Belief: The Crucial Holiday Wellness Ingredient

The joy, energy and excitement of the holiday season is upon us. It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of year. But it can also be the most stressful. 

The anxiety of family visits, financial strain, finding the right gift for everyone, perfecting your decorations, travel, and now throw a pandemic in the mix…. It’s easy to feel like you’ve been Scrooged.

And we often get run down, our health and fitness taking a hit. Staying fit this time of year is crucial for our health — physically and mentally. To achieve that, we need to borrow a central element from the season: belief. 

This time of year, we impart belief in our faith, our traditions and the spirit of giving. That same concept must be present in our approach to wellness. 

We believe in all of these other things, but we often lose faith and confidence in ourselves to get our own health and fitness on track. 

Belief is a BIG part of the health and wellness triad. The first two are more obvious. 

1. We must take action — what to do. 
2. We need some form of accountability — the mechanism by which we stay the course.

But without belief, these are rendered useless.

For years, children are told to believe in Santa so often, that the conviction is unshakeable. That same type of reiteration must be instilled and nurtured as relentlessly as Santa to give our brains a foundation to create belief in our ability to succeed with our wellness. 

It is a reconditioning, a resetting of the nerve pathways. That story must be told every day. You are the author and you must become your biggest advocate. 

Try the simple mindset drill of “winning the day” to instill belief. The latest research in neuroscience and behavior change shows the power of the dopamine effect on belief. We become addicted to this feel-good hormone through many unhealthy pleasures like food, sweets, video games, web surfing, drugs etc. But we can replace those with the pursuit of self-care, to strengthen our belief and enhance our mindsets. 

Try setting the goal of two or three tiny wins for the day pertaining to your wellness and then check in at the end of the day with a written confirmation. As you develop this win streak, notice how your feel-good hormones, self-confidence and belief system start to soar.  

Without belief, you are left to the fleeting force of willpower, which always runs dry.  

This season, try belief — in the holiday, but also in yourself. Belief is the missing ingredient that stands the test of time. 

Stay well.

Connect

Join Rod Stewart's Facebook group called Second 50, where he shares free daily content on fitness, nutrition and mindset.