SARAH DI LORENZO: How a positive mindset can set you up for a healthier lifestyle

So many of us at times in our lives make a proactive decision to improve our health, be it to eat well, get good sleep, stress less and exercise regularly.

While this is a positive decision to make there is so much more that goes into succeeding with getting to your health goal outside of just wanting it.

I see a health journey in three sections, your why, your how and your mindset.

As an initial part of the healthy journey many of us already know why we want to achieve a healthier lifestyle and it can be to live longer, have a better quality of life, more energy, more confidence, lower risk of disease, to age well and even just feel well.

The next step in the health journey success is after your ‘why’ to work out your ‘how’.

How are you going to for example, lose weight, are you going to do a program or seek professional help.

If getting healthier for you means to get fit then how are you going to do this, are you going to join a gym, get a personal trainer or do you have the drive to do it yourself.

These two steps are crucial but the next step is your mindset.

I talk to many of my patients about the importance of a positive mindset when on a journey to a health goal as life and events will get in the way that can very quickly derail people.

I personally many years ago focused on a positive mindset in my own journey and it is essential for success and growth.

Positive mindset is exactly that.

It involved proactively stopping any negative thoughts, negative self talk and spending the time to make this a lifelong habit. So many of us are our worst critics and speak so negatively about ourselves which is crippling.

Research has demonstrated whether you are a pessimist or optimist this will impact your health.

Positive thinking is a key feature in managing stress and is better for health.

Just picture a stressful situation and look for the solution rather than seeing failure.

The thing is anyone no matter how much someone is a pessimist, they can learn a positive mindset.

To learn about a positive mindset you need to start with positive self talk.

I tell my patients to only say what they want to become, that the power of their voice and thought will dictate their future.

Nothing negative can be verbalised, only positive.

I tell them they become what they say.

There are so many health benefits to a positive mindset including lower rates of depression, increased life and health span, better immunity, lower cancer risk, better heart health, better pain tolerance, better coping skills when under stress, mental well being and lower risk of death from stroke and cardiovascular disease.

The reasoning is that positive thinking has health benefits as you are putting less stress on your body.

Plus, positive thinking is linked to positive lifestyle choices such as regular exercise, avoiding or minimising alcohol, not smoking and eating well.

A crucial step in developing the positive mindset is to be able to identify negative thoughts and act on them.

For example awareness of being catastrophic, personalising, dictating, polarising and perfectionism are all negative.

The steps to a positive mindset involve awareness of where you need to change, healthy lifestyle choices, seeing the funny side in situations, only allowing people in your life who are positive and supportive, don’t be scared to let go of negative toxic people.

Stop, reflect and assess your progress and practise positive talk.

This will take time in the beginning but before you know it the practice will become a habit.

Some good examples include instead of saying “it is too hard” think this “ I will try with a new approach” or “I can’t do this” say “how exciting to have a new experience” or “ I don’t have time for this” to “ let me rethink my schedule to see what I can adjust”.

Like everything this takes time and starts the minute you wake up.

Start the day with thinking about what you are grateful for such as a bed to sleep, food for breakfast in or a roof over your head.

Be grateful for those in your life and tell them so and the rest of the day will follow on that flow.

The key is consistency, it is worth it.

Tune into Sarah’s new podcast 1010 Be Well supported by HCF and hosted by Sarah Di Lorenzo and Sally Bowrey launching Saturday October 26. The first episode features Ben Crowe.