How many you know you need to do something to get fit & healthy but you are not doing?

How many of you have started on diets, exercises and stopped? And gain even more weight?

Change is hard for everyone, more so as we age.

We all want to become better people - stronger and healthier, feel younger, be a great role model to our family and friends.

Many of you read books, follow leaders who have made it in life and you are inspired to change and to take actions, but it’s tough to stick to new behaviours. 

You make resolutions every year to do better - exercise regularly, eat healthy pattern. You probably did buy a gym membership, was motivated to go for some weeks but come March, you had stopped. 

Or you tell yourself you will start your exercises after Christmas, after the Chinese New Year and but then it’s March and you haven’t taken any action.

This pattern repeats itself every year. 

Why do you know what you need to do but just can’t do it?

There must be something to make it easier, isn’t there? There are other women who have successfully made changes so how do they do it.

Why do you brush your teeth very day

This is an action you do consistently, every single day and it’s called a habit. You don’t even think about it.  

What’s the reason? You do it because you know it’s necessary to maintain your identity. 

What do you call a person who doesn’t their teeth and has bad breath?

James Clear has written a great book “Atomic Habits” and he wrote - the key to building lasting habits is focusing on creating a new identity first.

Your behaviours today are a reflection of who you are, your current identity. 

Your current beliefs, conditionings drives your behaviour and actions. You might have heard of this statement - “I must eat my rice every meal. If I don’t eat rice, I don’t have energy”. By now, most of you know this is a belief and not a fact.

When you say you want to lose 10 kgs, this is a goal set on outcomes. 

Goal setting and reaching an outcome is important but alone does not build lasting habits and sustainable improvements.

This is key to understanding why you haven’t been able to lose your weight so far.

The key to building lasting and sustainable changes to eat healthy, to exercise regularly, to feel, look and act younger is to focus on Who are you are becoming - an identity that will support the outcomes you want. And make small improvements every single day.

First determine the physical attributes you want.

Lean and tone

Waistline of xxx inches

Flat tummy

etc

Then the question who do you need to become to achieve these physical attributes. 

What do you stand for? What are your principles and values? Who is this type of woman that could get the attributes I want?

For example, want to gain more muscle tone?

Identity: Be the type of woman who never misses a workout.

Start with doing a 1 minute plank every morning. 

Do this exercise. 

Take a piece of paper. Draw a line down the center. 

On the right hand side, write down the physical attributes you want. As many as you want.

On the left hand, write then the values, principles for the type of woman who will get these attributes e.g. strong minded - ability to bounce back from setbacks, focus etc.

Once you have finished, spend some time to reflect on it. 

You’ll begin to realise why you have been failing so many times to achieve your goals. You don’t have something to pull you along. Instead of using willpower which doesn’t work, use this identity to give you the pull.