This is too risky…

You know that voice inside your head that’s always talking?

The one that says;

This is a bad idea
You can’t wear that!
What’s the point?
What if…?

It has a lot of names; psyche, sub conscious, inner self, ego, monkey mind…

But whatever you call it, I think we’ll all agree – it is annoying af.

In fact, if our inner self was actually a person we would have stopped listening to it a long time ago.

But, just like when your parents used to say ‘don’t run’ ‘be careful’ ‘don’t touch’, your monkey mind’s sole purpose is to PROTECT you.

That’s because the default position of our mind is to stay safe. It has to be, otherwise we’d all be running out into the road, falling off cliffs and burning ourselves every time we made dinner.

The mind says; be careful, don’t get hurt.

And this applies to mental and emotional pain as well as physical pain;

Don’t leave your job, what if you can’t find a new one?
Don’t call him, what if he’s just like all the others?
Don’t join the gym, what if you embarrass yourself?

And on an on.

So much so, that if we’re not careful we end up spending our whole lives ‘safe’ and never doing the things we really want to do.

So, a bit like when our parents (out of love) told us not to run, and we did it anyway (because it was much more fun), we need to learn to listen to our inner self when it’s trying to protect us, and then make our own decisions about what we want to do.

Sure you probably fell over a few times when you went against your parents’ instructions, but didn’t that make you a better, stronger runner in the end?

And yes, when you start a new eating or exercise programme, there will almost certainly be hurdles along the way, but isn’t it worth it if you end up healthy and strong, with the body you’ve always wanted?

Our minds don’t want us to get hurt.

The people who care about us don’t want us to get hurt.

But it’s time to start weighing up the odds.

Is it better to walk and play it safe?

Or is it better to run and feel the wind in your hair?