life that you are capable of changing, and some specific examples of what to do.

Education

Education doesn’t stop at high school or college. Continual learning is necessary for growth in your career, relationships, and other areas of your life. Make a plan each week for how you’re going to learn something new or practice a skill. It could be work-related, a personal hobby, or simply trying something new. Forming the habit of learning will expand your possibilities for success in the future. There are practically unlimited resources online to learn from, so you could choose something that isn’t normally available in your area. You can also connect with subject matter experts online that can help guide you in the right direction.

Financial Fitness

When it comes to finances, credit health and spending habits could prevent you from reaching your larger goals in life. For example, if one of your goals is to eventually buy a house, you’ll need to have a good credit score to get the best rate. If you don’t have a great credit score, that will affect your ability to get a mortgage, as well as cause lenders to be warier of you taking out a personal loan. The best way to combat bad spending habits is to create a budget and get in the habit of sticking to it. Make sure you know where all of your money is going and stay consistent. Eventually, you’ll be able to reach financial goals like buying a house or paying off debt.

Physical Fitness

Exercising regularly can be hard to get started, but once you make it a habit, the hard work will be worth it. Even employers are helping employees with fitness by providing bike racks because they know that they’ll be happier and healthier. The habit of a sedentary lifestyle was easy to develop during the COVID years, so it’s important to break free of it. Just 30 minutes of exercise a day will drastically improve physical and mental health. You’ll notice after consistently exercising that you have more energy and feel more motivated.

Diet

Diet is another area that’s hard to change, but once you do, it will benefit you in the long run. This is also directly related to financial fitness because eating out can become an expensive habit. If you are able to cut back on eating out at restaurants, it will help your financial health as well as your physical health. Changes in diet have been shown to ease symptoms of certain chronic conditions. A study found that eating a healthy and balanced diet and avoiding processed foods may help with depression. Diet alone will not fix all of your problems, but a healthy diet in addition to physical fitness will put you in a much better place, especially if you’re able to make both of those things a habit.

These are just a few areas of your life you can consider improving. It’s important to remember that change can result in better health, both physically and mentally. Taking action to create positive habits will put you in the best position possible to deal with any life problems that arise.

Author: TeamiPain

Published by: International Pain Foundation, iPain Blog