Mark Twain said, “It isn’t what you know that hurts you; it is what you know that isn’t so.”
Faulty thinking prevents us from moving forward in all areas of our life and it’s certainly true with fitness.
One of the common forms of twisted thinking I’ve worked to overcome is “all or nothing” thinking.
Those might be thoughts like:
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I always fall off track
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I can’t stick with anything
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I never make good food choices
The key words here are always and never. Almost any sentence that starts with those words is a distorted thought. You’ll need to recognize it as such in order to correct it.
So how can we re-frame that second example?
Rather than say, “I can’t stick with anything,” you might say, “An example of something I’ve stuck with is _____________.” What things can I do to help ensure I stick with this?”
I’m sure you can see how the revised thought would be more productive.
Another form of distorted thinking is another one I know all too well. It’s calledfortune telling.
Examples of fortune telling might be:
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This won’t work
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I’ll never lose any weight
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Something will derail me
We pretend to know the future and seem to always tell the future in the negative.
To fix the first example you might say, “I’m going to stick to the plan and take it one step at a time. Everything worthwhile takes time and I accept that.”
The final example of negative thinking I want to point out is blaming.
That might look like:
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My trainer didn’t motivate me enough
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I don’t have the time
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My spouse doesn’t eat healthy so it’s impossible for me to.
To fix the second thought you might say, “If it were easy everyone would do it.” We all have the same 24 hours and I get to choose what I do. I’m going to prioritize my health because it’s something I value.
Most of what holds people back is underneath the surface. These thought patterns come from somewhere and it’s worth it to explore so you can become who you were destined to be.