Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.”
This wisdom from Gandhi can be applied not only for the sake of inspiration for personal development but also for motivation to develop healthy habits. Today, let’s talk about a strategy for many seemingly small battles that may be necessary for living a healthy lifestyle.
This strategy is to embrace Gandhi’s chain of connections, thoughts → words → actions → habits, by starting out with thoughts and then formulating those thoughts into words, which then influence your actions and finally lead to healthy habits.
For example, if you feel a craving for sugar or sugar-rich food, tell yourself “I can pass it up” or “I want to eat healthier food,” and say it out loud. Then do something to counteract the desire for sugar, such as eating some veggies or fruits or taking a walk. Each time when your craving comes back, think about your valuable health, repeat your words and your practice, realizing that the process of thoughts-words-behaviors-habits is connected with your results.
Since too much stress can influence us to eat too much or make other unhealthy choices, it is also very helpful for developing healthy habits to do the following: If you feel stressed out, give yourself a break. Shift your focus to relaxation or find something to laugh about. This can help keep your mind healthy, which is important because a healthy mind and healthy brain guides you to function more effectively as you move toward accomplishing whatever you do.
Let me reinforce this new strategy by citing another famous quotation from Gandhi – “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
Image credit: By getorganizedwizard.com