​Have you heard that not being true to yourself can cause stress? Well, research agrees. Cognitive Dissonance, simply put, is mental stress when our beliefs don’t jive with our behaviors. This leads us to rationalize behaviors or beliefs to reduce the mental stress.

This can be healthy but also self-defeating.

I want to lose weight but the cheesecake looks so good. Rationalization, I had a hard day and deserve a little cheesecake. Sure, okay, but why can’t you just have cheesecake because you want it and acknowledge that you are trumping the want to lose weight? Well because that makes us stressed. We need a reason.

Ask yourself this, what am I wanting more right now cheesecake or to lose weight. Sometimes cheesecake might win, but being honest with yourself frees you from stress.
Take the chance speak the truth to yourself. You will be surprised how quickly you start making the decision that is in your best interest. Cheesecake won’t always win.

M 

                                                                 
                                                       WORRY?
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The French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne who stated “My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened” may have really been onto something!

To worry is to ruminate. Ruminate comes from the Latin word Ruminari which means “to chew the cud.” [1] In our minds we can see that cow chewing and chewing and chewing on the same piece of cud till it is nothing but a liquid mush. Disgusting eh? That is what happens in our minds. We ruminate on negative events, things that have a small likelihood to occur, or things we can’t change until our brains become a liquid mess.
So how is rumination productive? The answer is IT IS NOT.

The late Author, Earl Nightingale [2], estimates that:

• 40% of the things you worry about will never happen
• 30% of the things you worry about couldn’t be changed by all the worrying in the world.
• 12% of your worries are needless worries about your health.
• 10% of your worries are petty, miscellaneous things.
• 8% of your worries are about real and legitimate concerns.

This means 92% of our worrying is a complete waste of our time causing useless stress and potentially all the negative effect that accompany.

Reframe those worries and rest your mind.