we now live in a world where information is ever abundant on fitness and nutrition. But what is actually needed to set yourself up to have no option but to win and achieve your goals, not just in fitness but in other areas of your life.
What is the difference between someone achieving what they want and others that don’t?
It doesn’t need to be something that is going to cost you a lot of your time and money, but something a little less drastic, something as simple as creating a habit.
In James Clears book Atomic Habits he discusses these four parts to developing habits:
Cue - The actual action or perception of a desired action or outcome.
Craving - The need to actually do what it is you need to do.
Response - Doing the action needed.
- Reward - What you treat your subconscious with or the feeling of accomplishment.
Habits will dictate your behaviour, but so will epigenetic’s (the impact that your environment has on your behaviour and DNA).
If you live in a place where its important to workout, be healthy, hold the standard for your friends and family and be a positive member of society then usually you will use all four of the above and it will come second nature to you.
If you settle to associate yourself with people that don’t have their health as a priority, don’t take responsibility for their actions, leach of others and aren’t willing to put in the work then usually you are destined for the same and this cycle will keep repeating itself. It’s easy to revert back to what we know.
The key factor for building positive habits is to improve on a positive environment that you work and live in.
Some simple steps:
1- Don’t have shit food choices in the house or at work. If you are going to eat shit at work then make the effort to go out and get it. if your going out for a treat go out and make a night of it, enjoy your time and get back on the wagon.
2- Pre pack you bag for the next day to train, if its at the door you have no excuse not to take it, and if its in your hand on the way home usually this will drag you in to train.
3- Set yourself a curfew for electronics to be switched off, if this doesn’t seem achievable put them on to night mode or get glasses that block out blue light. Blue light is terrible for circadian rhythms. something this simple could have a massive impact on your sleep quality.
4- Plan where your going to eat the night before if you can. this is easy if your always based at the same office, have a walk around the area to find healthy options, not just the most convenient fast food chain.
5- Take your supplements at the same time of day place where possible. This means you are more likely to keep taking them. Most supplements have a compound effect so missing them could mean they went be being used or absorbed.
6- Move everyday. No time, you make time. Output is king when it comes to improving your health and performance. This isn’t just a physical thing. This gets you into the mindset that this is a must and a common denominator to enjoy the luxuries of life. Im not a believer in long term restriction unless it’s needed. But I am a believer that everyone has the right to find out how far they can really go from a physical and emotional standpoint.
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7- Buy a nice water bottle. 99% of people are dehydrated, by having a nice bottle you can measure how much you drink and you wont loose it. With an added bonus of being more environmentally friendly than constantly having single use plastic bottles, and in Asia you don’t know how long they have been in the sun for.
8- Find a place to relax. Walk the dog, go to the beach, read a book, draw... all of these things sound small but studies have shown that downtime will increase productivity as well as calm you down and help get you into a parasympathetic state (meaning you can recover).
9- Have a plan, no plan no execution. You can wing one workout but if there is a goal in mind there needs to be a progressive plan. If you are just training to be harder to kill or perform at your best realise what’s needed. Focusing on improving an asset of your performance keeps you mentally sharp and keeps you pushing and not just sweating for the sake of it.
10- Habits stack. It’s not about drastic change, not many of us can just flip the switch when it comes to changing our behaviours. 1% matters if it’s hit everyday, aim to win the 1% and after a few weeks and months the change will be massive.
Aiming to win or be productive is a choice. Don’t get me wrong, there will be times where shit gets real and things don’t go to plan. It’s up to you to do the best YOU can not anyone else. Keep chipping away at this game and you will win. If you need a hand or need some ideas about how to manipulate your environment or training program to build better relationships with food, improve your environment or get you to take your training to the next level then fly me a email at info@willfoden.com.
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