Self-optimization and achieving optimal health is part of what excites us most at The Hart of Health. Optimal health means that your body is as healthy as it can possibly be, your cells are healthy, and your body can perform at its best. Self-optimization means becoming the best version of yourself and living the best possible life you can while feeling great.
An essential part of achieving optimal health and self-optimization is developing a health mindset. Becoming the healthiest version of yourself takes time, dedication, and the right mindset. Otherwise, you may become distracted or discouraged along the way, give up, or start focusing on the wrong things that just cause unhappiness along the way.
The rest of this blog post focuses on the mindset changes that you need to consider making if you are going to achieve optimal health and become the best possible version of yourself.
Need vs. Want: Why You Need to Learn to Distinguish Between Them for Self-Optimization
Your mindset is very important when it comes to optimal health and self-optimization. Think about this: when you tell yourself that you need something, which is not actually a true, basic need that is necessary for survival, your mind creates a sense of urgency, and you create an illusion of dependence on something that you can actually live without. When you tell yourself that you need sugar, for example, you make it a lot harder to go without it and set yourself up for failure. By simply replacing the word need with want. You can change the outcome.
When you say “I want this”, you actually end up accepting full responsibility for your response to this desire. You feel like you have a choice in how to react to this substance or temptation. You take back your power. When you actually need something, like water, you are in a way powerless against it because you really do need it in order to survive. But wants are different. They are entirely our own desires, and we can choose to act on them.
The only reason you eat sugar is because you allow it. Following a healthy lifestyle is a decision. And you have to approach it one decision at a time, especially if self-optimization is your end-goal.
Instant Gratification vs Long-Term Optimal Health & Self-Optimization
Having a health mindset means that you make your decisions about the present while being aware of how they will affect you in the future. You will make decisions that will benefit you in the present and the future. When faced with temptation, you have to choose between something that will bring you five minutes of pleasure or a lifetime of optimal health and happiness.
The Power of Belief in Developing a Health Mindset & Self-Optimization
The placebo effect is a great indication of just how strong the mind-body connection is. It shows that just by believing you are taking something that will give you certain benefits, you can experience the benefits. The power of belief is perfectly shown here, as well as the power of the mind over the body. Our thoughts and beliefs can directly influence how our bodies react. In order to become Superhuman, you have to believe that it is possible.
Accept Discomfort for Optimal Health & Self-Optimization
People are afraid to get uncomfortable. Being in physically challenging positions like a yoga class or intense workout helps teach you how to push past discomfort, and will make it easier to deal with uncomfortable situations in daily life. Being in uncomfortable states and learning to ease into them can help you a lot in terms of growth and self-optimization.
You actually have a little more time than you think to radically change your health and achieve self-optimization. A good and healthy mindset is half of the equation. It does not happen overnight. You can have one goal per month, two goals per month, or three per month, or you can decide how many you can do without losing your mind.
What you can also do is: whenever you feel like you have achieved one of your goals, you can add another one. You can say: “ok, at first, I want to try and only eat three meals a day and not snack.” This, for a lot of people, can be very difficult, including me. Once you have mastered that, you can say to yourself: “ok, now I want to control my portion sizes.”
You can keep doing that until that becomes easier. Just take it one change at a time or even two or three, whether your goal is to only have three meals a day, meditate for 10 minutes, or stay away from processed foods. It is up to you.
The key is to limit the number of goals that you focus on at once, and that will help you also feel more positive because you will be less likely to feel overwhelmed.
If you try and make a lot of changes at once, it can start to feel like there is a lot wrong with you, which may not be true. There might just be a few little things that you are trying to change and little tweaks that you have to make in your health and lifestyle approach, but if you just let go of worrying about the most of the other things that you may have decided may be wrong and you focus on changing one or two at a time (you can change the rest later), you will have a more positive mindset throughout your self-optimization journey
Becoming your optimal self is something worth striving for. Take care of your body and make sure that you have the right mindset that will help you achieve your goals. Develop a health mindset and focus on what your body can do and not what it looks like. You want to become the superhuman version of you, but you have to believe in the existence of the ultimate version of yourself and act in a way that will help your optimal self come forward.
