Having ownership over your life, health and wellbeing is liberating. It also adds a level of responsibility and accountability that is hard to get used to. When you take ownership for your health and success, you are in complete control of the outcome. This means that the buck stops with you and there are no excuses.
For some people, the thought of this can be a little bit confronting. The mere thought that everything that goes on with your health is your responsibility can be a tough pill to swallow.
It forces you to really re-think the mental approach to things. Understanding that if you look to blame external factors, that you are only letting yourself down.
So what does taking ownership over your health involve? What are some ways that we can positively move in this direction?
“Until you let go of your excuses, your desired results will not happen”
It is not uncommon for things to not go our way. How many times have you not got the outcome that you were hoping for?
In situations like this it can be very easy to point the finger and lay blame at the foot of someone/something else.
It is easy to do and it means that you are not having the tough conversation with yourself. The reality of the situation is that you are instead looking elsewhere and deflecting the blame.
For example:
“I didn’t go for my run yesterday because the weather wasn’t great in the morning and I got a phone call that held me up when I planned on running in the afternoon. I will try again next week.”
As you can see from the above sentence, there are 2 excuses being used to lay blame. This has shifted ownership from the person not going for a run, to the reasons why they didn’t/couldn’t.
With a simple rephrase we can take ownership of the problem, and come up with a solution.
“I was unable to run yesterday morning because of the weather, and when I was about to go for a run in the afternoon I had a phone call that held me up. I understand that I need to still do this run, so I am doing it tomorrow morning instead.”
As you can see, a simple rephrase takes ownership over the problem, finds a solution and ensures that the desired result is still occurring.
Another example:
“I was out for dinner last night and my friends were all drinking so I drank as well, I didn’t have a choice.”
Try instead:
“I find it difficult to not drink when I am out socially with my friends, but I understand the impact that it has on my health, so I drank water as well and woke up early and did some exercise.”
Your choice. Your control. Your solution.
How can I start taking more ownership over my health?
It can be quite difficult to shift your mindset when it comes to ownership. Getting rid of the belief that other people/scenarios have a bigger impact over your health and fitness than you do is understandably, quite a challenge. If you are able to put in the hard work and are committed to making this positive change, then you are putting yourself in a fantastic position to succeed.
The key comes with looking inside and asking YOURSELF the tough questions.
For example:
- How have I been looking outside for excuses in the past?
- How can I be in more control over my health?
- What do I struggle with now?
- What are my biggest strengths and weaknesses with my health and fitness?
- How can I improve on a daily basis to hit my goals?
Questions like this start an internal conversation that allows complete transparency and removes any external factors that may have acted as road blocks to success earlier.
Tip: Write the above questions down on a piece of paper. Sit down for 30 minutes and go through the answers. Ensure that you ask ‘why’ to each answer and respond accordingly. If you are truly honest with yourself then you will enable a strong foundation to be build for an ownership reset. Every time you struggle from then on, you simply have to return to your questions/answers to get the motivation back.
Tips to taking ownership over your health
Your attitude sets the tone
When it comes to understanding that you are in control over your success, it is important that you have an attitude to match.
A positive, optimistic and determined attitude will always beat a negative, pessimistic and lacklustre approach.
Understand that you are in control, be clear-cut on your goals and remove the outside noise.
Ego – Leave it at the door
So often our ego can get in the way of our success.
A big part of our success will come down to never being too proud to admit that you can grow, prove and develop constantly.
Admitting that you are wrong and have made a mistake means that you can move forward in a positive way with a solution in mind. Being stubborn and unable to admit this to even yourself, means that you will always be stuck in place.
Set goals AND plan for their success
When we are motivated, we set big & exciting goals without much thought to the planning and execution.
Whilst it is always important to challenge yourself, it is also important to do it in a way that is manageable in the long-term.
A big part of taking ownership also means asking yourself if you are trying to do too much, or if what you are doing is going to be too much of a challenge and coming up for that plan to success. Overly complicated or unthought out timelines can mean that you are behind the 8-ball from the beginning.
Set strict boundaries and hold yourself accountable
You know what you need to do to hit your goals. You have planned it out and now it is time to execute.
When it comes to taking ownership over your health, it also means setting and adhering to boundaries that will allow for success.
Let’s use alcohol as an example.
If you have set a goal of 2 alcoholic drinks p/week and then you go and have 10 with your friends, there has clearly been a break in the boundaries and self accountability. When this happens it can be easy to blame the others in the situation instead of looking at yourself.
Set boundaries, stick to them and hold yourself accountable. YOU – not your friends – determine the level of success that you have.
Once you have taken complete ownership over your health and fitness, you can then be in a fantastic place for help and support. You will know the areas that you are going well in, and you also will know areas where you can seek support. The help you need to succeed will always be there.
Want To Learn More?
Since COVID-19 entered our lives, we have aimed to deliver some great weekly information as to how you can remain healthy, productive and in good spirits. This blog post is the latest addition to a growing library of information. Click to read more on our dedicated COVID support blogs.
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