In fact, why is there so much talk about a healthy lifestyle now? And why is it so important to stick to it? Maybe, really (as some people like to joke), everything that brings pleasure is either illegal, or immoral, or leads to obesity? And from this point of view, a healthy lifestyle is some kind of incredible asceticism and downright mockery of oneself. Is it worth it? And is giving up bad habits and behavior patterns really an asceticism? Is everything so clear?
Maybe, in fact, alcohol is a food product, and most importantly, its use is “everyone’s personal matter”? And smoking is just harmless entertainment, and it is also a personal matter for everyone whether to poison themselves with poisonous smoke or not. But it's not that simple. First, let's turn to statistics, which, as we know, are inexorable in their accuracy.
According to statistics, every day (!) in Russia an average of 2,000 people die from one or another consequences of drinking alcohol. Two thousand every day. Can we say that drinking alcohol is harmless fun? But even this is not the most important thing.
Let's look at the numbers again - more than eighty percent of murders in Russia are committed while intoxicated. Eighty percent! Four-fifths of the total. If people in our country did not drink alcohol, it is quite possible that the murder rate would decrease by 80 percent.
The same applies to road accidents, half of which also occur due to alcohol intoxication. Today, every third convict serving a sentence in prison is there for reasons related to the use of alcohol and other drugs. Can we then say that alcohol and other drugs are harmless entertainment, and most importantly, everyone’s personal business? Why should others suffer because someone has an addiction?
You can often hear that the so-called “teetotalers” and “zozhniki” (most often these words sound from the lips of the people pronouncing them, almost like a curse) aggressively impose a sober lifestyle on everyone around them and this, they say, is a violation of human rights. However, ask yourself this question: is being hit by a drunk driver not a violation of human rights? A wife who suffers beatings from her alcoholic husband is not a violation of human rights? And, unfortunately, hundreds and thousands of such examples can be cited.
The situation with smoking is no less sad. An average of 400,000 people die every year in Russia from this “harmless entertainment.” Four hundred thousand! Every year! But this again is not the worst thing. We can say that it is the smoker’s personal choice whether to poison himself or not. However, taking into account modern methods of psychological processing using hidden and overt advertising, the issue is moot. But even so. But the 80 million people who, according to statistics, are subjected to forced smoking every day (!) in Russia, clearly do not have such a choice. Because, after all, they are forced to breathe. And if someone smokes nearby, we are forced to “smoke” with him. And it is absolutely obvious that it is this fact, and not the “imposition of a healthy lifestyle,” that is a direct violation of human rights.
All these disappointing statistics were voiced throughout the post-Soviet space in the films of the “Common Cause” project. The numbers are simply monstrous, but for some reason they did not impress anyone. Or rather, they were impressed, but that was the end of it. Because everyone believes that they themselves cannot change anything. But this is a big misconception. The problem is that everyone thinks this way. And therefore, everyone prefers to take a passive position, which means that they are no less than an accomplice to everything described above.
Reasons to live a healthy lifestyle
The numbers given above are simply amazing in their scope. And if you don’t change anything, they will only increase exponentially. And, as already said, it is a big mistake to believe that one person is not a warrior in the field. After all, if at least one person stops smoking, drinking alcohol, starts thinking about proper nutrition, and takes up physical exercise, he will not only change his life - he will become an example for others.
Do you know who the best preacher is? Not the one who walks down the street, grabbing everyone by the sleeves and thrusting brochures at them; It causes nothing but irritation. The best preacher is the one who leads by example. And if children growing up in the yard see that there is no one on the playground, but a “club of interests” with beer and cigarettes constantly gathers on the bench at the entrance, then at the subconscious level they will write down that this is the only correct model of behavior. In the same case, if the ratio is at least 50 to 50, children will have the opportunity to choose. They will look at the sports ground where those who lead a healthy lifestyle train, and they will look at the bench where people sit with beer. At least they will see an alternative. And if there are no people in the yard who spend their evenings drinking beer on the bench; then there is a high probability that children will not even think of spending their free time with a bottle of beer.
And this is exactly how young people are raised—by personal example, not by preaching. When a father with a cigarette in his mouth and a bottle of beer in his hand tells his son about the dangers of alcohol and smoking, this, unfortunately, does not cause anything but laughter. There's just not much to laugh about here. Because the child will subconsciously copy his father’s behavior, and then transmit this lifestyle to others, and later to his children.
Thus, an unhealthy lifestyle is by no means “everyone’s personal matter.” Leading an unhealthy lifestyle, a person ruins not only his own life and the lives of those who are forced, for example, to breathe his cigarette smoke. Such a person sets a destructive example for others, and for this he is also responsible. Just look around you. If the neighborhood children see you going out onto the landing to smoke every morning, and on weekends they see you with a bottle of beer, rest assured that you will make a significant contribution to the fact that they will choose this particular lifestyle in the future.
Therefore, the reasons to lead a healthy lifestyle are not only a harmonious life, health, happiness and so on. If we delve deeper into this topic, the most important reason is the world around us. And he will be exactly the same as you and I are. By changing ourselves, we change the world around us. And it is always our choice to remain in the “comfort zone” of our bad habits, and that means setting just such an example for others; or make an effort on yourself and eliminate at least one of your shortcomings. You will see - the world around you will instantly resonate.
If you still decide to switch to the side of health
On this difficult path, internal struggle, laziness, lack of self-confidence and many other difficulties will await you. To help you deal with them, here are some tips:
- The goal must be real and specific. Determine for yourself a realistic goal and the time in which you will achieve it. Break your big goal into many small and easily achievable ones. Move in small but confident steps.
- The result will not be immediate. Have patience. Prepare in advance for the fact that you will want to leave everything in the very near future due to the fact that you will not see progress. But there will be progress, the main thing is not to retreat and not succumb to your own weaknesses.
- Effort must be followed by reward. This way you will consolidate your efforts and successes. Give yourself nice gifts for a kilogram of weight lost, for a month without alcohol or a week without a cigarette. This could be going to a concert, a new item in your wardrobe, a CD from your favorite band, or other things you like.
- Compare your new self with your old self. Often evaluate how much healthier you have become since you started exercising, eating right, and quit smoking. Don't be afraid to be proud of yourself.
- Create an environment that will support you. It’s good if among your friends or work colleagues there are those who want to lose weight, quit smoking or go to the gym. You will also provide them with support and through common efforts you will definitely reach the goal together.
Motivation for a healthy lifestyle
Many people are under the illusion that bad habits are a very harmless thing. So to speak, small weaknesses. And to understand the destructiveness of an unhealthy lifestyle, unfortunately, statistics alone are not enough. As one famous politician said: “The death of one person is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.” Very accurately noted. The human psyche is structured in such a way that the death of millions of people unknown to us is just numbers in statistics, but the death of one person who just yesterday shook hands with us is already perceived painfully. What does motivation for a healthy lifestyle have to do with it?
Just watch how people who lead an unhealthy lifestyle live. It is advisable to pay attention to those who have been indulging in addictions for quite some time. Keep track of what changes are happening in his life, in which direction he is moving, what he is losing, what he is gaining. And, most likely (there are, of course, exceptions), you will notice that a person who has many bad habits is deeply unhappy, all the time chasing an illusory “high,” but his life is collapsing like a house of cards from year to year.
You don't need to go far. In almost every entrance there is a family, one of whose members drinks heavily. Pay attention to how this family lives. And ask yourself if you want to live the same way. You can, of course, retell the myth about alcoholism and “moderate drinking,” but the statistics are again disappointing - most alcoholics once started with “a bottle of beer on the weekend.” It all starts with “moderate” and “cultured” drinking. And it ends up roughly like how the example family lives.
Ask yourself: what result do you want to get? Seriously think about what goals you pursue in life? And then relate your habits to your goals and ask yourself, are my habits leading me to my goals? No, if a person’s goal is to get cirrhosis of the liver, he can safely drink alcohol. And if the goal is to die from lung cancer, you can even spend your entire salary on cigarettes. If a person dreams of dying from a heart attack, you can calmly have two cups of strong coffee every morning on an empty stomach.
This world is designed in such a way that a person always gets what he strives for. But the problem is different - often people want one thing, but strive for another. And if a person strives for happiness, health, mental and physical harmony in his life, it is quite obvious that there is simply no place for bad habits in the life of such a person.
Motives for a healthy lifestyle
Based on all of the above, we can draw a simple conclusion. If a person wants to be happy and wants to see the people around him healthy and happy, he needs to start changing his lifestyle. No one but us will change our lives. You can endlessly blame the government and the imperfections of the world, but this, elementary, is simply unconstructive.
The only way to change a situation for the better is to take action. Right today. There is a simple rule: today we are where we were aiming yesterday, and tomorrow we will be where we are aiming today. If a person does not make an effort right now to change his life and the lives of those around him for the better, nothing will change. There are no miracles. More precisely, miracles begin to appear only when a person begins to do something. Then the whole Universe will help him. If, of course, a person’s aspirations are creative. But for those with destructive intentions, there will only be obstacles along the path of life.
Create a clear intention right now (not on Monday, because Monday will never come) to start making efforts to change your lifestyle to a healthier one. Write a list of bad habits that, objectively speaking, you cannot give up. Here it is important to be honest and not say the classic: “I can quit, I just don’t want to yet.” And, having made a list, begin to gradually give up at least the most harmful things.
But it is important to remember that nature abhors a vacuum. When eliminating bad habits, replace them with useful ones. Instead of a cup of coffee in the morning, it is better to go to the nearest sports ground. The boost of energy will be many times greater, and most importantly - with health benefits. Just start putting in the effort to become better. And your life will begin to change. Moreover, miracles will begin to happen - the lives of those around you will also begin to change. Just try it, you will notice it yourself.
Market segmentation
There are four groups of factors that have a direct impact on purchasing behavior: personal, psychological, social and cultural.
Let's take a closer look at the first two.
Personal factors include : age, gender, income of a person, stage of the family life cycle, nationality, profession, lifestyle, personality type, etc.
Lifestyle refers to a person’s life stereotypes (his interests, beliefs, his own opinions). Sometimes it is quite difficult for marketers to study this factor. For this purpose, special marketing programs are specially developed, within the framework of which research is carried out.
A person is an individual, therefore, over a relatively long period of time, his reactions to the influence of the external environment are practically constant. Personality type is characterized by such traits as self-confidence, independence, sociality, active (or passive) behavior, adaptability, etc. For example, when conducting research, coffee producers discovered that active coffee consumers are quite highly social individuals.
Psychological factors include: motivation of human behavior, perception of the surrounding world.
Studying motivations (or drives) is necessary because this is what motivates a person to make a purchase.
Marketers are looking for answers to questions such as: “Why is this purchase being made?”, “What basic need does the buyer want to satisfy with this product?” etc. Motive is the need that prompts a person to satisfy it. When studying the motives of human behavior, motivational analysis is used, based on the theory of S. Freud and A. Maslow.
Z. Freud studied the consumer purchasing decision-making process. He believed that important consumer motives are embedded in the subconscious and that the buyer cannot always justify one or another of his choices.
According to Z. Freud, a person from birth is under the pressure of many desires that he is not able to understand and control, that is, the individual is never fully aware of the motives of his behavior.
A. Maslow, in his theory of motivation, developed a hierarchical system of needs and explained why people have different needs at a certain point in time.
He built a system of needs based on the principle of importance:
1) physiological (need for food, clothing, housing);
2) self-preservation (protection, safety);
3) social (belonging to a certain social group, in love);
4) in respect;
5) in self-affirmation (the need for self-development, self-realization).
A person satisfies needs according to their importance. For example, a hungry person first of all tries to satisfy his need for food, rather than the need for his respect and love from others. And only having satisfied his important need, he moves on to satisfy the next less important need. This knowledge is used in assessing the possible behavior of different groups of consumers, as well as in motivating the work of employees.
Perception is how a person interprets information received from the outside. It is necessary to take into account the internal motivations of buyers, tips from other consumers in the process of stimulating demand.
Beliefs are a person's idea of something. It is based on knowledge, faith, experience, opinion. This is one of the important knowledge that marketers need to have.
Attitudes are different assessments, feelings towards specific objects and ideas. They have a strong impact on human behavior, they are difficult to change, but they must be taken into account when forming the company’s marketing policy, trying to bring them as close as possible to certain relationships.
