Something I think about often (… well constantly) is how to get people (both clients and humanity at large) to cross the ‘KNOWING-DOING’ gap when it comes to their health!
Especially when this relates to long term thinking for longevity (how long you live) and much more importantly healthspan (how long you live in good fully functioning & capable health).
There was a time when ‘just not knowing how or what to do’ was a semi-legitimate excuse… but the internet and universal access to knowledge and information has changed all that!
So ‘not knowing’ is off the table! Which means finding the ‘spark’ to initiate action is really what is at the core!
As the saying more correctly goes
... “Knowledge is not power, Knowledge is potential power”!
So now we have the knowledge, we need two vital ‘things’!
To START
To NEVER STOP
In over 30 years of searching for the fountain of motivation and willpower here is the keys to crossing the knowing-doing gap… and staying there!
How to Cross- Knowing Doing Gap… and stay there!
Know Your Why
When you have a compelling reason or a worthy purpose you are inspired & motivated to act. Why do you think everyone goes ‘all in’ with their health when they get told they have cancer! Dying is a really good motivator to commit to change!
Your WHY or your reason is really everything! You will never harness the motivation to start, willpower to make hard choices & fortitude to persevere until your WHY is strong enough!
Wanting something bad enough and burning the bridges to go ‘all in’ is the only way to ‘cross the gap’ and stay there!
Want to know my WHY (s)?
It feels so damn good! It is ‘nice’ to feel physically strong, capable & energetic. Mentally alert, focused & switched on. Emotionally positive, confident & proud.
Self Respect - knowing I am doing everything I can to show up as the best version of myself for myself, my family & my friends.
To push back illness & disease so as to NOT be a burden on my children! Luck may have other ideas but it will not be my fault!
To not be like my parents! This point kills me!!! How can so many of us see our parents crumble into a mere existence (alive but not really living) where they can’t remember your name, can’t put on their pants, live from doctors appointment to hospital visits, etc etc and yet we NEVER reach the conclusion that ‘holy shit’ I really should prioritise my health so I don’t end up like them!
Note- Of course this is a mute point if you think that your health is mostly up to genetics! This is complete ‘Bullshit” by the way as science has now shown that your health is 90-95% in your hands and your choices!
To ensure I get to play with my grand kids - really play and teach not just watch!
To walk my two girls walk down the aisle and give my last poem on Angelina’s 50th birthday! (I will be 95!)
I fully grasp that “life is short & you only get one”! I want a full and adventurous life to the very end! To live life with positivity & enthusiasm and die fast!
A ‘forever mindset’! Goals Dont’ Last… Habits Do!
Anything short of a commitment for life doesn’t work! Goals like losing 10kg, running a 10km PB or looking good in a bikini are wonderful short term motivators but they are temporary! They very rarely last!
You have to make a choice that you truly want to wake up every day for the rest of your life feeling good, healthy, energetic and vibrant and this ‘health thing’ is a habit that you are keeping forever!
Making healthy choices must be part of ‘something you just do’ because it is part of ‘who you are’!
Anything short of a ‘forever mindset’ will fail!
Accept that it will never be easy!
Evolution is against you! Human nature is against you! And most definitely modern society is against you! We came from a world of scarcity and fighting for survival and now we live in a world of abundance, excess, ‘easy street’ and Uber eats!
Every part of our modern life is conspiring to make us fat, sick, tired & depressed!
If you have junk food in your house you will break! If you make every decision based on ‘short term gratification’ you will lose. If you choose easy options you will fail!
This is not easy. It will get easier as ‘your healthy life’ becomes a habit but it will never be easy! Anything worth achieving never is!
But it will give the greatest gift we can bestow upon ourselves … Self Respect! (And a long, healthy, happy life will be nice too!)
Celebrate Tiny Successes - 1% Gains!
Day after day make tiny incremental improvement, acknowledge & celebrate every little win & be proud of yourself.
In 2012 a manager was brought in for the English cycle team to win the Tour De France. His theory for success was simple. He looked at every aspect that contributed towards their ultimate goal which was to have his GC rider, Bradley Wiggins, win the Tour and then devised a plan to improve by 1% in every single area. The aerodynamics had to be 1% better, the tyres 1% faster, the beds exactly the same every night, the nutrition 1% more performance enhancing etc
Bottom line, by improving by 1% in every area the impact was compounded and the result was the unit as a whole was substantially better! He won the 2012 Tour De France.
Imagine you slept 30min more per day, ate one less pizza per week, walked 1000 extra steps per day, drank 1 glass more water per day & 1 less beer per day, spent 1hr more per week in the sun and did that in a 100 areas of your life…. HUGE compounded gains!
And every time you make a new improvement…celebrate and give yourself a pat-on-the-back!
Never Miss Twice.
The single best way to adopt a habit and make it stick is without doubt to commit to “never miss two days in row”! You can miss one day every now & then but if you miss twice the momentum’s hard to stop!
Consistency is KING when it comes to your health… now and for the future!
Show up, show up every day and do your best with the conditions that exist!
And when you mess up, and you will, just follow the old adage and “get back on the horse again straight away”!
Never Miss twice” and that habit will soon become “Something You Just Do”!
Closing thoughts…
Why wouldn’t you want to live your best life possible?
To not only be fit, strong, vibrant, healthy, switched on, energetic and boundless now but to ensure your last 10-20 years are not consumed with medical procedures and nursing homes devoid of actual living!
It is never too late to start!
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago… the next best time is now” - Japanese proverb
Coach
PS - I am sitting on the balcony sipping on a cold beer (one) as I write this to reward myself for completing my yearly fitness challenge (v v hard 30min circuit) and recording a time within 15sec of my best ever set when I was 35yrs old!
It is always about balance!
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