E is for Encouragement

I’ve heard it said that if you want to be healthy, you need to hang around healthy people. It is difficult to order a salad and water at a restaurant when those around you are getting platters of deep-fried junk food. It’s difficult to exercise when everyone around you wants to sit and do nothing. It’s not easy to keep an ideal weight when those around you say it doesn’t matter. However, I do not suggest that you dump your unhealthy friends. We can adopt a couple strategies that will help us be encouraged, even if we are surrounded by unlikely candidates.

I’d like to offer advice in two areas. First, connect with a person who will be an encouragement in healthy living. A partner for accountability, for praise, for motivation, and for advice is an ideal recipe for success. Second, be an encouragement to someone else. I am not talking about nagging someone—I’m referring to building someone up. Give praise. Give a listening ear. Motivate by leading.

Encouragement is an essential part of our lives. Starting from the time we are children, we rely on the adults around us to praise us when we do well and motivate us when we are struggling. As adults, encouragement doesn’t always come falling down upon us, however. More likely we hear our faults before we hear about our achievements from others. When encouragement is steady in our lives, we have a distinct advantage in achieving our goals.

The neat part of encouragement is that when we encourage others, often we are encouraged as well. It makes others feel good and believe in good things—it makes us feel good and believe in good things too.