Health Doesn’t Change with the Season

If you show me a person that is off track “because of the holidays” I would bet you anything that they were either off track before the holidays or were never on track to begin with. The holiday season may bring many challenges, but if you are actually in the habit of something, you will keep doing it.

Do smokers forget to smoke between Thanksgiving and New Year’s? No way, they are in the habit and their patters likely change very little from month to month. Do you forget to put of decorations in your house because the season is too busy? Do you decide that you can’t fit in meetings at work or activities with family and friends during the holidays? No, in fact, that is what makes the holidays “THE Holidays”.

With all of the things we have going on, it is easier to say that we wanted to exercise, but didn’t have time. It is easier to say that we would be on track if we didn’t have so much going on. The fact is, you will make time for things that:

1. You are obligated to do
2. You really want to do
3. You are in the habit of doing

These 3 categories are what drive us to do everything. You name it, if you do it, you are doing it because of at least one of these 3 things. You are either obligated to do it, you really want to do it or you are simply in the habit of doing it.

Things that you are obligated to do

When you have to do something, there really isn’t much argument. You have to do it, so what do you do? You do it. Getting out of bed in the morning, going to work and taking care of household tasks are all things that we do without giving it much thought. If we don’t do them, there are serious consequences that we have already decided are too great to risk.

The only difference between people in healthy routines and people that are not in them is the fact that they look at the consequences of not doing it and see them as too great to risk. They also have found that the result of doing healthy things is far better than the results of not doing them. That is the beauty of it. When you are truly healthy, you know first-hand what happens when you do things differently and you have decided that it won’t work for you because you won’t get the results you want.

Things you really want to do

This is another no-brainer. When you really like something, you make time for it. The people that feel obligated to do healthy things have found that they LIKE the results of these things and so they keep doing them. You can always make time to see your friends. You can always make time to watch your favorite TV show. You like to do these things, so it is easy to make yourself do them. In fact, that is the key. When you really like something, you are not making yourself do it. You want to do it.

That is how people in healthy routines look at exercise and healthy foods. I like exercising because of how it makes me feel. It may be hard for someone that doesn’t exercise at all to hear that and go out for a run today. What makes it easier is another thing that I like about exercise: I like looking in the mirror and being happy with what I see. That is another thing that people like: results.

Things that you are in the habit of doing

Healthy habits are no different that unhealthy habits. If you do them enough, you will keep doing them. It won’t matter what time of year it is. If you are in the habit of doing something, you will do it no matter what other things are going on.

People in healthy habits don’t change because things are more stressful. In fact, they take comfort in their routine and actually use it to keep balance in all areas. People in routines are successful. Even if you are in a routine of unhealthy habits, you are successful. You are successfully keeping your health in a steady decline as you age. The longer you keep the unhealthy habits going, the more difficult it is to break them and the more damage is done.

So, no matter what time of year it is, think about your health and how it ranks with other priorities. You will be doing things that you are obligated to do. You will do things that you like to do. You will certainly do things that you are in the habit of doing. The more healthy items you can fit into this, the better your health will be all year. The holidays change anything. They just give you an excuse to do other things that you are obligated to do, that you like to do more and that you are simply in the habit of doing.

The worst habit during the holidays is the habit of blaming the season for you lack of motivation. If you want to do something you will do it, no matter what time of year it is. That is why the holidays is so difficult, right? You have so much that you HAVE TO DO? Well, I have found that habits don’t really change during the holidays. The only thing that changes are the excuses that we use to justify our habits.

Health is something that takes around the clock effort. What we eat, how much we move and many other factors come into play. The more you can focus on them, the better results you will get. Successful people don’t let things stand in the way of their goals simply because they are busy. That is all the holidays does to us. They make us busy and present an easy excuse to forget about our health. Health doesn’t change during the holidays. The same principles apply. If you don’t change your habits, your health will change you. And those changes will be far more stressful for you than shopping for gifts this year.