Part 5 of our series on Gretchen's Secrets of Adulthood list and Coach D's favourite points is a personal favourite. It's helped in my own personal health goals, mindset and is totally against what our modern world is trying to make us think is "good for us":
Go Slow to go fast
Our modern world has us believing that "to be human" means to work TOO MUCH, be as busy as possible if you want to be successful (personally and professionally), always be connected and to constantly be aiming higher and better yourself. FYI - IT'S NOT WORKING!!! Check out this past post on that topic.
I come from a life as an athlete, and your lifespan as an athlete is unknown; Could be a handful of years, could be a few decades. Either way, your competitive days (for most of us) are limited. But for the general population (i.e. MOST humans), we have our ENTIRE lives to learn, progress, change and experience various things in our health practices. There's NO RUSH.
Deep Health is a lifelong practice
The act of slowing down, focusing on quality, learning and experiencing life and health in more efficient ways, rather than just "MORE" is incredibly refreshing and much less stressful. Remembering that there's no competition with your health and that it's a PRACTICE for life, takes a weight off your shoulders.
I have always found it funny in coaching, when you share with people that they can do LESS and achieve MORE in a sustainable and realistic way... and they have a hard time buying in. In ANYTHING else in life we take the "easy" route;
-We drive instead of walk or bike
-We watch Netflix instead of doing some stretching or even light exercise
-We stay indoors in a temperature controlled environment vs being out in nature
-We type instead of write
-We snap a pic of a cheque to put it in our bank account instead of going to the bank
-We pay at the pump when we get gas instead of going in to pay
... the list goes on of ways that we QUICKLY and without hesitation, take the easiest path. Which is natural by the way, for humans to do that. YET when it comes to health, the modern world stereotype of what health "should be" takes precident over what it COULD BE.
Think about it:
You're given two choices in your health practices/goals: Do this easier, more do-able way OR do this tough, unrealistic way... And we choose the latter!??!??
OR....
You're given the easier, more do-able way that will take longer (how long is unknown) but the results/impact will last moving forward and be easier to keep up...OR you can take the tough, unrealistic way (how quick is unknown) that will get you results quick but not last, and you'll end up back where you started (or worse).... And we choose the latter!?!?
It's a different conversation now
Early in my career, over 20 years ago, this was a different conversation:
-Multitasking was the "efficient" way to work
-"Pushing more into your day" was how you got things done
-Working after work hours would get you ahead, up for promotion or more bragging rights at the water cooler
-Having a rigid workout and/or nutrition plan would get you the results you need (with little to no consideration about "what's next")... so push through and make it happen!
In the present - WE'VE LEARNED. Well science has learned at least and PROVEN that these mindsets don't work for most of us AND our quality of living in 2024 (in regards to our health) is also proving "it didn't work". If it did, none of you reading this would be confused, struggling or down on yourself for what you choose to do for your daily health practices. We'd have it figured out. Instead, we're more tired, stressed and lost than we were back then even!
I have some wonderful recommendations of books that remind us of the power of slowing down to move ahead. Check it out here if you haven't read it.
SLOW the $%^& down! SERIOUSLY.
-At any given time in my career, I have at least a handful of workaholics (who coincidentally also have poor health)
-Several clients don't have a hobby or leisure time activity that doesn't involve TV, Social Media or work
-Several people complain they have no time, yet NEVER stop to actually have or enjoy it even if they did
-I've dealt with many clients over the years who will keep going back to the same efforts that helped them in the past, without taking time to slow down, think about and learn WHY it's not working for them now.
How often do you find yourself saying "How is it APRIL already!?" or "How is this week almost over?". It's because you are CONSTANTLY distracted, working, scheduled and busy that LIFE IS LITERALLY PASSING YOU BY. I can tell you from experience at our family cottage (off-grid), our backcountry camping trips or days where the phone is in another room and there are no plans - The days seem to go on forever (in a good way). No plans, no to-do's or schedules, you simply just BE. Do whatever you want, whenever you want. THAT used to be a thing. Weekends were to recharge and be with family. Sundays everything was closed. After work, people went home. Work was left AT work.
SLOWING down is more necessary TODAY than EVER before because we know the impact that our way of living is having on our deep health. Remember - EVERYTHING we do requires energy; be it physical, mental or emotional. Slowing down doesn't mean lie on the couch all day. It means...
-CHANGE things up each day
-TAKE BREAKS at work (STOP working through lunch people!)
-BE "OFFLINE" and unaccesible each day.
-BREATHE.
-DO SOMETHING FOR YOU (NON-WORK RELATED!!!)
-DO SOMETHING YOU ENJOY (NON-WORK RELATED!!!)
-BE MORE MINDFUL and LESS DISTRACTED
LIVE. LIVE HEALTHY. LIVE HAPPY.
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