“Live as if you were to die tomorrow.

Learn as if you were to live forever” - Mahatma Gandhi

Learned helplessness and the subconscious brain

In my last blog "Is your subconscious blocking your progress", I discussed your subconscious brain and how hedging words may prevent you from following through with your positive nutritional aspirations.

I mentioned the term “learned helplessness”.

This is where thoughts such as, “I can’t eat well, I will never be able to be healthy” cause reduced motivation and effort, resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Now, to make this year YOUR year, I want to encourage you to do the exact opposite of this, something called “learned effectiveness”.

How to train learned effectiveness?

Even if you are a naturally pessimistic person, you have the ability to change how you think, and grow a habit of resilience and motivation! How does this work in practice? Let me explain.

For example, maybe an impromptu work social event happens on a Friday and you have a couple of drinks, wake up on the Saturday and think, “Well, I am not going to have a good session today, so I’ll leave it.”

What if you had been training your habit of “learned effectiveness”?

Learned effectiveness example

So if this had been the case, then after the social on Friday evening you would wake up on Saturday morning and say to yourself, “Right, I am not feeling my best, so what can I do to make this session as good as it can be? Maybe I’ll have some water with an electrolyte now, then a lighter breakfast and keep the intensity down a bit.“

Recap - What is learned effectiveness?

“Learned effectiveness” is all about how you perceive and react to the events in your life. Building confidence in your ability to correct mistakes and overcome adversity takes practice. So let’s start now because instead of the “learned helplessness” downward spiral you will experience the motivating and rewarding effects of “learned effectiveness”.

When you practise “learned effectiveness” you find reasons to overcome setbacks and to believe in yourself. It takes practice, but the more you do it, the easier it will be and the cycle continues!

Ready to make long-term changes to your nutrition?

I love the psychological side of nutrition coaching so much that I decided to get myself qualified in something called “motivational interviewing”. This is one of the factors which make Nutrition for Energy coaches different from other nutritionists. It is not just about what we say in our coaching sessions, but how we say it and how we make you feel. It's the reason clients leave consultations empowered and motivated for change.

So if you are interested in improving your nutrition long-term, then consider booking a free discovery call with me.

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Energetically - James