Progress requires that we face our challenges, acknowledge the hard reality of a situation, take stock of where we are, and what’s holding us from success, and put a plan in place to change our situation. It’s a gratifying process with extremely positive outcomes.
Face the Tough Facts, and then Upgrade Your Reality
It’s no secret that society faces many challenges. However, I feel the most important one is the ability to turn around our continuing decline in health, wellness, and happiness. This shocking societal change in health and wellness has been a major catalyst for the evolution of my coaching philosophy, and the creation of my 4 Pillars of Performance.
A wealth of scientific and anecdotal evidence demonstrates that healthy, fit people are happier, more productive, and generally nicer to be around. Helping more people achieve this state will have a positive ripple effect across every area of life and culture.
The reality is that during the almost three decades since I began my career as a coach, the health of North American society has dropped precipitously.
Lifestyle Diseases
Rates of “lifestyle diseases” such as atherosclerosis, heart disease, some types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, and stroke, are skyrocketing, as are mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and stress.
Lifestyle diseases are generally preventable medical conditions that arise from the way a person chooses to live his or her life. Lifestyle factors such as alcohol, drugs, smoking, lack of physical activity, and unhealthy eating, contribute to numerous preventable conditions.
The fallout of this trend towards sedentary living and poor health choices shows up most vividly by the fact that obesity rates have tripled in North America since the 1980s.
Currently, more than two out of every three people are either overweight or obese, and the unhealthy trend continues globally as other countries emulate the “Western lifestyle”. As a professional performance coach, I try not to take it personally.
One starkly disturbing outcome is that the massive increase in weight and body fat percentage is changing our perspective of “normal”.
Obesity is now seen as a disease, and people who have this “condition” are viewed as victims of a situation largely outside their control. In my opinion, this couldn’t be further from the truth and sets a dangerous precedent for the future.
Start your journey toward a healthier, happier you – book your FREE consultation now!
You Have the Control of Your Daily Thoughts, Decisions, and Actions
While myriad factors contribute to someone becoming overweight or obese, portion sizes, lifestyle habits, genetic predisposition, trauma, life experiences, targeted marketing by food conglomerates, decreased food quality, scientific manipulation of salt/sugar/fat in food, chemical additives, at the base level, regardless of the person, his or her origin, or past events, each has the power to be in control of his or her daily thoughts, decisions, and actions.
For most people, being overweight or obese is a situation that came about through a series of daily personal decisions over many years in each of the 4 Pillars of Performance. The challenge is that once someone begins this downward spiral (The Circle of Distress), it becomes increasingly difficult to break the cycle.
We see the negative implications in society as a whole, but the solution resides within the decisions and habits that every individual (starting with you), can create in his or her own life by learning key skills in the 4 Pillars of Performance. It’s important to realize that we are directly in control of our decisions.
Most People Know What They Need to Do, They Just Aren’t Doing It
The 4 Pillars framework is not designed to blame or shame anyone. There are many factors in life, within and outside our personal control, that impact us, but each of us is in much greater control of our lives than we often believe. Simply put, most people know what they need to do, they just aren’t doing it.
The challenge is that when so many other people are going down this same path, the journey can be “normalized”, and make it more likely that people will resign themselves to their new “reality”.
Keep in mind that I’m not saying everyone must fit some “Barbie-doll” or “superhero” ideal. Everyone is different, and unique, and has the power to decide where they are happy being in their health, fitness, and wellness journey. Some people are completely fine with where they are, and that’s great.
From almost 30 years of experience working with thousands of people, I can say firsthand that the mental, physical, emotional, and social aspects of life are more challenging when people are overweight, obese, and/or out of shape. I’ve yet to meet a person who has achieved a healthy body composition, fitness level, and lifestyle that decided it wasn’t worth it.
Being Healthy, Happy, and Fit Will Not Solve All Your Problems
Being healthy, happy, and fit will not magically solve all the problems in life. However, it provides a much better foundation for success than the alternative!
Speaking of what is holding you from success, it comes from reframing your mindset and lifestyle so that you will feel willing, able, and excited about doing the ‘right’ actions for your needs each day in each of the 4 Pillars (Mindset, Habits, Movement, Fuel).
This solution involves looking inside yourself, discovering what motivates you, expressing your goals, and making the decision to take small steps, daily, in a positive direction. The tools to do this are provided in the Mindset Pillar of my book (The Fitness Curveball).
Take the first step towards transforming your health and fitness – book your FREE consultation today!
Comments
I love your outlook. I think it’s a very rare thing when anyone’s obesity is related to an actual disease. It all comes down to wanting to change and then making that change.
Exactly Beth! Thanks for commenting!
Yyyeesssss! We actually know what we need to do, to enjoy our success but for various reasons, we aren’t doing these things. Most times, we wait for tragedy to strike before we are doing the right thing!
Thank you for that different perspective. Yes, let us celebrate our successes no matter how small they are.
It’s amazing how often we overlook the small things that can have a big impact on our success. This article made me rethink my approach and identify what might be holding me back.
We are so glad when our article hits home 🙂 Thanks for the feedback!
WOW, what a great read and you really made me think. I know I can do better but at times it’s just me holding myself back. I need to just DO IT!! I have made some great changes with my food habits, but I still need to change my approach on a lot of other things…thanks for sharing this post with us.
One step at the time. Dont rush things. Thank you for the great feedback.
I like what you said at the end: Being healthy, happy, and fit won’t solve all your problems, but it’s the foundation you need. It will be much easier to focus on other things when you have this foundation in place.
Exactly Bryan. Thank you for commenting!
The 4 pillars of movement should keep in tract to have a good and nice mindset in this life. Having a great foundation for these will lead you to amazing life in this world.
Thank you for the feedback Nikki!
It’s important o take all factors into consideration with these things. Not all things are within our control but making a conscious effort to do something is a great step forward.
Its a huge step forward. Thank you for commenting!