Take one step at a time!
I trust this note finds you well!
Have you ever wondered how to recapture your own health and make fitness a regular part of your life? Improving your personal health and fitness can be compared in many respects to erecting a building. What comes first, the building or the blue prints? What is needed in constructing a strong, stable building is a plan. Likewise, to help us reach our desired health and fitness destination it is important to draft a blueprint of your personal program that is realistic and based upon your personal levels of interest and readiness. To help you design your personal health and fitness plan let’s review 7 steps to your Optimal Health and Fitness!
Step #1: Get in touch!
During many of my seminars I have the privilege to personally meet many of you and discuss some of your personal health and fitness objectives. Over the years, I have been very encouraged by how many of you are ready to invest in your greatest asset–YOU! But, many of you also shared with me how in the past you have tried to lose weight or change your lifestyle, only to find yourself taking two steps forward and then three steps back! We all want to be healthy, fit & happy but it seems for many of us so difficult to obtain. What with our hectic schedules and hurried pace of living we often find ourselves stuck…unable to make changes that last.
For some of us our busy schedules have kept us from considering the direction of our lives and where we are headed. Our first step involves taking time to assess our present stresses, values and areas of greatest need. Take a few moments to consider your life, your most precious values and what area of your life continues to be neglected. Is it your physical well being, or maybe your spiritual life, or possibly a relationship? As I shared with you, a good friend and colleague of mine shared with me years ago…”there is only one thing we need to do to destroy a relationship…NOTHING! Likewise, there is only one thing we need to do to destroy our health, or spiritual well being or emotional growth…NOTHING!
Step #2: Plan ahead/know your destination:
Ask yourself this question: If I continue to live the same way I am living now…what will my personal health and wellness be like 10 years from today?
Healthy balanced people that I have studied over the years have projected themselves into the future and realized that they were either on the right path or on collision course with the inevitable. This question helps us to experience a dose of reality, helping us to see where we are headed. How about you? Ten years from now, how do you see your health, your relationships, your emotional well-being, your spiritual life if you continue to live the same way you are living now?
Step #3: Strategize: Ask yourself this question: What one thing could you do (that you are not doing now) that if you did on a regular basis, YOU KNOW would make a tremendous difference in your health and wellness…what would it be?
Most of us know intuitively what will help us improve our lives. This step allows us to put in writing what we KNOW will help improve our lives. Take a moment to write down what you KNOW will make a difference in your life physically, emotionally, relationally, spiritually and professionally.
Now multiply these behaviors or actions 100 times (5 years), 1,000 times (10 years), 10,000 times (30 years) what would be the results of these actions over time?
Step #4: Create a plan!
Have you developed a set of blue prints for your life? While many of us have taken the time to develop a financial plan for our future or maybe a business plan, what about a plan for our health? Or our relationships? Most of us have not taken the time to determine our future health in advance.
Let’s start drafting our blue prints. Let’s start off with the big picture Now take a moment to identify what are your personal goals and objectives relating to your personal health and wellness. I would like you to think about one particular area of your life right now that you would most like to change. What is it? Possibly improving your fitness habits, or maybe enhancing your emotional or spiritual life? Just remember, where you begin does not matter. What does matter though is your ability to stay with the program, move at your own pace and to be honest with yourself.
Take a moment to look at your present readiness to change. Determining your initial level is very important in helping you move forward.
Step 5: Practice, Practice:
Now let’s break down our areas of our personal health and fitness into specific action steps over the next 12 weeks. What 3 action steps can you commit to for your physical health for example? Maybe, buying a new pair of tennis shoes, reading your fitness manual and committing to walk for 5 minutes during lunchtime. What about you’re emotional health or your spiritual health? Take a few minutes to determine what realistic steps you can take over the next 12 weeks to help you move forward.
Remember to set goals that are realistic and measurable.
How confident are you in your ability to accomplish your goals? Rate yourself on a scale of 0-10. 0 = no confidence at all, 5= some confidence and 10 = total confidence in your ability to accomplish your goals that you have designated for yourself.
Step 6: Coaching: Who will support me?
Helping relationships, individuals who will help you reach your fitness goals and who will support you in your efforts are extremely important in sustaining an active, physically fit life. Helping relationships assist us in being honest with ourselves providing us with encouragement, accountability and support. Find a buddy, a friend, a coach who will continue to remind you to take time for your self! I can’t emphasize this step enough…it is crucial to following through with the plans we have developed.
Find a non-judgmental caring support system that can provide you with an added dose of reality in overcoming resurfacing habits, tempting situations or faulty negative thinking.
Step 7: Make a commitment!
Take a look at your plan. How do you feel about it? Are you excited? Are you ready to make a commitment to yourself and your buddy? If you are, take a moment to write down specifically what you are planning on doing for the next 6-12 weeks, and then put the completion date down, (6 weeks from now). If you are ready sign your wellness contract and also if you know who your partner is please have them sign your contract and brainstorm with them some time today on how they can assist you. The exciting thing about today’s process is that you now have the secretes, the steps, and your personal plan to help you reach your desired health and wellness goals. I commend you for taking the time to put your health and wellness as a top priority in your life. For many of you, this exercise was a way of re-affirming goals that you had already set for yourself, for others it was an opportunity to sit down and actually make a plan. But, for all of us it was an opportunity to change our course….to actually take the time to consider the direction of our present wellness journey. The exciting thing about today’s process of designing your wellness plan is that for many of you, you have changed course. You have decided today to go a different direction. A direction that will ultimately lead you to a destination of optimal health and wellness!
Let us know how we can assist you in reaching your desired health and wellness goals! Remember do the best you can…being healthy does not mean being perfect!
Take care everyone!
Win the Day!
Coach Sean
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