Hi and welcome to this week's 50 & Beyond Health & Wellbeing blog. Each week I will provide you with knowledge, tips, advice and recommendations to inspire you to sustain good metabolic health specific to being over 50. Chris Deavin, myHealthCoach
If you have read any of my previous blog posts, emails, and coaching lessons, I hope you have noticed an underlying theme. Consistency.
For years I have trained and coached clients on exercise, nutrition, sleep and stress management. I passed on the knowledge and experience I had gained from not just the health qualifications I had achieved but also from living the life I was promoting.
I prided myself on teaching my clients how to exercise in the most effective way, how to use nutrition to get in the best shape, and how to achieve the best sleep routine, which underpins overall health and wellbeing.
However, I quickly discovered that no matter how much knowledge or examples I provided, most of my clients were not seeing the amazing results they hoped for.
But the thing was, some of my clients were achieving amazing results. They were applying what I was teaching and seeing the results of their hard work and time.
So, I knew what I was teaching was working. Otherwise, no one would be seeing results, not even me.
If the majority of my clients were not achieving amazing results, it wasn't down to what I was teaching them. It was something else.
The only way any result is achieved is by performing specific actions over and over again. If the result is not the one you want, then change the action(s) you are performing, not the act of doing it repeatedly.
And that is the difference between my clients who achieve amazing results and those who don't. It's their ability to keep doing something that works over and over again. They are consistent through being tenacious and persistent in doing what they must do.
By noticing this, I started to ask the question, is this skill/ability a process of nature or nurture?
Can you teach someone to become consistent through perseverance and tenacity? And the answer is yes. But it takes work.
And it is definitely not easy, but if you want to achieve good health, better body shape, fitness and strength as you age, you will need to learn and apply this. Otherwise, you will fail in the long term.
Why Learn The Skill Of Consistency?
Learning the skill to become consistent in doing something will lead to higher productivity levels. You will get more done in the same amount of time.
One of the most significant barriers people express when it comes to becoming healthier, fitter and stronger is time. They just don't have the time to do what they know they have to do.
We all have 1,440 minutes each day. People who achieve great levels of health, fitness and strength have the same 1,440 minutes. The amount of time isn't the limiting factor. How they use their time is. They prioritise their time differently.
The Ivy Lee Method
In the 1920s, a productivity consultant called Ivy Lee created the five steps to becoming more productive.
At the end of each day, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.
Prioritise those six items in order of their true importance.
When tomorrow comes, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task.
Approach the rest of your list in the same fashion. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day.
Repeat this process every day.
It is a simple process, but many successful major companies and individuals have applied this simple process to great effect.
Here is why this process is so effective and can be applied just as easily to health goals as any other life goal.
It forces you to make tough decisions. What is it you value the most? What actions will deliver the best results that day? What are you willing to prioritise?
How much value do you place on your health compared to other life requirements? Do you value going out for a walk/run more than sitting and watching something on YouTube?
It removes the friction of starting. The biggest challenge to performing an action is an initial desire to do it. Preparing a healthy meal is more demanding than ordering takeout. But as soon as you start, the easier it becomes.
Having already planned out what you want and need to do reduces the friction in doing it.
It creates an environment that is conducive to success. When you plan what you want to prioritise in advance, you start to create a vision and environment of what is possible.
If you leave things to chance, someone else's priorities and environment will dictate your actions and, ultimately, your results.
Conclusion
If you struggle to achieve the health you want, consider what you prioritise. Are you putting what you value at the top of your to-do list?
If not, you will find it hard to stay consistent in performing the actions that are needed for you to be successful with your health, look better and be able to handle the stressors and challenges, both mentally and physically, that life will throw at you.
Are you struggling to stay consistent and reach your health goals? Here are a couple of ways I can help;
Free Health Plan Review
Get feedback and recommendations on your current health plan and what you can do to improve it and get even better results;
Free Health & Wellbeing Assessment
Not sure what sort of health plan you need to follow? Take my free health & wellbeing assessment, and I will send you a comprehensive, personalised health plan that you can start using from today;
Social Media:
Check out my social media channels for daily health advice, workouts and tips.
To learn more about improving your health and what I provide as a health coach, feel free to email me any questions via myhealthcoachuk@gmail.com. Happy to help in any way I can.
Chris, myHealthCoach
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