Believe, or Do? Maybe a Little of Both.

You often hear how it's important to believe in order to achieve whatever goal you're reaching for. And then you also hear that you have to just go for it--aka just do it. In health, as in life, the question will always present during a time of change whether it's time to believe in yourself more, or to do more.

Maybe a little of both.

In order to do, you must believe but it also goes the other way around. In order to believe, you must do as well. Belief is important in life, but it can lend itself to tricky situations when it isn't followed by action. Belief likes to see evidence that steps are being taken to back it up. When it's time to get healthier, both the belief and action will get you there quicker than just one alone.

What is an example? Say you want to get rid of a few extra pounds and really believe you can do it. Week after week you believe that it's possible to achieve this, but in the end not much is happening because the belief is far ahead of any steps being taken to lose the weight.

Maybe the belief is even far and beyond what is realistic in terms of getting started with the weight loss. At this point, it's good that you believe you can lose weight but that has set lofty goals that are difficult to attain from where you're at.

With a little action mixed in, such as changing eating habits or getting more physical activity into your week, you notice that these small steps are now backing the belief you have and giving you solid evidence that the change is really possible for you.

On the flip side, if you were to change all your habits at once in order to lose weight but didn't firmly believe that these steps will actually work, it would also be challenging to lose weight in a healthy way. A few pounds may come off, but the effects may not last because you don't have the conviction to carry through with it.

Weight loss is just one example, but there are many areas of health and life that present with the challenge of both believing in yourself and acting on what you want. So, don't just believe it or just do it. Try both together and see what happens. Each one will give you clues into how to be healthy, your way.