You must have a non-negotiable contract with yourself as it pertains to your health. Identify certain health standards and come up with a plan to achieve and maintain them. For example, I refuse to be heavier than 205 pounds. Why? I feel like I have less energy after I surpass that weight. For me, energy is an indicator that my body is not functioning correctly. So, it's not about how I look, it's about how I feel. And I understand that how I feel is how I am. That feeling of low energy is telling me that I am below my personal health standards. I am a father, I am a husband and I am a brother and I am better at all of those things when I'm healthy. Therefore, my health is non-negotiable.
Too often we put our health on the back burner. We will prioritize going to work, dressing fashionably and our entertainment, but leave our health to the side. However, if we don't have our health, none of those things matter. And the crazy part is that most of us know that already. We know that we need to exercise and eat better. We know that strong bones strong muscles and a healthy heart are very important to us. But, we keep negotiating with ourselves. Every New Year’s Day the gym is packed because we signed a contract and every February the gym is empty because we have negotiated with ourselves. It starts off as “I'm going to gym Monday through Friday.” Then it goes to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Then it goes down to just Tuesday and Thursday. Finally, we have dusty gym shoes that haven't been warned to the gym and just watching our gym membership be debited from our bank accounts for nothing.
It's like at some point we sold ourselves on not exercising even though we know that's wrong. I talk often about having that weak inner voice, that voice that tells you there's an easier way. You must recognize that voice and be able to shut it down when it comes to your priorities. You need to remember why you're exercising, why you're eating better. And notice I didn't say eat healthy, I said eat better. I said “better” because there are so many different theories on what eating healthy is, but most of us can agree on what is better.
So today I have an assignment for you. I want you to legitimately write down your health and fitness standard. Now that standard can include your weight, the acceptable circumference of your waistline, how long it should take you to travel one mile on foot, your daily sugar intake, how many minutes of exercise you will do every week, or any other standards of health that you can come up with. The reason I want you to write this down is so you can create a contract between you and you. A contract that you can look at daily or weekly to see if you are staying on track. I am giving you the opportunity to be the boss of your health. You have to remember that you are your number one healthcare provider. Not your doctor, who generally helps you once you're sick. The goal is to not overburden the doctor with things that you can help yourself with. Benjamin Franklin said, “An ounce or prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Now that you're making this non-negotiable contract with yourself, you are providing the prevention. You are ensuring a healthier more energized productive life for you and all the people that benefit from you living life to your potential. People that write down their goals are 80% more likely to accomplish them. By developing a standard, you have created goals that you can work towards. Now, remember your standards are the minimum. You could always go beyond your standard. I realize that most people have never developed a standard. Therefore, most people don’t have goals that they are committed to working towards. So, now you have a standard, you have a contract, you've made a deal with yourself and you are not going to listen to your inner weak voice that tries to tell you to lay back and take the easy road. Now, you understand that by going against your contract you are going against yourself. Go get busy right now, create your contract, sign it and get to work. I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress towards your standards.
Comments