22. Eight Keys to Vibrant Health and Energy

Systems for Success

With the start of another new year, many people find themselves making health goals, from fitness to diet, to sleep or earlier mornings. This fascination with health related New Year’s resolutions may be the result of two back to back holidays when most people eat too much, do too little and feel too bad. Or maybe we all have the inherent conviction that the best way to improve our lives is to start by improving our health. And the start of a new year gives us the perfect launching point to begin new health journeys.

My wife and I have found ourselves focusing more on our daily health practices over the years as we need increased energy and effectiveness for our busy family and business lives. We’ve found that abundant health doesn’t come from just focusing on one or two areas at a time but by making continual progress in 8 areas that foster wellness, vitality and ultimately effectiveness.

Prioritizing Health with a Busy Schedule

With busy families, businesses, jobs, social activities and causes...and through random unforeseen challenges that pop into our lives, it’s easy to just get busy and accept what is as the way it must always be in our health.

Making health a priority starts with embracing how healthy practices make a visible and tangible difference to our lives and bodies. I know that when I make health a priority I feel good. I have energy and a clear mind. It takes less time to get more done. I see an increase in effectiveness and fulfillment in my family life and in my business life.

We are the architect of our own body’s health. Without our health, we have nothing else.

At some point we need to acknowledge that we have significant control over our own health and that our actions can truly make a significant impact. Through acknowledgment of our control, we will find it easier to muster up the discipline to follow through on our system with daily and weekly actions, even when it’s not easy or convenient. While we may not be perfect in practicing what we know is good for us, we can make it one of our top priorities to continue to make progress and to get back on track when life derails us from that next work out or getting to bed on time.

Don’t Make Changes, Create Systems that Become Habits.

We often get those urges to change some health practice. Like saying, today I’m not going to eat sugar. But creating the long term results you want in our health happens best when we systematize our health practices using a process we’ve developed that works for our unique body, lifestyle and preferences. Find a set of regular health practices that work for you and that you can follow fairly consistently over time...even when you’re traveling or in crazy busy seasons.

If you were to ask Shelley or me to create the perfect health system for you it probably wouldn’t work. Why? Because what works for me is not likely to work for you. It may not get the results you need because your body and needs are different. Or it may get results but you may not enjoy the system enough to sustain it because it just doesn’t work in your lifestyle or schedule.

Think about what you enjoy doing. Do you like walking your dog? Great, walk the dog longer or faster. Do you like making and eating stir-fries? Great, make more of them, put in more vegetables or make them all organic. If someone else lost 30 pounds eating a certain way, that’s great for him/her, but that may not be great for you.

If you want to live every day like health is truly your priority, your personalized health practice must be full of actions you enjoy enough to sustain your unique system for health over time. I am only able to maintain my healthy lifestyle because I have created habits that I either enjoy or that produce results that I enjoy.

Our 8 Health Systems

We have found that it’s helpful to compile all the processes needed to create our own personalized health system into eight categories. We’ve actually seen that every human being needs to pay attention to these 8 areas of life in order to optimize their health and wellbeing. If you determine what unique practices you need to regularly incorporate into your daily lives to progress in these eight areas, it is quite likely that you’ll end up continually improving in health, energy and vitality.

1. Quality Rest

Our bodies need rest in order to function. I’ve struggled with getting the appropriate rest and it’s on the cutting edge of my personal learning this year. Rest is the key to restoration in our bodies. Are you getting the right quality and quantity of rest? Do you nod off whenever you're not active, yawn during the day, just run low on energy, need multiple settings on your alarm clock to wake up, or sleep a lot longer on your days off? If so, you are probably not getting enough quality sleep.

2. Physical Activity

Our bodies were made to move and these days most of us spend a lot more time sitting than moving. We sit to work, watch, talk, drive, eat, etc. With all that sitting, how can we make our bodies move more? What type of exercise is best for you? How do you create a sustainable system for exercise that works for you over time? What’s the balance between aerobic exercise, strength training and flexibility training that’s best for you?

3. Pure Water

Our bodies are made of mostly water and yet most of us aren’t very intentional about giving our bodies good, pure water. Our thirst is like the gas gage on a car. Our body runs on water but when the gas gage hits empty (when we get thirsty), we fill it with all kinds of other stuff besides water. Trying to run your body on soda is like saying I’m going to try to run my car on pop. Even if we drink enough water, it often has other pollutants and chemicals in it...chlorine and fluoride being the biggest offenders. If you put gas that’s mixed with a bunch of water in your vehicle, it might still run if you have a great in line fuel filter to extract the water from the fuel your vehicle is actually designed to run on. We are fortunate that our body does have a great in line filter to take out the other “stuff” that’s in the liquid we drink besides the water our body runs on. And our body filter is smart enough it actually tries to use whatever it can from what it filters out of the liquid we put in it. However, often the “stuff” that’s in the liquid we drink just clogs our filters or worse yet, has toxins that destroy our body systems.

So how much water do you need, how often should you drink, how to you make sure what are drinking is really clean water and how does even the water you bathe in impact you?

4. Fresh Air

Fresh air is a key element for optimum health! Do you know the quality of the air you breathe both indoors and outside? How do you improve the quality of air you regularly breath? And how do you make sure you’re getting enough air in your lungs? Many people go through an entire day and never fully fill their lungs with air. This would be like running a car always at idle and never revving up the engine. Optimizing your lung capacity and usage is really vital to optimizing your energy and longevity.

5. Nature and Sunlight

There is something very therapeutic about being outside. Our bodies are made to sync with the vibrations of nature. Have you ever gone on a walk in nature on sunny day at the beach or on a beautiful trail in the mountains and you just feel so refreshed? Unlike our ancestors, modern life keeps us indoors the majority of time. But regular time outside in nature is a key system for success in health. Even being exposed to sunlight brings many health benefits when we enjoy it in moderation.

6. Healthy Whole Food and Targeted Nutrition

Yes, we are what we eat. So what we eat is always important. Most people eat things because they like them. What's wrong with that? Shouldn't we like the things we eat? Absolutely! The question is what is your system to determine the food and nutrition your unique body needs to function at optimum health, energy, and vitality? What foods are best for your body? Of all the vitamins out there, how do you know what your body needs?

7. Self-Discipline

Self-discipline is foundational to maintain the other 7 systems for health success. We can have the best intentions in the world in all the other areas but what good is that if we don’t have the personal discipline to do the right things our body needs for great health and wellness? It also takes self-control to practice moderation in those pleasures that may not be super good for you in excess but that bring you great joy. So what is your system to regularly foster your own self-discipline?

8. An Attitude of Faith

This one impacts every area of our inner life and therefore it impacts every area of our outer life, especially our health. Our state of mind has a major impact on our health. Faith is the ability to see things you want that are not yet there in reality as though they are already there. I also believe if we trust in a power outside ourselves, (what I call trusting in God) it is easier to see a better, brighter future for our life, for our family, for our business and for our health. My attitude is formed by my personal belief that there is a God who has good plans for me and for my health. What would it feel like if you were able to maintain an attitude that believes there is a better future ahead, that anything is possible and that you have access to power outside yourself to help you bring that desired future into the present?

Do Something to Improve Your Health System Now

I challenge you to do an honest assessment of your practices and outcomes in each of these eight categories. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 in each of these categories. Make a list of the practices you are currently doing that foster success in each of these areas then pick one category and brainstorm a few practices you could experiment with that would help you experience more of the success you want in that area. Over time, do this in all 8 categories to build your own unique health system for success.

Stay tuned for more podcasts and articles on our learnings and practices in each of these eight vital areas for abundant health!

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