Welcome failure into your life

If you are like most Americans going through life trying to find the ultimate answer to how to balance work, personal and social obligations, your number one enemy is the alarm clock. Each day that annoying little bugger blares in our ears. It taunts us with its snooze button, making us think another five minutes is just what our body needs to prepare for the stress of the day ahead.

Now, this may be a stretch, but take a moment to imagine welcoming the sound of your alarm as your own personal sidekick heralding the announcement of the day’s amazing possibilities. (Cue the eye roll…) But seriously, visualize how your morning, your day, your life would dramatically change if you truly felt well enough to not need an alarm clock?

Ok, ok, I know exactly what you are thinking here, “But I do feel well.” Which in turn really means that you don’t feel “sick”. You may be experiencing some aches & pains, be overwhelmed, have digestion issues or unable to balance the stress of the day, but you stick to your guns that you feel “well”. But did you know that achieving wellness doesn’t just mean a lack of being “sick”?

In fact, wellness is defined as ‘the state of being in good health, especially as an actively pursued goal.’ Therefore, if more people focused on wellness care, it would be easier to welcome the alarm in the morning. Did you know, seven out of ten chronic diseases that kill more than half Americans annually are preventable by living a wellness lifestyle? Would you be surprised to learn that five out of those seven chronic illnesses are reversible? Which is why if we want to have a long, quality life in which we function successfully in the world then we need to be well.

Achieving wellness in our lives does not have to be a daunting task. Wellness isn’t a fad diet, it’s making small changes in our daily habits that will add up to the main goal. A recent study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology concluded that on average it takes humans 66 days to form a new habit. This information supersedes all the information we have learned before, that states new habits are formed in 21 days. But that wasn’t even the best part of the study. What the researchers also found was that “missing one opportunity to perform the behavior did not materially affect the habit formation process.” Why is this such a ground breaking find? Because it doesn’t matter if you mess up every now and then. Building better habits is not an all-nothing process.

We live in a world where we hold perfection on a pedestal and view our failures as earth-shattering. Which is why if we want to have quality lives, we have to allow ourselves to forgive our failures to achieve wellness. For even in failure there is growth and success. The changes you are working towards may not come immediately, but the rewards will be lifelong.

Elizabeth Sindelar-Loy is a Wellness Coach at Main Street Chiropractic in Edwardsville. She has worked in holistic health care for over 3 years. Ms. Sindelar-Loy is also the owner of Excitare Potest Etiam, a motivational company teaching people how to brand themselves on social media in order to achieve their personal and professional goals. As a single mom to an ambitious little girl, she understands the importance of practicing self care to achieve balance in personal and professional growth.

Elizabeth Loy
elizaloy@aol.com
(618) 946-7223

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