I am continuing my quest to devour Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss. It’s interesting that the first section in the book is about health, rather than business. Being in IT for over 20 years, I find myself getting my tan from an LED Screen and the only workout I get is moving a mouse around. This profession led me into an unhealthy lifestyle, overweight and not feeding myself with the proper fuel. In the past, all my focus was in the business (and of course family, but even that fell to second place so many times). My last blood test showed that I was pre-diabetic, so drastic changes needed to be done in my life.
Money is easy to make, but what good is money if you don’t have your health? The stress of daily life is amplified if you are in IT. How many clients call when everything is working perfectly? No…they call in a panic when chaos is the order of the day. We strive to utilize our team to put out the biggest fires, while continuing preventive maintenance to avoid fires in the first place. All this leads to a highly stressful day, which usually continues into the night, especially if you own the business.
I had a rude awakening that forced me to examine my lifestyle choices. What will it take you? Did a seemingly healthy friend suddenly die at an early age? Did you find out someone you know has some form of Cancer they must now battle against?
Since I started building a morning routine, starting with 15 minutes of oxygen, I simply added healthy choices to start the day. 15 minutes of oxygen where I feed my mind with knowledge while I have my 1 cup of coffee and before I check any messages. I love this quiet time I have where I can feed my mind during a peaceful 15 minutes. I used to skip breakfast, for a while for no reason, then because I was doing Intermittent Fasting. I now have a small breakfast designed for me by a nutritionist and supplements that I need to feed my body.
I’m not a very athletic person. When I hear the word marathon, I think “Star Wars Marathon”! Going to the gym is not natural for me, but when I do go, I enjoy it. I listen to a podcast while I do cardio and feed both my muscles and my mind.
The reality is that we are bombarded with information. I found myself filling all my time with information. Shaving while listening to a Podcast, eating breakfast reading some blog post, driving listening to a business book or Podcast, evenings in front of the TV…it never ended. In my profession of being a business coach, information is my fuel, but I was overflowing the tank. With all this firehose of information, I could not quench my thirst. I discovered the power of silence, feeling OK to simply be alone in my own thoughts. Being in a crowd and resisting the urge to stare at my iPhone is very liberating. It turns out, I’m pretty fun to hang around with! I was almost avoiding spending time with my thoughts, but the silence allows me to think, plan, explore and discover new ideas.
When it comes to health, doing a 360 turn is not feasible for the most part. We can start with small course corrections toward our goal. Instead of going for a restrictive diet, can you lower portion size? Instead of doing a mental workout schedule, can you take a daily walk? Instead of cutting out coffee completely, can you limit to one cup per day? Instead of cutting out alcohol, can you limit yourself to only week-ends? Small changes can go a long way. If a sailboat changes course by 1 degree, they will end up far from their former course. The same is true with your health, small changes can lead to great results.
It’s not easy, but when you start seeing the results, the effort pays off.