Do you ever feel like your health, fitness, and wellness is a constant roller coaster ride of success and failure? Here are the three things you absolutely must have to enjoy a life of health and wellness:
1. A Crew
Think about any lifelong pursuit – family, career, travel, friendship, health – none of which exist in a vacuum. As social animals we thrive and grow in group settings. Nature shows us that isolation is counterproductive to a rich, fulfilling life.
Why, then, when it comes to our own health do we go to the gym alone, put in some earbuds, and go home to eat alone? There will inevitably be slip-ups – health is a lifelong pursuit. The difference is: when you slip up, will you have a crew to lift you up, joke about all the junk food you ate over the weekend, and get you back on the horse on Monday? Bottom line, you need a training partner(s).
2. A Plan
This September marked the 10 year anniversary of the first 4 week training program I ever put on paper. The goal? Do 10 Pull Ups and run a 6-minute mile by the end of the 4 weeks. I failed miserably. My mile was 8:11 and I think I got 4 Pull Ups. But I knew every day, no matter what, I had to get in a set amount of work. Motivation.
Too often I see people wander aimlessly through gyms with no end goal or game plan in mind. This is by no fault of their own of course; the fitness industry has, for decades, been much less concerned with results than setting a low enough price point in hopes that you forget you’re being charged and never come to the gym.
So assemble your crew, set goals, and develop a results-focused plan. There are plenty of qualified coaches out there to develop a plan for you or you can take my approach – trial and (a lot of) error.
3. A Mindset
Do you want to be healthy and fit for the next 30 days or the next 30 years? I assume you answered the latter. I can’t stress this enough: stop allowing short term, white knuckle, self-doubt peddling “experts” dictate your LIFELONG PURSUIT OF HEALTH.
It is very unpopular, as a coach in the fitness industry, for me to talk to clients about incremental, sustainable, lifelong change. Five percent at a time is not nearly as cool as “Drop 2 Sizes in 2 Weeks” and “3 Exercises for Bigger Biceps NOW,” but it’s honest.
The guy who sold you a fancy Ab Machine or published an article in Men’s Health takes no accountability for your next 30 years. As a coach, every rep I prescribe, every macro-/meso-/de-load cycle, and every day you come in the door is wrought with accountability for your next 30 years.
I promise things will not always be easy and you will slip up. It’s all good though. You know this going in and you have your people and your plan to get you back on track.