Awareness and Willingness: The Two Keys to Transforming Your Health

When it comes to addressing your health and fitness concerns, you only need two things: awareness and willingness. Sounds simple, right? Yet, these foundations, that will lead you to a healthier, happier and more fulfilling life are often rather elusive. Why?

The first step is awareness. You need to recognise the problem or clearly define your goal. This might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people are either unaware of their issues (mental more so than physical) or in denial until the problem becomes too big to ignore. We may know it at an unconscious level but refuse to allow it into our consciousness - or shove it back down very quickly! 

Likewise with goals. If you’re not aware of your goals, or don’t have any, it’s hard to motivate you to focus on your health and fitness. You’ll just stick to default behaviours like working! Have you taken the time to figure out what you want in life beyond your career?

Back when I smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish, ate like a junk food connoisseur and did no exercise I knew it was bad for me. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. But just being aware of the issue didn’t change anything.

I was also goalless. I worked, and did pretty well, but what was my actual goal? I didn’t have one. Do well at school, do well at university, do well in your career - it's following a script.

That’s where willingness comes in. Once you’re aware of the problem, you need the willingness to take action. I lacked this for a long time. It took a major catalyst to spark my willingness to change - sometimes, it’s a significant life event or a loved one that provides that push. Without the willingness to act, all the awareness in the world won’t make a difference.

And often our willingness is sabotaged by our limiting beliefs. Our limiting beliefs are scripts that are really just repeated mental loops that we accept as fact because we have replayed them over and over in our heads so many times.

Even when you're aware and willing, you might still face obstacles. Often, these are limiting beliefs that hold us back from making real progress. Despite knowing what we should be doing, many of us struggle to take action. For me it was basically denial that led me to procrastination, I believed I could always take care of my health later. Luckily I did. Some never do.

Here are some common obstacles you might recognise:

• Overwhelmed: there are too many things to do to get healthy/fit/achieve my goals - it’s just too daunting to start the process.
• Low Energy: physical fatigue, leads to mental fatigue which drains your motivation to make changes.
• Time Constraints: Of course everyone is busy these days. But do we use this as an excuse not to do the things we should be doing for our healthy because it feels a bit “icky.” Is it just poor prioritisation?
• Procrastination/Denial: “I’ll start tomorrow when work isn’t so crazy.” - when does it ever slow down?
• Indecision: There is so much confusing advice online about diets, the best exercise to do, finding your ikigai that can lead to indecision about getting started.
• Discouragement: previous failures (gym, diets) make new attempts seem increasingly pointless
• Guilt: Feeling the need to prioritise everyone else’s needs over your own.

Understanding and addressing these beliefs can be the key to unlocking your potential.

Even with the right mindset, it’s important to recognise the signs that you might be out of balance to ensure you're focused on the elephant in the room. Here are some indicators that signal imbalance and might be affecting your health and willingness to change:

• Sleep Issues: Staying up too late for “me” time, difficulty switching off, or waking up in the night.
• Exercise Imbalance: Either overdoing it (and not focusing on other areas) or not doing enough.
• Diet Choices: Comfort eating or making poor dietary choices.
• Other Addictions: Common in Singapore are alcohol, work, shiny object syndrome and doom scrolling.
• Social Withdrawal: Wanting to avoid colleagues, family, or social events.
• Neglecting Hobbies: Skipping activities that bring you joy.

By recognising these signs, you can identify areas in your life that need attention and start making meaningful changes.

By embracing awareness and willingness, overcoming limiting beliefs and recognising the signs of imbalance, you can make significant strides in your health and wellbeing. Reflect on what truly brings you happiness and take steps to live a life that reflects those values. If you need help, reach out. A suitable place to start is our Executive Health Assessment.

We’re here to support you on your journey to a healthier, more fulfilling life.

The Levitise Team