If you were to ask 1,000 random people “What is one thing you could do to better your health or fitness”, everyone would have an answer. They may not know how to achieve or start that change, but most people typically have a good idea of what they can do to be more fit or healthy.
This is because fitness and health is simple.
It is not always easy however.
We have all heard it a million times. Make sure to exercise, eat a healthy diet, get quality sleep, drink lots of water, get outside, socialize, find a hobby.
People have been giving this health advice for centuries. Yet we arguably are (as a whole) more unfit and unhealthy than ever.
We don’t need to get into how modern life or society has potentially caused this to happen, honestly that is a waste of time. Modern life is here to stay.
Instead, we can focus on how we can make ‘the simple’ tried and true fitness and health principles easily fit into our lives.
There are three areas we can become conscious of that will seemingly make fitness and health a byproduct of how we live our life without sacrificing the things we enjoy.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” -Carl Jung
1.) 80/20 Rule, how to stay consistent without sacrifice.
I first became aware of this principle from Tim Ferriss back in 2011. While it is mainly used in the business world we can apply a version of it to our life. Simply put the 80/20 states that 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes. Basically it’s about efficiency and direction of focus when it comes to business.
What matters to us though is how we can implement a version of this into our lives.
If we tweak the 80/20 rule (essentially flip it) we can use it to keep the “I’ve completely fallen off” mindset from creeping in and enjoy the small things in life every now and again stress free.
We can think of this as 80% of our efforts generate most of our results giving us 20% of a buffer to work with. This is where balance occurs and where you can have a high level of fitness and health without sacrificing all the time.
Let’s put this another way. Say you eat clean 80% of the time and want to eat junk food, fast food, or whatever for the other 20% of the time.
Assuming you eat 3 meals a day, (3 meals x 365 days per year = ± 1,095 meals a year)
1,095 meals x .8 = 876 healthy meals a year
1,095 meals x.2 = 219 whatever meals a year
This means you get to choose when to “go off the plan” and then schedule it around your life. Holidays, birthdays, going out with friends, vacation it’s all up to you.
Unless you have a very specific goal when it comes to looking or performing a certain way you could do this for life and routinely be the healthiest person your friends and family know. As long as you stick to the 80/20 approach or 80% of the time you are making the health conscious choice you’ll be in good shape.
2.) Momentum not Motivation, Creating non-negotiable actions
This is a big one. Let’s start with a common scenario. It’s the end of the year and people are starting to set new year’s resolutions. An individual wants to make a big change and decides to start exercising and making more educated food choices.
The first week goes by smoothly but going into the second week this individual feels a little less motivated. This causes them to miss a day, then a few more. We know how this plays out. This person goes back to their old routine until motivation strikes again for a week or two at a time. Never fully making the change they want to make.
Unfortunately this is right where momentum could have taken over motivation. If this individual would have chosen to continue even knowing they were unmotivated they would have built immense momentum on top of the previous week of consistency. (Probably increasing their overall motivation as a result of sticking to their goals ironically).
Momentum is exponential and predictable while motivation is erratic and unpredictable.
How we can start to choose (and create) momentum over motivation is by creating non-negotiables around your desired results. That way our efforts will remain unaffected by our day to day level of motivation.
Let’s say you have the goal to exercise. Instead of going off of motivation (which WILL diminish or be gone entirely at times) you go one step further and make a non-negotiable(s) around the habit/change/goal you want to make.
This must be something that is easily achievable no matter what and moves the needle closer to our desired result. This could be “no matter what I will move for at least 20 minutes a day.” What this does is it leaves the avenue for achieving this up in the air, or modifiable daily. So on a day where you are feeling unmotivated to go to the gym or are unable to make it for whatever reason you have the option to use your non-negotiable instead. It’s only 20 minutes in this example so you could go for a walk around the neighborhood, play with your dog or kid, stretch while watching netflix etc.
These actions still allow you to work toward your goal but give you a realistic “safety net” or backup plan to work from. Carry that momentum forward long enough and it becomes an unconscious behavior leading to the last point.
3.) Identity, what drives it all
Now that we have an understanding that we don’t need to sacrifice the things that truly bring us joy, and that momentum is what we should strive for, not motivation, it’s time to finally ensure that the simple things that bring fitness and health stick in our lives.
Time for another example. Do you think there is a difference in the way two individuals will progress long term based on the statements below alone?
P1: “I’m on a 3 month diet”
P2: “I eat foods that I like while nourishing my body”
or
P1: “I don’t like to exercise but force myself to go”
P2: “I move and exercise because I know I feel better when I do”
Both of these individuals exercise and pay attention to their nutrition so what’s the difference? Person 2 seems like they have a better, longer approach or identity in the behaviors that bring fitness and health. They are focused on the feelings that these activities bring because they are already the person that does them. They aren’t putting a finish line on their behaviors or forcing themselves to do something they hate.
This can seem like a very minuscule difference but the foundation from which both of these examples work from is very different. The words we use to describe things and that we use when we talk to ourselves have a massive impact on our actions and behaviors.
If you form the identity as someone who works on their health and fitness in a sustainable, ever evolving way that you enjoy, you are pretty much guaranteed success.
Once these three things or foundations are applied the simple yet powerful things that drive health and fitness will seemingly become second nature. The best part is it is up to you how you will go about this. The style or method of exercise you do, the recipes or styles of food you enjoy, how you use your health and fitness to enrich your life and those around you.
It’s all up to you.
To Your Success,
– Josh
