Making the transition from an unhealthy shift worker to one which is vibrant and healthy can certainly be a tough and turbulent road. In fact you may even think it’s beyond your reach as you endeavour to work (and survive) in an occupation which is known to cause havoc on our health.
But that’s perfectly understandable given we often feel as though we’re riding on some out of control roller coaster ride complete with sharp corners, steep inclines and plummeting drops!
Of course we don’t mind this sort of fun when we’re visiting SeaWorld or Movie World with our friends and family – but it’s definitely not enjoyable when we’re at work.
So how can we make the transition from unhealthy shift worker to healthy shift worker? Or is it even possible?
Well I can only speak from personal experience which includes working shift work for over half my life, but my journey from being an unhealthy shift worker to a much healthier one certainly incorporated plenty of obstacles and challenges along the way.
In fact I’ll be perfectly honest. It was a really tough road.
However after reaching a low point in my life (physically, mentally and emotionally) I knew I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing. I just couldn’t keep going on this way. I became so sick and unwell, and completely overwhelmed as to what to do next that not only did I come close to resigning once – but twice.
This was a defining moment for me because I didn’t really want to walk away from a job that I absolutely loved.
Nonetheless I just couldn’t see a way out.
I couldn’t see through the thick and murky shift work fog as to how I was going to achieve good health despite working 24/7.
That is until my sister gave me a book for Christmas by Jack Canfield called ‘The Success Principles: How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be.’
As I read the first chapter titled – ‘Take 100% responsibility for your life” – it gave me goose bumps. This book made me realise that although I may have signed up to a job which required me to sacrifice a certain amount of sleep, I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing (eating high amounts of processed and refined foods, doing next to no exercise, coming in to work with a “woe is me” negative attitude) – and believe that I was ever going to become healthy.
It was just never going to happen.
On the other hand, when I began to take 100% responsibility for my thoughts and actions – everything changed.
- When I began to replace processed foods with nutritious, nourishing foods my fatigue began to lift.
- When I began to incorporate regular exercise back into my life, my energy levels improved.
- And when I began to replace my negative attitude for one which was more positive and grateful, my entire shift working career changed! Opportunities began to present themselves as people began to seek me out; asking me what was I doing? How did I transition from being such an unhealthy shift worker to one which was much healthier despite working 24/7?
Well I have to thank Jack Canfield (and my sister for buying me the book), because not only did he help me to take responsibility for my life, but he inadvertently helped me to improve my shift working health as well.
So can you transition from being an unhealthy shift worker to a healthy one? Yes, you most definitely can – and it all begins by taking 100% responsibility for your life.
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