We all know that it’s never easy sticking to a healthy diet, let alone getting others to do the same, especially loved ones. Sometimes, no amount of cajoling, scolding, lecturing, coercing and pleading will work. And, since these are ingrained behaviours and habits that we’re trying to change, it’s not going to happen overnight.
When we’re on the receiving end of this advice, any positive results are likely only going to be temporary. At the end of the day, it all comes down to our personal resolve to adopt better eating habits.
It’s not surprising that, when faced with untried and unaccustomed healthier options, it’s easy to feel dispirited, unmotivated and even a bit resentful at having to move away from the familiarity and comfort of the habits that have been very much a part of our lives and identities. While reinventing ourselves can be exciting and thrilling when you think about the outcome; it’s usually quickly dampened by the tough, challenging and often frustrating journey to achieve those outcomes.
So, how can we keep our spirits up on the journey?
Here are 10 inspiring sayings to fire up our motivation, help us stay focused on our destination, and keep us on track to achieve our goals:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle
Good habits are worth being fanatical about. - John Irving
The soul, like the body, accepts by practice whatever habit one wishes it to contact. - Socrates
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. - Barack Obama
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. - Winston Churchill
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. - Socrates
Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet. - Aristotle
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. - Leo Tolstoy
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. - Lao Tzu
You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. - C.S. Lewis