When I read certain blogs and posts what stands out to me is that people LOVE experiences! That’s what they write about. They talk about their trips and travels, best restaurants, perfect ski hills, and their most memorable times. I had a memorable experience just this morning in fact. I text my mom at 7am and said that I was picking her up to spend the morning cross country skiing. There was a resounding YES on the other end and we were en route within the hour.
My mom is 68 years old and hasn’t been skiing in a few years, but that would never stop her. She likes to do things with her daughters, and if that means skiing at Telemark, snorkeling in Maui, snowshoeing at Big White, or floating down the channel in Penticton she will do it because she refuses to miss out!
Consistency+time=results.
On our way up to the hill, we started talking about our health. We talked about Oprah’s take over of Weight Watchers and how we thought it was a good thing. We talked about willpower and how to increase that so we can make healthier choices . We talked about “why” people don’t stick with their plans to improve their health. I shared a few thoughts from a book that I’m reading called The Compound Effect – by Darren Hardy. The basic premise is that consistency plus time will equal results. That is as true in the financial realm as it is in our health. However, so often we don’t give our goals the consistency nor the time that they need to be realized, to really see that compound effect! Due to the fact that we live in an instant society, we therefore expect change instantly. We want to put in a solid month of effort into our diets and fitness routines and we want to see drastic results. I’m afraid, its not that simple.
When I start with a new client I have them contemplate the true, deep, guttural reason that they want to change. If the reason for changing their body and lifestyle is not profound enough to them, then what will keep them in the pocket when it becomes a struggle to eat healthy, or to wake up at 6am for a workout? There is a popular illustration that is used to stimulate this thought process. What would you do if someone told you that they would give you $100 to cross a tightrope stretched between two buildings. You are not tethered in and if you fall it will be to your death. Would you attempt it? Of course the answer is no. $100 is not worth risking your life over. Now, what if someone said that they had your child on the far side of the tight rope and that if you didn’t attempt to cross, they would drop your child to their death. Would you cross now?
When the reason to change is profound enough to you, change will start to happen.
So, as mom and I were gliding along the trails, snow gently falling and not another soul in sight I turned and I said to her, “If we don’t take care of our health, we will miss all of this”. We would miss out on all of the experiences that can bring us such great joy! We would miss the silence in the forest, the beauty of the surroundings, the feeling of our heartbeats, the sound of our labored breathing,and experiencing it all together. We would miss the moments that you just cannot duplicate sitting in front of your tv watching Netflix.
And, I don’t want that to be my life. I don’t want that to be my mom’s life either. That is why I am so passionate about moving daily. That movement, that increased heart rate will increase the circulation in your body. Increased circulation leads to a decrease in inflammation, disease and ultimately decay. When we have our health, we will have more moments to experience all that this life has to offer each of us.
So this New Year, if nothing else…..Move Daily. For help in finding your profound reason to move, contact me today.
