Today's microdose is about step 1 on the journey to restore healthy feet: mindset.
Improving our foot health & function is a journey, not an event. It's a process that requires patience, dedication and a commitment to self improvement. In a world of instant gratification, having the patience to think long term and persevere in making lifestyle changes can be difficult.
If we want a product, we can click a few buttons and Amazon will deliver it the next day. If we want something to eat, we can touch our phone screen a few times and an Uber eats driver will bring food to our doorstep. When faced with foot pain, it can be very tempting to take a drug, an injection or buy orthotics to provide instant relief. But what if these short term options make the problem worse and harder to solve in the long term? What if the cost of short term relief is more suffering long term? When we think long term, we orient our actions around building function and resilience in the long run instead of eliminating pain at all costs in the short run.
If we begin by accepting that 1) short term band-aids don't serve us well in the long run and 2) that the only way to cure our foot issues is to think long term and address the root cause, we allow ourselves to get on the right path to truly freeing our soles.
When we understand how to identify unnatural footwear and simply look around, it's uncomfortably clear that 95%+ of people wear unnatural footwear that disable, deform and damage their feet. Many of us unknowingly wear harmful shoes for decades before facing the consequences of our footwear decisions. Those consequences eventually come in the form of pain, dysfunction or injuries.
To think that decades of neglect will be solved in a few days, a week or even a few months is naive and unrealistic. When we respect the process, learn about our bodies, and gradually make meaningful changes in the footwear we wear and the inputs we offer our bodies everyday, true progress can begin. While improved function long term is the objective, it's not uncommon to see and feel improvements in a short period of time which helps maintain the motivation to persevere.
When we adopt a short term mindset, we over focus on pain and often make choices that lead us to suffer more in the long term.
When we adopt a long term mindset, we focus on improving the health and function of our feet and while this may result in a bit more discomfort in the short term, it allows us to address the root cause of our problems and leads to better health in the long term.
Restoring strong, stable, resilient, mobile and pain free feet is a long term game. By adopting a long term mindset and respecting the process, we allow ourselves to make better choices when it comes to our foot health. Through a long term lens, the quick fixes don't make as much sense and we become empowered to truly reclaim responsibility for taking care of bodies. In doing so, we free ourselves from relying on short term pain suppressors to feel good.
On the journey to restore strong, healthy, painfree feet, the first step is to adopt a long term mindset. By trusting the process, being patient, and being consistent, we become empowered to make wise choices that support our health.
Thanks for reading and for taking care of yourself.
If you found this blog helpful, share it with friends and family who are struggling with foot pain and help them take the first step towards restoring strong, resilient, painfree feet for good.
Much Love
Nick