Everyone loves a good story of someone turning their life around and experiencing that “second wind” after going down would seem like a really bad and unfruitful path.
This is a big part of the attraction of many great sports stories, for example – and there is no shortage of tales out there of individuals across a broad range of different disciplines, and from all sorts of walks of life, who at one time were at a major low, and who then managed to turn things around enough to make a real name for themselves and to excel in one way or another.
Ultimately, a lot of the most popular traditions and rituals that exist in society – like New Year’s resolutions, for example – are rooted in the fact that everyone wants the opportunity for a bit of self reinvention from time to time, not to mention ways of turning over a new leaf when things just seem to be stagnating or heading in the wrong direction overall.
Here are a handful of different activities that are likely to be able to help you to take your life in a new and better direction.
Getting involved in sport
Obviously, it would be impossible to make a list like this without including getting involved in sport is one of the top activities and pastimes that anyone should take up if they want to transform their lives for the better, and to give themselves something positive and uplifting to work on.
In life, there are all sorts of situations that might happen that can cause us to end up in situations we wouldn’t have chosen if we knew what we were getting into.
Fortunately, there are also all sorts of different counselling and assistance services for a range of different issues. Ultimately, though, changing the direction of your life and experiencing some self transformation isn’t just about what you stop doing, it’s also about what you start doing – and where you choose to direct your energy and intentions.
If you look at the biographies of famous athletes, you’ll see that many of them came from rough backgrounds and deprived neighbourhoods, and in more than a few cases, it was finding sports and committing themselves to their craft that moved their attention away from violent or otherwise self-destructive – or just generally destructive – pastimes and activities.
Whether you are in a situation where you really need to transform the course of your life as a whole, or whether you just have a nagging feeling that you could be living in a much more meaningful and dynamic way than you are now, getting involved in sports can be extremely beneficial, and you don’t have to become a pro athlete to experience those benefits, either.
Sports can be almost magical when it comes to the different benefits that they can convey, and oftentimes these benefits can have a super profoundly positive effect on the lives of individuals, as a whole.
First off, physical activity contributes massively to enhanced feelings of well-being, purpose and hope – and it’s not just a matter of endorphins, either. As the psychologist Kelly McGonigal points out in her book “The Joy of Movement,” physical activity causes the muscles to release compounds that have been nicknamed “hope molecules,” because of the way that they can promote feelings of hope, optimism, and well-being.
Sports often have a great way of working out aggression in a safe and positive context, and it’s also known that getting physically fit can help to promote sharper thinking, more motivation, and higher energy levels, among other things.
In addition to all of this, getting involved in sports gives you goals that you can work towards, that can get you out of bed each morning, and that can help to lift you out of a state of inertia, or guide you away from self-destructive habits.
Undergoing behavioural coaching
They’re all sorts of different types of behavioural coaching and counselling out there, ranging from services such as https://www.sunshinebehavioralhealth.com/texas/, to forms of talk therapy designed to help individuals to be more driven and motivated on a daily basis.
Ultimately, our everyday habits and perspectives on the world tend to be deeply interconnected with one another, and by the time you notice that there is an issue that you’d like to address, it’s already likely the case that you’ve got ingrained world views and behavioural patterns that make it difficult for you to adjust course.
Undergoing different forms of behavioural coaching can help you to break out of your normal routines and cycles, and can instead empower you to begin establishing new patterns in your life that are ultimately more rewarding.
While it’s certainly possible to adjust your own behaviours and habits by yourself, and to begin to experience new perspectives on things, it tends to be much easier to make those kind of changes when there is someone else you can talk to and hear from – as we all tend to have blind spots that can reinforce our negative routines.
Surrounding yourself with people who want the best for you
It’s very common for many people to believe that they are essentially in full control of their behaviours and actions, and can decide whether or not to do one thing or another at any given moment.
While it’s true that we all have free will, and that there is always the possibility of making a change, it’s also very important to realise that we all tend to be highly influenced in all sorts of ways – often beneath our conscious level of awareness – by the people who we surround ourselves with.
One of the strangest examples of this that researchers have found, is that people tend to conform to the body weight of those they interact with the most.
If you are caught in what seems to be a negative spiral in one sense of another, it’s likely that you spend a lot of your time surrounded by people who are in the same boat, and you have the same negative patterns playing out in their lives.
One of the most powerful and direct ways of making a change in your life, therefore, can be to make a conscious effort to surround yourself more with people who want the best for you, and who also embody the kind of change that you would like to make.
If you were getting involved in sport, for example, spending a good deal of time interacting with other people who are also passionate about that sport is virtually guaranteed to help boost your motivation and focus.
Embracing voluntary challenge on a regular basis and stepping out of your comfort zone
Psychological researchers have used the terms “fixed mindset,” and “growth mindset,” to describe two different broad outlooks on the world.
A fixed mindset is one that essentially promotes the idea that things are the way they are, and nothing can change. An example of a fixed mindset would be the belief that you “either have it or you don’t” when it comes to the ability to perform at certain sports, or do excel in a particular profession.
A growth mindset, on the other hand, is a mindset defined by optimism, and the belief that there is always something you can do to move yourself towards your goals and dreams – it’s just a matter of applying consistent effort in the right directions.
One of the best ways of nurturing a growth mindset appears to be embracing voluntary challenge on a regular basis, and routinely stepping out of your comfort zone. The more you directly challenge yourself in this way, the more you are likely to remind yourself of your capabilities.