Health is something that we all talk about. It is something that we all think about. Is it something that we all are doing something about? That is where things get a little less clear. We all want to be healthy. The difference between wanting to be healthy and being healthy is a finer line that most people think.
Let’s think about a healthy routine for a minute: you have to exercise, eat mindfully and take time for yourself to do these things on a daily basis. While everyone is busy wanting to live healthy, those that are living healthy are busy…living healthy.
What is the difference? Well, it’s not a matter of will or determination. It is not a matter of being stronger or being a healthy person or not. Living healthy comes down to the ability to keep going. The ability to get up when you’ve fallen down is the only way to live healthy.
The great baseball player, Babe Ruth once said: “It’s hard to beat someone that never gives up.”
This is true in all areas of life. Since we are talking health, let’s keep it focused on that area. How often does living healthy get difficult? That is a trick question, because living healthy is always difficult. The day to day can be a challenge and keeping it going week in and week out, month in and month out gets even more challenging.
The key is to keep going. When things get difficult, you have to find ways to overcome the challenge. When you get knocked down, and you will get knocked down, you have to do three things:
1. You have to decide that you are going to get up.
2. You have to figure out the best way to get up.
3. You have to decide where you are going to go when you get up.
Try it
When you set a goal, you are trying to do something. When you are simply thinking or talking about it, you haven’t tried anything yet. It may be take energy to focus on the goal even before you get started, but you haven’t gotten started yet. When you start trying, you will be putting in real energy and real time.
Get up and try again
This is a good start, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be set-backs. When you get started and start getting some progress made, there are going to be days that get difficult. There will be challenges that make you wonder if you can keep going or not. There are even going to be moments that make you feel like you can’t go on.
That’s right, there are going to be times that you have fallen and don’t know if you can get back up again. Guess what: you can get back up again.
Where will you be if you quit?
You have to keep going. You have to get up and you have to move on. Where will you be if you don’t get up and keep going? What will you have accomplished? Have you reached your goal? Are you going to be satisfied if you stop now? Probably not. That is why you have to keep going.
What progress DID you make?
It is one thing to say that you want to keep going. It is another thing all together to actually do it. That is where thinking and talking turn into doing. You have to look at where you were when you fell down. Did you get as far as you wanted to get? Probably not. Now it is time to think about what you need to do to keep going. You have to pick yourself up and get moving again. One way to do that is to look at the progress that you DID make. When you can look at your routine and realize that you made some progress, it is easier to start getting back on track because you are not starting from square one again. You don’t have to go back to the beginning.
What’s next?
Now that you have decided to get back up again, what are you going to do? What is the plan? The sooner you set a plan and get going on it. When you get your plan in motion, you are free to make choices and do what will make it work for you. If you run into challenges, you have to remember the reasons you started doing this in the first place. If you still want to reach your goals, why would you stop pursuing them? Why would you give up?
After all, if you don’t give up, you can’t lose. That is the beauty of health. The more you do, the more you get. As long as you get up and keep going, you get results.
When Babe Ruth was talking about not giving up, he was right. Baseball takes perseverance and determination. So does health, but in health, you are even more likely to succeed if you are willing to keep going. As long as you don’t give up, you can’t lose when it comes to health. In other words, it is hard to beat someone who never gives up.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Root vs. Fruit (Personal Wellness)
We like results. Results are what tell us that what we are doing is working. Results also tell us if what we are doing is not working. Either way, results are a measure of what we do. They are an outcome for us. The outcomes we are looking for come only from actions.
Actions are what bring you results. The actions you take are leading to outcomes. If you are doing things that lead to positive results, you must be taking the proper actions. If you are doing things that are leading to negative results, you must have some opportunities to change or improve your actions.
With our personal health and wellness, we get focused on the fruit. The fruit is just what it sounds like. It is the result of a healthy and well-nourished tree. When you set out to live healthy, you are looking for fruit. In order to make it turn out the way you want it to, you have some specific actions to take. A farmer planting a fruit tree needs to water the tree and give it time to mature. As it matures, the roots grow stronger and good fruit will be a result. The farmer doesn’t just stick a tiny apple tree in the ground and expect apples to grow.
In health and wellness, you actually have the same needs. You can’t simply focus on or hope for good results and get them. You have to put a plan into place, take time, find your motivation and have a certain amount of drive to carry out the actions needed to get the results you want.
Do you simply set a goal in hope it will happen? If so, how many goals do you reach? Likely, not many goals at all. That wouldn’t make much sense, would it? But in health, many people are doing just that. They want to lose weight and avoid long-term health problems, but are not doing anything to ensure that it will happen. Instead of taking action and working on the root of the issue, most people are simply making excuses and saying that they will start “next week” or “Monday”. This “strategy” is taking place all across the country. Everyone wants fruit. Everyone wants their health to be good and for their healthcare costs to be low. What they don’t want to do is invest in the root that will allow them to grow the fruit they so badly want and need.
Why does this happen? It happens because focusing on the fruit doesn’t get you anywhere without focus on the root.
When you focus on the root, good things happen. This works in all areas of life, but especially health. Take personal finance for example. You wouldn’t just hope that you had enough money to pay your mortgage. You wouldn’t assume that there would be enough and stop paying attention to your spending and saving on a day to day basis.
You have a budget and follow specific guidelines to make sure you don’t run out of money before the end of each month or worse, spend more than you have and can pay back. In this case, budgeting and guidelines are the root and having money to pay for your necessities like housing and food is the fruit. You can’t have one without the other. No matter how much you need a roof over your head and food on your table, without budgeting and planning, you will not be able to do it. Smart people know that focus on a budget and smart planning brings good results. In other words, they know that focus on the root leads to good fruit.
Personal wellness gives you that opportunity to focus on the root of your health. Without a strategy or a plan, there is only a mere hope and a prayer for health. If left to convenience, ease and general knowledge, most people in our society are seeing their health decline. It is getting worse by the day which means we are all paying more for health care.
Hope is not a strategy for health. The only way for you to get results is to take action. This is true in any are of life. Not only do you need to take action, but you need to take the right actions. When it comes to health and wellness there are many options to take. Unfortunately, most people know which options they should be taking, but have not found a way to make it work for them.
The fact is, any action is going to bring some results. The state of today’s healthcare environment is just what we’ve been hearing about: a crisis. This crisis is not due to insurance or other system flaws. It is due to health or lack of health. We are unhealthy and creating a larger problem by the day. A crisis is not the time to do nothing. When in crisis, shouldn’t action be taken? Any steps that help your personal wellness are the best actions you can take. Taking action is strengthening your root and that is the best way to get more fruit. If you want fruit, you have to focus on the root.
Actions are what bring you results. The actions you take are leading to outcomes. If you are doing things that lead to positive results, you must be taking the proper actions. If you are doing things that are leading to negative results, you must have some opportunities to change or improve your actions.
With our personal health and wellness, we get focused on the fruit. The fruit is just what it sounds like. It is the result of a healthy and well-nourished tree. When you set out to live healthy, you are looking for fruit. In order to make it turn out the way you want it to, you have some specific actions to take. A farmer planting a fruit tree needs to water the tree and give it time to mature. As it matures, the roots grow stronger and good fruit will be a result. The farmer doesn’t just stick a tiny apple tree in the ground and expect apples to grow.
In health and wellness, you actually have the same needs. You can’t simply focus on or hope for good results and get them. You have to put a plan into place, take time, find your motivation and have a certain amount of drive to carry out the actions needed to get the results you want.
Do you simply set a goal in hope it will happen? If so, how many goals do you reach? Likely, not many goals at all. That wouldn’t make much sense, would it? But in health, many people are doing just that. They want to lose weight and avoid long-term health problems, but are not doing anything to ensure that it will happen. Instead of taking action and working on the root of the issue, most people are simply making excuses and saying that they will start “next week” or “Monday”. This “strategy” is taking place all across the country. Everyone wants fruit. Everyone wants their health to be good and for their healthcare costs to be low. What they don’t want to do is invest in the root that will allow them to grow the fruit they so badly want and need.
Why does this happen? It happens because focusing on the fruit doesn’t get you anywhere without focus on the root.
When you focus on the root, good things happen. This works in all areas of life, but especially health. Take personal finance for example. You wouldn’t just hope that you had enough money to pay your mortgage. You wouldn’t assume that there would be enough and stop paying attention to your spending and saving on a day to day basis.
You have a budget and follow specific guidelines to make sure you don’t run out of money before the end of each month or worse, spend more than you have and can pay back. In this case, budgeting and guidelines are the root and having money to pay for your necessities like housing and food is the fruit. You can’t have one without the other. No matter how much you need a roof over your head and food on your table, without budgeting and planning, you will not be able to do it. Smart people know that focus on a budget and smart planning brings good results. In other words, they know that focus on the root leads to good fruit.
Personal wellness gives you that opportunity to focus on the root of your health. Without a strategy or a plan, there is only a mere hope and a prayer for health. If left to convenience, ease and general knowledge, most people in our society are seeing their health decline. It is getting worse by the day which means we are all paying more for health care.
Hope is not a strategy for health. The only way for you to get results is to take action. This is true in any are of life. Not only do you need to take action, but you need to take the right actions. When it comes to health and wellness there are many options to take. Unfortunately, most people know which options they should be taking, but have not found a way to make it work for them.
The fact is, any action is going to bring some results. The state of today’s healthcare environment is just what we’ve been hearing about: a crisis. This crisis is not due to insurance or other system flaws. It is due to health or lack of health. We are unhealthy and creating a larger problem by the day. A crisis is not the time to do nothing. When in crisis, shouldn’t action be taken? Any steps that help your personal wellness are the best actions you can take. Taking action is strengthening your root and that is the best way to get more fruit. If you want fruit, you have to focus on the root.
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