Making Changes: Embarking on the Beautiful

Recently, a dear colleague mentioned needing to make a change in order to overcome some health issues. I found myself suggesting a “food lifestyle” and then she answered back asking if she must pursue a particular diet, to which I again found myself using the term “food lifestyle.”

As the conversation continued, I shared thoughts about embarking on the beautiful.

And that’s when I was reminded how important it is for us to be excited about the changes we are trying to make in our lives (instead of feeling we are suddenly being deprived).

For making food lifestyle changes, here are three beautiful approaches to consider. And they are probably something you could generalize for other types of change-making. Be creative.

1. Choose artistry.

Let’s say you’re adding walnuts into your daily food lifestyle, as a way to get essential fatty acids to keep your brain happy and lucid. Can you imagine the difference in saying to your friends, “I’m eating walnuts for essential fatty acids” versus, “I’m photographing walnuts on blue plates this week”?

While you might not want to be photographing walnuts every day before you eat them, the simple act of seeing the item as a thing of beauty will increase your attraction for it.

2. Choose discovery.

Are you trying to overcome an attachment to acidic foods because they’re hurting your long-term health? How does it feel to say, “I’m giving up coffee” versus, “I’m embarking on a beautiful tea-discovery journey that will take me from India to China to Japan”?

Giving something up feels not-so-exciting. Discovery, however? Think of the possibilities! (And, after all, besides the geography, history and endless variations of tea, what do you actually know about the walnut? Go beyond artistry and reach for discovery.)

3. Choose color.

One of the things that comes with branching out in your food lifestyle is an incredible experience of color. Sometimes when people ask me how to know what to eat to be more healthy, I tell them simply to shop for color. Colorful food items tend to be better for us. Can you imagine the difference between saying, “I’m letting go of white foods,” versus, “I’m shopping for the rainbow and its pot of gold this week”?

These are just three ideas for making changes through embarking on the beautiful. Yes, they’ve focused on a food lifestyle. But what if you used them for other types of change as well? Maybe you’d soon be photographing your organized desk, or researching the intricacies of sales approaches that make people happy, or reworking your cubicle or your living room with some Chagall or Gauguin.

Imagine, yes, the possibilities.