Good Health is 365 – 52 – 12

When you hear/read about, or speak to successful people in any facet of life, how often do you hear that they only worked at their success a few days a week, or just on the weekdays? If I was to guess I would have to say in my opinion not very often. This is because success doesn’t just come from working at something a few days a week, or a few months a year, it comes from a combination of these 6 key things;

1. A Positive Mind Set

2. Goal Setting

3. Obtaining Knowledge

4. Applying Knowledge

5. Developing Positive Daily Habits

6. Hard Work and Consistency.

To be ‘successful’ at Good Health you need to apply these same things, and that is where I feel a lot of people get it completely wrong. Good health requires a holistic approach all year round, it’s not  seasonal; you don’t just put more focus on your health because summer is coming up. It isn’t social; you don’t exercise and eat well only when you have someone else to do it with you. It isn’t emotional either; you don’t focus on health just because you are feeling good, bad, happy or sad.

Good health requires an investment and commitment from yourself, and it deserves to be a top priority in your life, which is often not the case. I find a lot of people join gyms, start exercise programs and go on diets for the wrong reasons, and in the end, more often than not they fail. But why do people fail? Let’s look at a few different contributing factors shall we?

The ‘health and fitness’ industry has become saturated with countless amounts of diets, supplements and different types of exercise equipment. As the weight of the average Australian goes up higher and higher, someone else is trying to earn a quick buck or two off of your insecurities, as well as a lack of knowledge/understanding about good health.

All the information you need to be healthy is on the internet and in books for you to read. There has never been more easily accessible ways to find out how to get ‘in shape’ then there are today. So if having the information was the answer then why is the average Australian getting fatter?

There are gyms popping up in every suburb, with some even having 2-4 different gyms right near each other! If more gyms were the answer then why are we getting bigger?

I see a new piece of ‘home exercise equipment’ being advertised on some morning show every other week, with the general selling point usually being along the lines of “Do this for just 15mins a day and watch that body fat just disappear!’, but there is always the fine print which states you of course have to eat healthy to achieve results (No way!?). I’d be willing to bet the shredded models they have using this magical piece of equipment never touch it in their own personal workout out plans, because it is for the most part, not very effective. Yet, with every Danoz Direct purchase that gets used three times and ends up under the bed or in the garage collecting dust, the average Australians waist line increases.

‘Fat Burning Supplements’ and ‘Weight Loss Diets’ are probably the biggest problem because they are everywhere, they are easily accessible, they have great marketing, they say everything you want to hear and they give the impression that you will achieve amazing results in a short amount of time. Part of why they are a big problem is because in some cases they DO work, but as soon as you stop taking the fat burner or get off the diet, you put the weight back on. So there are all these diets and products for sale and this still isn’t the answer!?

Despite all the information being available, gyms everywhere, equipment you can buy and use at home, amazing diets and unbelievable supplements, millions of Australians are still struggling to achieve good health; and so many die from lifestyle diseases every year. It could be avoided however, if average Joe started prioritising their health, and accepted that change needs to happen as a whole.

You need to be more positive:

Change the way you view situations and the way you view yourself. Negative thoughts and a negative attitude produce negative results.

You need to set goals: 

Find your “WHY”. If you don’t have a powerful enough reason to want to achieve results then you won’t think the effort is worth it. Discover what you really want, make sure it’s measureable and give yourself a timeframe. “I want to get fit”, “I want to lose weight”, “I want to tone up” are the 3 most common ‘goals’ I hear and they literally mean nothing to me. I don’t’ think most people know what they want and it’s because no one has asked them, or they’ve never really give it that much thought. You also need to ensure your actions are in line with your goals.

You need to obtain knowledge: 

Get online or get some books and do some research. Try and stick to accredited sources but and avoid companies just trying to sell you a product. Ask a trusted health or fitness professional questions. If you don’t ask you’ll never know!

You need to apply the knowledge you have learned: 

Knowledge is useless if you do nothing with it. What good is knowing all the right foods to eat if you continually eat junk? What’s the point of knowing the best work out routines to do if you don’t exercise, or don’t put in the effort when you do? Take action and don’t procrastinate!

You need to develop positive daily habits: 

Making time to exercise (or at least be active) every day and actually getting it done. Being prepared and plan meals ahead so you don’t eat based on how you are feeling. Making sure you drink enough water and get enough sleep. Ensure you have a balance between work, health and family/friends. Whatever it is, make sure it is contributing to your goal, and at the same time work on removing the bad habits that are holding you back, or negating your hard work in other areas.

You need work your ass off, and be consistent with your efforts: 

There is no substitute for hard work. It’s those days where you feel like giving up and quitting where the hard work really pays off. When you consistently work hard you develop the ability to grind out those shitty days and ignore the little voices in your head that tell you to give up. You can get all the other areas right but if you only put in 50% of your efforts then your results are going to be reflected as such. You have to be consistent with those efforts as well. There is no good killing it Monday-Friday training hard and eating well, then the weekend comes around and you do nothing but binge on junk and over-eat wherever possible. A big part of consistency is having a routine, and implementing your weekly habits into the weekend. Fat doesn’t know what day it is, and it’s not taking any days off!

In closing, I believe good health requires a 365 day, 52 week, 12 month a year mentality and It’s called a ‘Healthy Lifestyle’. Now does this mean you have to exercise every single day of the year? No. Does this mean you have to be 100% compliant to perfect nutrition every meal of every day? No. What does it mean then? It means work on being positive every day. Make health a priority and make good – if not better – choices wherever possible. Be active at any given opportunity, your body is designed to move! Get out and walk, swim, dance. Learn as much as you can, you can never have too much knowledge or too many skill-sets. Always have something to aim for and never settle for anything less than being the best version of you that you can be. You’ll never know what you are truly capable of unless you try. Surround yourself with positive like-minded people, that want to help you succeed, not bring you down with them when they don’t.

Healthy lifestyles are for everyone. You don’t have to be rich and live in the northern beaches to prioritise your health. If you want to feel good, look good, be confident, have loads of energy and be productive, then stop looking for the quick fix or the short-term solution. Start making a change today, make good health a lifestyle and never look back, you and your body deserve it!