When you were a kid sitting in class, what was the instruction you heard most? Well, maybe you didn’t hear it quite as often as I did, but during my elementary school years, I was told to pay attention many times a day. Although I had to be told more times than I can even remember, I did eventually learn the importance of paying attention.
Attention is important in all areas of life. It started in school when we needed to pay attention to learn the lesson of the day. Once we knew the lesson, we could complete assignments and take the quiz or exam. Eventually this would all cumulate and we’d get a grade for the class. If you didn’t pay attention, what kind of grade did you get?
When I see the state of health in America, I can’t help but wonder what would happen if everyone started paying attention. I’m not sure where we went wrong. I have a few theories and can walk through a few steps to show what has occurred, but that is a whole new article.
Without getting into the entire history of US health, I just want to discuss the power of attention. If nothing else changed, what would we gain by paying more attention to our health? That question has been stuck in my head for a while, so I had to share a few ideas of what I think we would gain from paying a little more attention.
Exercise
It is so simple, yet we could go on and on with the reasons we need to pay attention. It’s a shame, but exercise is something we have to watch now too. We used to be active by nature, but now we have to try and “fit it in” or “find time” to get the exercise we need. Guess what? We are not finding the time for the exercise we need. The average American is now only even active for a few minutes per day and is not exercising at all.
Why don’t we exercise? Again, I think it is because we stopped paying attention. We’ve talked about what happens when we don’t pay attention to our food. Well, it’s not any better when we stop paying attention to our exercise. In fact, I would think it was easier to be in tune with the exercise we need. After all, we know how we feel at all times (if we pay attention) so shouldn’t we know when we need something? Shouldn’t we be able to feel that our energy level is not where it should be so it is time to take a quick walk? I wish it were that simple for everyone. Unfortunately, we don’t tune into that and we assume we just need more caffeine to get through the day.
Question: How many days per week do you feel good?
With exercise, just like with nutrition, the best advice is to pay attention. We are build to move. Our bodies have evolved over the years to function better with movement. Our current health issues are testament to the affects of the sedentary lifestyle. It’s a shame that we have come so far in some areas and gone the other direction in something so important.
Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe the average American doesn’t find feeling good important. Maybe the average American doesn’t want to live a long life. Maybe they want to die young and feel like crap every day. I don’t think that is true at all. I don’t believe for a second that anyone wants to deal with any of the health issues that are now plaguing this country.
I think we all want to feel good and live healthy. We just don’t know what to do. I see commercials on TV, ads in the newspaper and links on the web promising weight loss and good health. This can’t be a coincidence. I also see that Americans spend billions of dollars on home fitness equipment every year. Not to mention what we spend on gym memberships and diet plans.
The numbers are incredible. But what is more incredible is the fact that we are still chasing our health. We spend all of this money yet we have not found the results. Why is this? I think it’s because we are trying to find the quick fix. We see something that looks like it will work (It promises to work much better than it does.) but we don’t stick with it.
Another Question: How many times have you tried the “next big fad” and been disappointed?
It all comes back to that first step. You won’t use a piece of equipment that you don’t like. You won’t go to a place that you are uncomfortable with. There are many components to a routine. If you want yours to work you have to have a plan that takes these into consideration. How do you know what you want to do or what you will stick with? Start by paying attention.
What does your body need? How do you feel when you do this or that? These questions are where we need to start. Without asking these questions we are just going to keep going along with whatever is in front of us. That is clearly not working. For the average American, the food that is in front of you and the exercise that “you have time for” are what is killing you.
I know that no one lives forever, but the current trends show us that life is not only getting shorter, but it is getting more difficult. Just like when we didn’t pay attention in class. Those exams were difficult too.
This was part 2 of 3. Next time, we will discuss another area that paying attention will bring positive results in part 3.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Pay Attention (Part 1 of 3)
When you were a kid sitting in class, what was the instruction you heard most? Well, maybe you didn’t hear it quite as often as I did, but during my elementary school years, I was told to pay attention many times a day. Although I had to be told more times than I can even remember, I did eventually learn the importance of paying attention.
Attention is important in all areas of life. It started in school when we needed to pay attention to learn the lesson of the day. Once we knew the lesson, we could complete assignments and take the quiz or exam. Eventually this would all cumulate and we’d get a grade for the class. If you didn’t pay attention, what kind of grade did you get?
When I see the state of health in America, I can’t help but wonder what would happen if everyone started paying attention. I’m not sure where we went wrong. I have a few theories and can walk through a few steps to show what has occurred, but that is a whole new article.
Without getting into the entire history of US health, I just want to discuss the power of attention. If nothing else changed, what would we gain by paying more attention to our health? That question has been stuck in my head for a while, so I had to share a few ideas of what I think we would gain from paying a little more attention.
Part 1: Nutrition
The food we eat today is barely food. We eat more chemical preservatives than we do actual food these days. Everything we eat comes from a box, can or a bag handed to us from a drive-thru window. This “food” is literally destroying us from the inside out. Look at the health statistics. Our children (born this decade) are the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than we do. (5 years shorter!) With all the technology we have, it took us many years to add 5 years to our life expectancy. Now we are going the wrong direction.
Why are we continuing to eat foods that only do us harm? We eat this way because we stopped paying attention. We let food manufacturers and restaurants choose our foods now. We leave the decisions up to the big companies and assume that the government agencies would only allow safe and healthy options to be sent our way.
We are wrong. There is a wide range of food options ranging from the processed crap (technical term) to the fresh produce grown on a farm only miles from your home. Just because it is in your favorite store in a happy container doesn’t mean that a food item is good for you. Just because it is on sale, doesn’t mean that food can’t be bad for you.
Question: Do you have any idea what is in the food you eat?
You can choose to eat a vegetarian diet of only fruits and vegetables, an Atkins diet heavy on meats and dairy, or anything in between. But in order to know what you are eating, you have to pay attention. If not, you have no idea what you are putting into your body. If you are trying to lose weight or simply maintain a healthy weight, the math says that you need to take in less calories. Most people have no idea how many calories they take in on a typical day.
Another question: Do you know how many calories you take in each day?
The fact is, you can start on a healthier path simply by taking a minute to think. Take a minute to think about what you are eating and you will be taking a big step. You don’t have to make a drastic change right away. You don’t have to try to eat completely different food starting tomorrow in order to be healthy. Just like every other goal we’ve discussed, it all starts with a baseline. Where are you now?
Where do you want to go? In this case it’s more like: What are you eating? What do you want to be eating? If you don’t know what you are eating now…I can think of a great place to start.
This is part 1 of 3. Later I will discuss the areas of exercise and healthcare. We can greatly improve our lives in all of these areas just by paying attention.
Attention is important in all areas of life. It started in school when we needed to pay attention to learn the lesson of the day. Once we knew the lesson, we could complete assignments and take the quiz or exam. Eventually this would all cumulate and we’d get a grade for the class. If you didn’t pay attention, what kind of grade did you get?
When I see the state of health in America, I can’t help but wonder what would happen if everyone started paying attention. I’m not sure where we went wrong. I have a few theories and can walk through a few steps to show what has occurred, but that is a whole new article.
Without getting into the entire history of US health, I just want to discuss the power of attention. If nothing else changed, what would we gain by paying more attention to our health? That question has been stuck in my head for a while, so I had to share a few ideas of what I think we would gain from paying a little more attention.
Part 1: Nutrition
The food we eat today is barely food. We eat more chemical preservatives than we do actual food these days. Everything we eat comes from a box, can or a bag handed to us from a drive-thru window. This “food” is literally destroying us from the inside out. Look at the health statistics. Our children (born this decade) are the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than we do. (5 years shorter!) With all the technology we have, it took us many years to add 5 years to our life expectancy. Now we are going the wrong direction.
Why are we continuing to eat foods that only do us harm? We eat this way because we stopped paying attention. We let food manufacturers and restaurants choose our foods now. We leave the decisions up to the big companies and assume that the government agencies would only allow safe and healthy options to be sent our way.
We are wrong. There is a wide range of food options ranging from the processed crap (technical term) to the fresh produce grown on a farm only miles from your home. Just because it is in your favorite store in a happy container doesn’t mean that a food item is good for you. Just because it is on sale, doesn’t mean that food can’t be bad for you.
Question: Do you have any idea what is in the food you eat?
You can choose to eat a vegetarian diet of only fruits and vegetables, an Atkins diet heavy on meats and dairy, or anything in between. But in order to know what you are eating, you have to pay attention. If not, you have no idea what you are putting into your body. If you are trying to lose weight or simply maintain a healthy weight, the math says that you need to take in less calories. Most people have no idea how many calories they take in on a typical day.
Another question: Do you know how many calories you take in each day?
The fact is, you can start on a healthier path simply by taking a minute to think. Take a minute to think about what you are eating and you will be taking a big step. You don’t have to make a drastic change right away. You don’t have to try to eat completely different food starting tomorrow in order to be healthy. Just like every other goal we’ve discussed, it all starts with a baseline. Where are you now?
Where do you want to go? In this case it’s more like: What are you eating? What do you want to be eating? If you don’t know what you are eating now…I can think of a great place to start.
This is part 1 of 3. Later I will discuss the areas of exercise and healthcare. We can greatly improve our lives in all of these areas just by paying attention.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Deciding Your Own Future
I have a hard time seeing people quit. This is due to advice from a childhood coach. He said: “When you quit you are deciding the outcome.” He was talking about a game and the outcome you are deciding is that you will lose the game if you quit before it’s over.
This applies in many areas, which we will touch on as we go. This saying came back to me when I saw a post from my friend who runs a sports-performance facility. The post was “Choose your own future”. It may be a little different than deciding your own future, but it really means the same thing. It means that you are in charge. If you choose to go for it, you can get it. If you choose not to go for it, you can’t get it.
My career in the health industry has been very enjoyable. I love what I do on a daily basis. Working with people has been a fun experience for me and is why I started my business. As a health coach, I get to help people set goals and improve specific areas of their lives.
While this is very rewarding, it can also be frustrating for me. The most frustrating part is when I see people give up. I often hear people tell me that they are stuck. They tell me that they are unable to reach a goal and they don’t see themselves moving past where they are. This gets very difficult because all I want to do is help.
Luckily when it’s a client in this situation, I can actually help them. We can work together to get them through the rough patch and make the goal more realistic again. I still get frustrated when I see people quit.
Why is it frustrating? The toughest part is hearing someone decide to quit because they don’t think they can do something. They are not quitting because something is impossible. They are not quitting because they don’t have the ability to do it. Why are they quitting? They are quitting because they see a goal and don’t think they can reach it. When this happens, they are giving up not just on their goal, but they are giving up on themselves.
When it comes to life, you are in charge. We can talk about a business or career. We can talk about your finances, family or any other area. No matter what we talk about, you are in charge of the future of these areas. No one else decides how many meetings you set up or projects you complete at work. No one else decides whether you spend or save money to determine your financial future. You are in control of all of this. It is your life and your routine.
Health is an area that seems to be left out of this conversation. When I ask people about their goals, I hear them say many things that would suggest they don’t have a choice. I hear people say things like, “I can’t do that” or “I’m just not ever going to get there”. I even hear “I’m just an unhealthy person”. When someone says this, I can’t help but hear that they are forgetting they are in control. They forget that they can decide what their future looks like. Or maybe they just didn’t know that they are in control.
Why do we think we are not in control? I think we have actually given it up. In our day to day lives it has become the norm to do what we have on the to-do list. Often our list consists of things that others want us to do. It is important to consider others. Family, friends, employers and clients are all important and should be considered.
We’ve given up our control, but why? I think we have given it up because than it’s not our fault that we aren’t where we want to be. It is easier to say, “Oh well, I guess I’m not supposed to be healthy.”, than it is to take responsibility and work toward your goals.
Not everyone has willingly given up control. Many people want to gain it and improve their lives, so how do they get it back? It’s not as difficult as you may think. In fact it starts with one choice. Choosing to be in control is the first step. Once you’ve done this, you are in charge of your goals and your future. I’m not suggesting we put everything on hold and focus strictly on health. In fact, I’m suggesting we use the same tools that help us accomplish tasks in these other areas to help in the health routine.
Take a minute to think about what your goals are? What do you need to do in order to accomplish them? Planning is the key. Setting up your schedule and reminders can help you execute. There must be a balance between only focusing on health and the other extreme of never focusing on it. Success is found in the balance between the extremes. Having a plan can help you make that balance sustainable.
Many people are struggling because they are strictly focused on work or something else. When they try to set goals in another area they often fail because they don’t take control to reach them. In fact, it is easier for them to say they don’t have control and choose not to reach their goals. “I’m too busy” or “I just don’t have time” are perfect examples of this.
You may be reaching your goals. Or you may be making excuses like “I’m too busy”. If you are reaching your goals it is because you have taken control and decided on your own outcome. You have decided what you want your life to look like (in any area) and you have taken the steps necessary to make it that way. In other words, you are deciding your own future. The moral of the story is that if you are not reaching your goals and blaming outside circumstances you are simply making excuses. You too are deciding your own future.
This applies in many areas, which we will touch on as we go. This saying came back to me when I saw a post from my friend who runs a sports-performance facility. The post was “Choose your own future”. It may be a little different than deciding your own future, but it really means the same thing. It means that you are in charge. If you choose to go for it, you can get it. If you choose not to go for it, you can’t get it.
My career in the health industry has been very enjoyable. I love what I do on a daily basis. Working with people has been a fun experience for me and is why I started my business. As a health coach, I get to help people set goals and improve specific areas of their lives.
While this is very rewarding, it can also be frustrating for me. The most frustrating part is when I see people give up. I often hear people tell me that they are stuck. They tell me that they are unable to reach a goal and they don’t see themselves moving past where they are. This gets very difficult because all I want to do is help.
Luckily when it’s a client in this situation, I can actually help them. We can work together to get them through the rough patch and make the goal more realistic again. I still get frustrated when I see people quit.
Why is it frustrating? The toughest part is hearing someone decide to quit because they don’t think they can do something. They are not quitting because something is impossible. They are not quitting because they don’t have the ability to do it. Why are they quitting? They are quitting because they see a goal and don’t think they can reach it. When this happens, they are giving up not just on their goal, but they are giving up on themselves.
When it comes to life, you are in charge. We can talk about a business or career. We can talk about your finances, family or any other area. No matter what we talk about, you are in charge of the future of these areas. No one else decides how many meetings you set up or projects you complete at work. No one else decides whether you spend or save money to determine your financial future. You are in control of all of this. It is your life and your routine.
Health is an area that seems to be left out of this conversation. When I ask people about their goals, I hear them say many things that would suggest they don’t have a choice. I hear people say things like, “I can’t do that” or “I’m just not ever going to get there”. I even hear “I’m just an unhealthy person”. When someone says this, I can’t help but hear that they are forgetting they are in control. They forget that they can decide what their future looks like. Or maybe they just didn’t know that they are in control.
Why do we think we are not in control? I think we have actually given it up. In our day to day lives it has become the norm to do what we have on the to-do list. Often our list consists of things that others want us to do. It is important to consider others. Family, friends, employers and clients are all important and should be considered.
We’ve given up our control, but why? I think we have given it up because than it’s not our fault that we aren’t where we want to be. It is easier to say, “Oh well, I guess I’m not supposed to be healthy.”, than it is to take responsibility and work toward your goals.
Not everyone has willingly given up control. Many people want to gain it and improve their lives, so how do they get it back? It’s not as difficult as you may think. In fact it starts with one choice. Choosing to be in control is the first step. Once you’ve done this, you are in charge of your goals and your future. I’m not suggesting we put everything on hold and focus strictly on health. In fact, I’m suggesting we use the same tools that help us accomplish tasks in these other areas to help in the health routine.
Take a minute to think about what your goals are? What do you need to do in order to accomplish them? Planning is the key. Setting up your schedule and reminders can help you execute. There must be a balance between only focusing on health and the other extreme of never focusing on it. Success is found in the balance between the extremes. Having a plan can help you make that balance sustainable.
Many people are struggling because they are strictly focused on work or something else. When they try to set goals in another area they often fail because they don’t take control to reach them. In fact, it is easier for them to say they don’t have control and choose not to reach their goals. “I’m too busy” or “I just don’t have time” are perfect examples of this.
You may be reaching your goals. Or you may be making excuses like “I’m too busy”. If you are reaching your goals it is because you have taken control and decided on your own outcome. You have decided what you want your life to look like (in any area) and you have taken the steps necessary to make it that way. In other words, you are deciding your own future. The moral of the story is that if you are not reaching your goals and blaming outside circumstances you are simply making excuses. You too are deciding your own future.
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