Competing Commitments with Health and Wellness
Life is complicated. Lots of these complications are wonderful things, family, careers, friends, hobbies, our communities, etc. There are upsides and downsides to nearly everything; collectively, it can get quite jumbly. A challenge with life’s moving parts is staying on track with health and wellness goals amid competing commitments. Sometimes they can be directly counter to best intentions or at least obscure focus of them. I’m very interested in how we stay focused and committed to actions that support better health and wellness while we also juggle full lives with occasionally clashing priorities.
Examples of these competing commitments happen nearly all the time. Here are a few common ones: cooking for others when you’re working on a specific, disciplined strategy of eating, socializing with treasured friends who have world-class wine collections while you’re trying to drink less, or deciding between much-needed rest or exercise at the end of a tiring workday. These are relatable examples that highlight potential ambivalence and “YOLO” (you only live once) thinking that can derail day-to-day behaviors that take us towards, or away from personal goals. These competing priorities are all important and worthwhile. There are a lot of grey areas that are negotiable in the moment.
So what do we do? Part of the answer comes from the clarity we get from routine quiet reflection on our long-term priorities and strategizing a sustainable path forward. Quiet reflection with strategic planning must happen often because willpower is finite and will be on fumes at the end of the day faced with the choice between something delicious and indulgent or something disciplined and intelligent. Choose the former when it’s been intentionally planned in advance, other days stick to the plan.
Sometimes competing commitments look like irreconcilable dichotomies. Most of the time they’re not. If you find yourself thinking “ I can do this or that” look for the “and” as in “I can do this and that.” Or find creative shifts to meet different needs. My own best solution to the social example is to meet friends for physical activity rather than meals or drinks. But that’s not always applicable. Three keys to success are #1, making a decision/plan in advance, #2 communicating those plans to others, it’s more difficult to change your mind if you’ve stated your intentions aloud and #3 being enough rested to maintain fortitude for the necessary discipline required.
If you’re finding yourself habitually backsliding on health and wellness goals you might benefit from support (which can come in many forms) or a different strategy. Some goals stall because of a lack of planning, others stall because the strategy is unsustainable or misdirected. There are many reasons why goals get stalled, and a huge host of strategies to infuse new life into them to help someone realize their greater potential with whatever is personally important. As we come into summertime, this is a great time to think about what you’d like to work towards to boost your health and wellness whether it’s giving up a bad habit or acquiring a healthy one. Whatever it is, I’m here to support you and cheer you on, and if there’s something I can do to help, let me know!
