How do you jump the hurdle of self-doubt? If you do not believe a goal is achievable it will appear to be a wall rather than a hurdle. For my friend staying away from fast food seemed to be an impossibility. Fast food is readily available, easy, and relatively inexpensive. To avoid it might require him to spend more, drive further, learn to cook, or depend on others. It might also require some advanced planning to purchase and prepare food before one wants to eat. Beyond all that is the familiarity and comfort derived from such options.
He could have resolved one day not to eat fast food ever again, looked up several new healthy recipes, gone to the grocery and bought all the ingredients; however, my guess is that after a week or so he would be looking for a break from all that cooking or disappointed in his skill or time management. Going to the grocery may seem overwhelming when you don’t know where everything is or even what you really want.
An option that might lead to more success would be to prove to overcome his self-doubt one meal at a time, even one hour at a time. He could have decided that instead of driving through Starbucks on his way to work, he would eat the cereal he already had at home. Maybe that night, it wouldn’t seem so difficult to pack the next day’s lunch rather than planning to drive through Wendy’s. Slowly, finding something to eat other than fast food would not seem nearly so difficult, as he starts to realize that he has been avoiding it.
Similarly, he could tell himself that he’ll eat a healthy lunch and wait at least an hour before finding a drive through. Each hour he could evaluate his hunger and cravings and determine if fast food is necessary. Perhaps he would only make it an hour the first day, but he might find that it is easier to go an entire day, especially if it gets busy at work.
Another method for overcoming self-doubt would be to remind yourself of past achievements, rather than focusing on the specifics of this hurdle. Consider times in the past when you have been able to practice self-restraint or avoid temptation, even if it seems to be an entirely different situation. The situation may be different but the process may be very similar. Focusing on the positive and those things that empower you can only help you to tear down the wall of self-doubt and make the hurdles in the path to your goal easily surmountable.
Also read The Hurdle of Self-Doubt, Part I
Yes, making small changes is the key to changing the way you eat! My husband used to eat a lot of fast food but slowly cut back. He went from eating it nearly every day to only a few times a week, etc. Cutting back gradually made him not miss it so much. These days, he rarely eats it. In fact, he just said the other day “I don’t feel at all like eating fast food anymore.” That doesn’t mean we never eat fast food but usually not more than about once a month. And yes, planning meals and having healthy foods ready to eat is key to avoiding the drive thru!
Thanks for the support and personal story, Andrea!