My Personal Philosophy
When it comes to health and fitness, most of us think of 2 things: nutrition and exercise.
With nutrition, "You are what you eat" may not be accurate in the literal sense. However, it is a valuable lesson we can all learn from. If you eat well, you feel well. If you eat like shit, well, you know.
With exercise, it's essential to keep the body moving. We weren't built to be chilling on the couch all day; even taking a 15-minute walk can do wonders for our bodies.
However, when we dig deeper and look at the bigger picture, we'll continuously ask ourselves questions that drain our energy and hinder our progress. Here are just a few from a long, long list of possibilities.
- How do I set goals I can actually achieve?
- What will I do when I face setbacks?
- How do I know when to push harder?
- How do I know when to take a step back?
- How do I work around my busy schedule?
- Can I eat healthy when going out to eat with my friends?
- How are my relationships affecting my health?
- Why do I want to be healthy?
- Is this worth it?
- Can I really do this?
The amount of questions we ask ourselves is endless, and being told to "eat healthy and exercise" doesn't cut it for most of us.
We need to step back and take a holistic view of our health and fitness. My philosophy is built on four pillars: Mindset, Balance, Relationships, and Purpose.
Mindset
It all begins with our mindset.
Here's the honest truth: If you don't believe you can accomplish your goal, you won't, period.
We all do it: We set goals for ourselves when we're feeling motivated because we don't like where we currently are and want to make changes, preferably as quickly as possible.
Then we fail, so we feel like failures.
We're not failures though, we just failed to set the right goals. The reason we're setting overly ambitious goals is simple, we're not being honest with ourselves.
To make sure we're not setting ourselves up for failure, we have to set goals that are achievable. How do we do this? By assessing our strengths and weaknesses and where we currently stand.
This can be scary, as it puts us in a vulnerable place. However, while talking about our weaknesses may feel like we're holding ourselves back, what we're really doing is empowering ourselves to make true, actionable changes. We can take a step in the right direction, and then another step after that.
Once we do the hard work and assess ourselves correctly, guess what? It's not so bad. We take responsibility for ourselves and, with that, take control of our lives.
With the right mindset, we know how to move forward.
Balance
Once we can honestly examine ourselves, it's important not to get too excited and strive to improve ourselves too quickly.
When it comes to our health, it's a matter of both quality and quantity. We need to adopt a long-term mindset and to do this, we need balance and patience.
A quote from Mahatma Gandhi sums it up nicely: "To lose patience is to lose the battle."
Patience gives us peace, control, and perspective. Regarding our health and fitness, perhaps the most important thing it gives us is resilience.
Any setback we endure can become a mountain if we move too quickly and want results too fast. With patience and a view of the long term, a setback is just another bump in the road.
Resilience is about being present, in the moment, and understanding that we can't always push forward without taking a break.
When we're tired, we need to rest; when we're sore, we need to recover. If we're stressed, it's a sign to slow down.
If we move too quickly and push ourselves too hard, we'll never be able to feel a sense of balance.
With the right mindset and a feeling of balance, we know how to move forward and what pace to take.
Relationships
With the right mindset and a sense of balance, we're on our way to living a happy and healthy life.
However, life isn't lived in isolation; people around us affect our lives more than we could ever know.
Healthy relationships enhance our well-being, while unhealthy ones can detract from it.
Developing self-compassion, patience, and balance will naturally and positively impact our relationships with others. We can be in the moment, giving them our full attention and developing more meaningful relationships. We can also be more thoughtful and empathetic towards them as we can do so for ourselves.
Additionally, we can ensure those relationships don't derail us from where we want to be. Setting boundaries and having clear conversations is a part of health and fitness that most people struggle with. By approaching it from a balanced and mindful position, we'll be able to foster better relationships in the long run.
With the right mindset, feeling of balance, and control over our relationships, we know how to move forward and at what pace and do not let external influences affect that pace.
Purpose
With all this being said, living with purpose makes it all worthwhile.
Without purpose, we don't have a North Star to guide us where we want to go. We can understand ourselves, be patient and balanced, and have healthy relationships, but we'll miss what matters most: the meaning behind it all.
Asking yourself, "What matters to me?" seems silly, but it's necessary from time to time. This purpose makes everything else more meaningful, thus making it more achievable. Meaning can do wonders for keeping us on track.
Living with purpose isn't just about fulfilling a grand life goal; it's also about embracing intentionality in our daily actions.
We only have so much time, so making that time count every day is essential. Many people focus on their careers and put everything else to the side, and when they look back at their lives, they realize they missed so many things that could have brought them happiness.
Don't let this happen to you. Ask yourself what's important to you, and live each day meaningfully.
With the right mindset, balance, control over our relationships, and a sense of purpose, we know how to move forward and at what pace without letting external influences affect us while we move on the right path.