So you want to improve your overall health: Being delusional

Image from alaiasnow on Pinterest.

What would happen if we all just decided to live our lives as though we were already our dream versions of ourselves?

I like to think about this idea of repeating those affirmations and seeing how those play out.

Not too long ago, I was running crazy late to class, so I had to pay to park to get closer to my class. However, the parking lot had been closed a lot recently. While I was on my way, I kept saying, “It’ll be open, and if not, I will get to the next closest parking lot faster than I ever have. I will make it.” Maybe I’m just crazy, but I genuinely believe things will work out for me, and the universe — or whatever you believe in — reiterates that.

I spent a week living life completely delusional. I switched my mindset from “Why won’t things work out for me?” to “Why wouldn’t they?” temporarily to see how it improved my habits and mental health. Unsurprisingly, it improved them tremendously. This isn’t always the easiest mindset to have all the time, but the slight shift has really impacted the way I see life and my future.

When reflecting on the week I had, I feel one of the most important things I learned was consistency.

It was hard going to the gym every day (well, most days). I worked a lot, and my school work was heavy as it was midterm season. Most of all, it’s hard to stay accountable. Not knowing the gym set up and being scared of looking dumb or like you have no idea what you’re doing (because maybe you don’t) makes it incredibly difficult. However, in my experience, people really don’t care.

Everyone is there to accomplish their own goals, and they’re usually not concerned with what you’re doing and how you look.

My advice: find a friend to go with, at least at first. I brought my best friend with me the first few times I went to get adjusted to the gym set up and to judge when the busiest times of day were (so I could avoid it at all costs). I’m still working on getting into the habit of going, and I’m super excited to see how much progress I make.

The gym and working out isn’t the only thing you can be delusional with. Academics, your career and your relationships all can be improved with that mindset shift.

I can’t imagine a future that doesn’t work out in my favor, there’s just no way. I don’t believe that my life would work out any other way — I won’t let it happen.

It applies to positive experiences as well as negative. Didn’t get the job you wanted? The management probably sucked anyway. You didn’t do as good as you anticipated on that test? At least you’ve learned what you can do to improve. That relationship didn’t work out and you feel crushed? Their loss, now you have the chance to grow as an individual.

We can’t control everything that happens in our lives. There are things that get in our way that break us down and make it hard to see the bright side, and that’s okay. There are moments where being positive isn’t always realistic. You just have to take the time to deal with it and reevaluate where you can go from there.

Life is all about ups and downs, opportunities gained and experiences missed (ones that probably wouldn’t have worked in your favor anyways). Being "absolutely delusional" just means expecting things to work out for you, and honestly I don’t think that’s all that crazy.

If you put in the work towards your goals while also shifting the way you view life and the world and your future, you can do anything you put your mind toward. The world is not out to get you, and you have control of most things in your life. Those baby steps become leaps into the direction you’ve always dreamed of going in.