Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Paradigm Shift

10 years ago one of my Life Mentors shared a quote with me that transformed the way I viewed my health.

"The pain of discipline weighs ounces, but the pain of regret weighs tons"

Before that I thought that my health was totally determined by the hand that I was dealt, meaning my family history and genetics.

Unfortunately I think that chasing the American Dream has found far too many people who have spent their whole lives working to acquire wealth, then tragically they end up spending their wealth trying to reacquire the health that they lost in the process.


That day, 10 years ago, I had a mental paradigm shift in my way of thinking and I began to see my health as an asset and that I had some control over its value. In pondering what an asset meant I realized that for assets to increase in value you must invest in them.

From that day forward I have made it a conscious descision to view my physical health as an asset and to choose to invest in it so that it does not become a liability.


I believe that for each of us our health plays out day to day on a sliding continium. In our fast paced culture the aging process can be like a time bomb, once it has started ticking it is bound to go off. The fact is that at least 40% of the known aging factors are within our control. If we take the time to learn about those factors we can help to prevent, postpone or even reverse some of the negative symptoms of aging.


On a daily basis we are either doing things that cause our physical bodies to pre-maturely age and break down, pushing us closer to death. Or we are doing things that slow down the aging process and empower our physical bodies to move towards health.



To get the momentum on our sliding continium of health moving in the right direction we need to make goals for our future health just like we do for our financial future or spiritual future.

Take some time to ponder what health means to you, because it is different for everyone:


- dare to visualize what health looks like for you - if you can see it- you can achieve it


- make some new goals that would move you towards health and dare to write them down


- create small objectives for how you will work towards these goals-dare to believe that small disciplines weigh ounces


- formulate a plan of action that works for your life - dare to believe it will make a difference


- begin with the end in mind, you will achieve your goals if you have a powerful reason behind them
- dare to take action and be consistant, remember that health is a process


Remember that perserverance will be as important to your goal as gasoline is to driving a car!
WHAT FUELS YOU???????????



3 comments:

LORIE said...

WOW!!!

Kim Herring said...

Thank you for your insight - my short term goal for this week is to get in all 6 of my workouts. It would be a step up from last week. :-)

jessithompson said...

This post gives me a lump in my throat. Very inspiring! Thank you for sharing your journey with me and supporting me on my paradigm shift. Your knowledge and wisdom in this area (as well as many others ;) has been a gift to my life and my health. I so value that you are the kind of person who is willing to take the time to share anything and everything you know. You are an incredible, passionate teacher.

It's just one of the million ways that our friendship has blessed my life.

XOXO