Personal Demons: Make Today the Day of Change

I have often been asked, both as a psychologist, and a health and fitness professional, “how do you do it, or why is something that adds so many positive benefits in life so hard to achieve?” There is no “one-size-fits-all” answer, but the story that surfaced about Josh Hamilton this week shows that no one is immune to difficulties.

Josh Hamilton, a 30 year old All-Star is the perfect example of why we have to keep trying, why one day of healthy eating, one good workout, or one “good day” just isn’t enough. A temporary slip doesn’t always represent weakness, and is, in many instances, a symptom of an addict’s unexpected and inexplicable change in a situation or their behavior, those moments that are the toughest for every addict to confront. Some reach that point and stop, others continually fight, claw and battle the very addiction they wish wasn’t such an enormous burden to bear. Hamilton has seen some lows, like the time he fell asleep in a ditch, whacked out on crack, all the while being immortalized in a Dead-spin photo montage. Hamilton has what some would consider to be the greatest job in the world, a newborn daughter and so many “things” that most will never even begin to understand, but that doesn’t change the fact that his addiction is real, and will eventually, probably long before it should, end his life.

We all have our own “personal demons”. Not all of them are as evident as an addiction to drugs and alcohol, but to the individual, the addiction is just as daunting. There are those that truly want to live a healthy lifestyle, those that look in the mirror every single day, and dis-like what they see staring back at them, continually making a promise to themselves that this will be the day they will make a change, but in most cases, that change never comes.

There is no reason to put it off any longer, to use the, I’m going to start my new healthy lifestyle on Monday excuse for yet another week. Start today, even if you skipped breakfast, and ate fast-food for lunch, promise yourself you will do whatever it takes to achieve your goal, and “just do it”. Putting off until later what you should be doing today, might be the very thing that keeps you from having a tomorrow.

Joe Milham

Certified Nutrition Specialist, Master Trainer, and Life Coach