Do you wish that you could be healthier? Do you wish you could be closer to God? Do you wish you could eat better? To get there, you’re not quite willing to make the lifestyle changes you need to make, but you can’t quite work out why. You really do want it, but for some reason you are just not doing it!

In the video and blog below are 3 tips to think about, to help you find a way to make those changes that will make all the difference to your life.

1. Look at your thoughts. Your circumstances might not currently be able to change, but the way that you think about them can. And your thoughts lead to your feelings, which then lead to your actions. So the way you think about your circumstances is how you’ll end up being. You can turn your thoughts to more positive responses to your circumstances, which will make you feel a bit better, and lead you into more action.ow you show up has a lot to do with what you decide to think about something.

So, if you are struggling with the time you have to prepare food, you could either think: “There’s no point, I feel rubbish, so I’m just going to eat junk food.” Or you could think: “I haven’t got much time, so I need to make the most of the time I do have to plan and prepare, to save time in the rest of the week.” The second thought would lead to a positive feeling and a positive action. Are you letting your thoughts dictate your feelings and therefore your actions? Are you not showing up quite how you would like to because your thoughts are going down the wrong path? Starting with more positive thoughts can make a big difference!

2. Look at the direction your habits are pointing you. Every time you do something, you’re putting a vote into the box for the kind of person that you’re becoming. Your votes don’t have to be unanimous; you don’t have to do that ideal action all of the time, but the more you don’t do it, the more you’ll more become a person who doesn’t do it, and the more you do do it, the more you’ll become a person who does do it.

So, if you want to become someone who is closer to God, guess what? You need to start spending time with God and getting closer to Him! If you want to become a runner, you need to start running. If you want to be healthier, you need to make some healthy decisions.

So, which box are you putting your votes into? What kind of person are you becoming? It doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing, it’s just what you do mostly that matters. The box with the most votes will be the one that wins. So, what what kind of life do you want and how are you putting your votes into that box to become the person you really want to be? 

3. Look at why you really want to change. Is it because someone is telling you that you need to change, or is it because you feel you should? Or do you really want it? It’s possible you need some more intrinsic motivation to make the necessary changes to your lifestyle. If your motivations are mostly extrinsic right now – pepole telling you you should change or just thinking your should do something – that may not be enough. If you can change that to intrinsic motivation, perhaps by doing some research into the impact of your decisions, talking to others, reading testimonials, success stories or biographies. How can you turn your motivation intrinsic, so you really believe the thing you want can happen for you?

So often we want to change our lives, but don’t actually want to change our lifestyle. We want things to happen to us but we’re not willing to make changes to ensure that they do happen. We think that we can ask for something, or pray about something and we get dismayed and disappointed when it doesn’t happen, but we need to play our part too. So what is it in your life that you want to change and are there things that you can do differently so that your lifestyle start adding up towards that life?

If you’re looking for some extra inspiration to support you to make lasting lifestyle changes we offer Fitfish for a Fiver – 5 fundamentals for just £5 per month, including online exercise classes, weekly stretch and soul sessions, monthly recipe cards and podcasts and access to a bank of exercise recordings you can access anytime. You can find out more and sign up here.