How to Be Immune to Peer Pressure
HOW TO BE IMMUNE TO PEER PRESSURE
If you look at a list of the most common regrets that people have on their deathbed, the biggest regret of all is not living the life that they wanted to and living the life that others expected of them instead.
And one of the biggest reasons that people have trouble sticking to a healthy lifestyle is ultimately due to "peer pressure", so I want to talk a bit about how to be more immune to peer pressure while on a personal "health journey".
1. PEER PRESSURE TO BE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE
My dad and his dad both had heart attacks and had to have major heart surgeries during their lives, and my mom got cancer and her parents both died from cancer before I was even born.
Most doctors would probably look at my "family history" and tell me that cancer and heart disease "runs in my family" and that there isn't much that I can do about it other than getting regular checkups and hoping and praying that a cure will be discovered.
But I realize that my parents' lifestyle choices played a big role in their health and that if I live a healthier lifestyle than they did, I should be able to greatly reduce my chances of ending up with their health problems.
"Genetics loads the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger"
- Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
And considering that the average person is overweight, has about a 50 percent chance of getting cancer, and has almost a 0% chance of going through life without getting some kind of serious health problem, you are going to have to do something different than the average person if you don't want to end up like the average person.
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
- Unknown
If you are trying to change your life for the better, but the people around you are trying to tempt you back to the "dark side" by pressuring you to eat, drink, or smoke something that you know full well is bad for your body, just remember the following...
2. PEER PRESSURE TO ATTEND SOCIAL EVENTS
When people get invited to "social events" like weddings, birthday parties, graduations, etc, these "invitations" are actually "obligations" for a lot of people, because it would be way too hard for them to simply say "No thank you."
When you go on a "health journey", you will likely develop a "routine" / "rhythm" / "flow" where you eat, workout, and sleep at the same times every day and you start to see a lot of progress from having the discipline to be that consistent. And when people who aren't on your "health journey" try to get you to break your routine so you can spend time with them doing something that you don't want to do and that isn't healthy, it can feel uncomfortable, but it may feel even more uncomfortable for you to just tell them "No thank you.".
If there are any famous artists that you admire, try to imagine how many times they probably said "No thank you" to invitations over the years so they could work on their craft instead.
It is often said that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to master an art, so if it is your dream to be an artist, or if you want to master the art of "clean living" and become the healthiest version of yourself, you may need to get accustomed to saying "No thank you" to things that require a lot of your time and that you don't really want to do.
People who knew you back when you weren't on a "health journey" might not like it if you change and become a different person (even if it is a change for the better) and they might even try to convince you that it's "selfish" to want to spend lots of time working on yourself, but please consider the following...
3. CONNECT WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE
If you don't know anyone else who is on this diet and lifestyle and it feels "lonely" at times, please know that there are lots of other people out there who are following this diet and lifestyle and who are online and eager to connect with like-minded people and share any advice that would be helpful to you.
I made this website to help promote this diet and lifestyle, and I get e-mails and "friend requests" from like-minded people all over the world now because they found it, and I've even got to meet some of these people in real life.
If you are new to this way of living, I would encourage you to join online groups about it, subscribe to YouTube channels about it, check out library books about it, and find as many ways as you can to participate and be an active member of this growing movement so you can start to associate and surround yourself with other people who are doing this and who can support you.
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