The Secret To Happiness: According to 85 Years of Research
Article Round-Up 11.19.23
Enjoy this week’s curated round-up of articles, podcasts, and more from the web to help you live a healthier, happier life.
Coaching Conversations: Get Curious During Hard Times
Takeaway: We will all face hard times. During these moments, you can help turn the negative into a positive by getting curious of the lessons to be learned.
You’ll learn more in hardship than you will in bliss.
Find the lessons that help you grow as an individual and set you up for a better future.
Published This Week:
Takeaway: Read about an epiphany I had while watching fellow gym goers crush new PRs in their workout. Being healthy and strong gives you the means to live your life, but confidence is how you’ll make the most of it.
Unlocking The Science of Happiness [Podcast]
Takeaway: The longest running study on human develop shows that happiness is really all about relationships. Relationships not only ease emotional pain, but can also ease physical pain too. You don’t need a robust circle of friends. Even a few ride or die friends who will take your call during a tough moment will confer all the benefits of close bonds.
Just For Fun:
How To Cut The Most Common Vegetables [Video]
Takeaway: If preparation has kept you from enjoying more that vegetables have to offer, in both nutrition and taste, then check out this video. You’ll learn everything you need to know to prep some of the most common vegetables like a chef.
Reader Question:
Is it weird to feel resentful that I have to change my lifestyle to be healthier?
That’s completely normal.
In order to be healthy, you are asked to shift behaviors that you’ve grown accustomed to; behaviors that you’ve also likely grown fond of in many ways.
What you’re experiencing is a part of ambivalence: a purgatory of wanting the benefits of changing but not wanting to give up things you enjoy right now.
—> Wanting to lose weight, but be able to eat whatever you want.
—> Wanting to be able to run a mile without your chest exploding, but also lounge on the couch after a long day.
Overcoming this ambivalence is a process that takes time.
Often, the things we fear losing today are not things we’ll actually miss once they’re gone.
—> The confidence and energy in being at a healthy weight outweighs the momentary pleasure of junk food.
—> The thrill of an exciting life outweighs the benign comfort of laying on the couch all day.
The best place to start overcoming feelings of ambivalence is to accept that you have those feelings in the first place. That you can hold two conflicting desires at the same time.
Once you know this, then you can begin to reflect on the pros and cons of each, the desired outcomes you want in the future, and can set behavioral goals accordingly.
Yesterday I hosted a seminar about the “5 Laws of Weight Loss.” During this talk, we looked at ten years of weight loss transformations to distill the wisdom of the most successful stories.
Want the recording of that seminar? Click the button below and I’ll be sure to send the link once it’s ready.