Another year has passed us by and January brings a fresh start. Instead of “New Year, New You”, why not think a little differently. Instead of making yourself “new”, why not book your body in for a health check MOT and make yourself the BEST that you can be?
January is a pretty dull month. To be honest, the motivation to change our life is somewhere near the bottom of the list. Even I know I need to put myself on detox and reset (after sitting down and stuffing my face with a box of Florentines….), but you have to WANT to do it, or else it won’t be done.
Your body and your health is like a car.
We all come in different makes and models – some are sportier than others are and some have a few more miles on the clock! But when we get them to the garage and open the bonnet, it has the same as the other cars. The mechanic knows what to look for to tell him that everything is in order, or check what isn’t working.
At the MOT, they check off the same boxes each year to decide if the car is roadworthy. They all need the right fuel, enough oil and regular changes of the filters. Plus don’t forget the water!
But WHY do we take our cars for a service? Ultimately, it’s because we don’t want them to break down and this is so true of our body and our health. Imagine how your car would run if it has something stuck up its exhaust pipe!! You’d want to take that to the garage and get it sorted, imagine the smoke coming out the back!
So, why should YOU want to do a health check MOT on your body?
Motivation is personal. It doesn’t matter if I’m telling you to get healthier, what matters is what’s in it for you? You won’t succeed in changing things if it doesn’t make a difference for the better.
What do you want your health to be like – how do you want to FEEL? What problems do you want to solve? Perhaps instead of “getting fit” or “going on a diet”, it’s “stopping having stomach pain after eating”, or “feeling less bloated and my clothes fitting more comfortably”. Think about specific changes you want to make and the feeling surrounding them.
Thinking about how you want to feel and the emotions related to the feelings helps you to visualise the result too. Is it feeling less self-conscious, more confident about your body and how it is working, less embarrassed to eat in public because your IBS symptoms are under control? These are what will motivate you to make the changes.
So let’s book you in for a health MOT. Get yourself into the body shop, or up on the ramp and do some investigating.
1. When you look back at 2018, how did you feel in health during the year – how was your vehicle running?
- Become a bit of a hypochondriac here and write down every little twinge and problem that you’ve had.
- When you’re finished, look over the list and highlight any recurring problems, or patterns that you can see. Have you struggled with digestive issues, or been run down a lot during the year with viruses?
- Are there any problems that you don’t want to have this year that you want to focus on being sorted?
- Would it be worth investing in getting those things fixed before you start on your fitness or diet changes? Perhaps you need to pay for some testing or booking a course of treatments to fix the baseline problem.
2. Why do you want to make the changes to pass your MOT? What are your motivating reasons that you’ve identified? What do you want to FEEL like at the end, emotionally? More confident, more energetic, in less pain?
3. How do you need to make these changes achievable? Do you need to save up for treatment; do you need to include your whole family so that you won’t get off track? Do you need to find a supportive environment – your family, a group online or offline, or a consultant who will support and guide you with the changes?
4. What would your rewards be each step along the way? If you write down rewards for the stages you are completing – small steps remember – it motivates you to keep going. Don’t wait until you have passed your MOT to celebrate – celebrate each small change to keep going. Remember to be patient. It will make a difference. You will see a change. A massage, some new clothes, a holiday, an evening out for a meal at a new restaurant.
Your body should be regularly serviced, including your health and your emotions. Sometimes you need to look in the rearview mirror of your car to stay focused on the journey. Perhaps it’s just a change of the spark plugs and everything works smoother. Or perhaps it’s the pipes that need a flush out (nothing worse than a blockage in the fuel system….). Whatever it might be, a regular service helps us all to run more efficiently with less chance of a breakdown.
If you need any support, remember my garage doors are always open for and the Colonics Queen mechanic is ready to perform your health check MOT, pop the bonnet and get your vehicle running tickety-boo.
I hope you have had a happy New Year and here’s to 2019 being the year of the BEST YOU! x
