Life could get irritating. 

It challenges us, fascinates us, exhilarates us, gratifies us, confuses us, interests us and makes us wonder. In turn, we question life and it’s meaning.

One thing is for certain though, we often lead very busy lives. All of the self-help gurus out there, who make us believe that if we are not “busy”, then we are unproductive and if we are unproductive, then we should question ourselves.

On the contrary, being “busy” is becoming a problem—a very, very serious problem.

We want to be busy so that we could feel like time is passing by faster. That may feel great if we are in a job we hate, otherwise, being busy for the sake of being busy is self-sabotage. It turns into a routine, and routines are doing the same thing, just on a different day. Routines become stale and the good ol’ rut develops. It develops out of boredom, ironically.

Being busy and bored at the same time? Is that even possible? Yes, and therein lies the underlying problem.

We have all been conditioned to be busy, just for the sake of it without examining the activities that we fill our lives with (to those raising kids, kudos, you are exempt. You may not have a choice here in not being busy).

Being busy is playing right into the disturbing data towards rising rates of mental health issues nationally and globally.

Why? because we are handing time away—senselessly.

Time is the greatest commodity of all. We need to give time to ourselves and for ourselves. How about using that time to take care of ourselves? to relax? to give our minds some peace? to just unwind? to get away? to exercise? to think? to breathe? and other times—do nothing.

Getting out of a rut involves change, and change starts with your overall vision for how you want to feel about yourself in achieving a healthy lifestyle. Once you envision yourself, the desire and motivation kicks in. Once the motivation is there, consistency naturally forms and with that consistency, challenging your body is the next step.

This is when creativity is utilized in testing unique exercises and spicing up your nutritional plan, all the while giving your body and yourself some time.

Developing a healthy lifestyle involves:

  • 20% of vision
  • 20% of motivation
  • 20% of dedication
  • 10% of creativity, and
  • 30% of time

Originally published at qr.ae