When all else fails, just keep trying.
It’s been hard. Really Hard. Starting or maintaining healthy habits has been challenging to say the least. But if we know how important our physical, mental, and spiritual health is, especially during these strange times, why do we struggle to make it happen?
This is especially true when it comes to forming new healthy habits as part of your everyday existence. This is nothing new but has been made even more apparent by the pandemic. As we’ve been navigating our way through this for over a year now, finding sustainable solutions hasn’t been easy.
I’m sure many of us have tried to incorporate new morning exercise routines to accommodate working from home and the commute from the kitchen table to the new home office. Some of us have resorted to investing in a Peloton bike, spending big bucks to feel “inspired, empowered, and united.” While others have simply started walking more, taking advantage of working from home and the “freedom” that brings.
Our spending habits in 2020 would certainly suggest that we are making an effort to get healthier at home. According to estimates from JPMorgan, Peloton is set to make roughly $1.8 billion in sales for 2020. That’s about a 100 percent increase from the $910 million in sales the company made in 2019. A Washington post article reported that between March and October 2020, health and fitness equipment revenue more than doubled, to $2.3 billion, according to NPD retail data. Sales of treadmills soared 135 percent while those of stationary bikes nearly tripled, depleting inventories. These investments have not been solely focused on physical fitness, as online course offerings in meditation and mindfulness have also seen record sales.
While we appear to be investing in our overall health and wellness at a staggering rate, the benefits may not be as far reaching as we might want them to be. A Harvard Business Review article reported that a recent survey of 1500 people, 85% of them felt their general well-being has declined since the beginning of the pandemic. Of those surveyed, the major contributing factors related to this were a decline in their mental health, increased work demands, and physical health not being maintained. Sad, but not surprising.
So, if we’re spending all this money, investing in our personal health, why are we still not feeling well? What’s missing?
I think there are three main reasons for this:
1. We engage in healthy practices that we don’t enjoy. This is not to say we can’t learn to enjoy something that might be challenging or uncomfortable in the beginning. But doing things that bring you a sense of joy and fulfillment are always going to be easier to engage in than those activities that don’t. We falter when we invest in the “image” of something because it keeps popping up on our social media feed. If you can’t seem to find anything you enjoy, see #2.
2. We’ve lost our sense of curiosity. If you’re not sure what to do when it comes to exercise or meditation, or any other healthy habit you want to create – explore the world around you! Find the spark that ignites the flame of curiosity and simply try something new. As human beings, this is one of the biggest challenges we face – the ability to overcome fears and insecurities to simply try something new to open up new opportunities for growth.
3. The things you are doing are not tied to your identity. This is all about living someone’s idea of what it means to be healthy. It’s your life, so why try and fit into someone else’s paradigm as to what it means to be healthy and well. This is not to say you can’t be influenced by others. It’s simply to say, find things that have meaning to you. Do things that feed your soul. Seek out (be curious, #2) experiences and people you resonate with on some level and you just might find a sense of joy and fulfillment (#1). And, when you do that, you begin to grow as a person, further supporting our identity (#3).
All this to say that I’m not sure I have any life-changing advice that’s going to light a fire under anyone to get up and get moving. There’s been so much written about the human response to COVID and how it’s affecting our energy, our outlook, and our overall state of being, that I almost find it confusing. That’s why I look within for answers. I TRY to find joy in what I’m doing. I TRY to seek out new and interesting things to do, read, or watch. And, most importantly, I TRY to be myself.
So, maybe that’s my advice – just keep trying. Trying is really about being consciously aware of your state and making an effort to do something. Anything. I know this might contradict the famous Yoda quote, “Do or do not. There is no try.” However, I might argue that trying is simply the beginning of doing. So, keep trying!