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“With a big enough dream you don't need a crisis.” - Jerry Wesch

Introduction:

Health is simple...

Like the game of golf. You can summarize it in one sentence: You hit a ball into a hole.

Now the caveat...

The hole is 300 yards away, the wind is blowing 15 MPH, and you have a bag full of sticks with metal hammers on the end of them that you will attempt to hit a ball with. To top all of this off, there is a pond in the middle of the course, and most likely a drunk group in front and/or behind you. If there is not, you either have it made that day or you are the drunk group.

That sums up health. We will break it down into 6 simple practices to follow. Now, like golf, they are simple on paper, but the speed of the wind is not often told when reading the books.

So strap up, get cozy, and grab a notebook with a sharpened pencil. Over the next 6 or so weeks in 6 separate posts, we are going to talk about those 6 practices. Starting with mindset.

1. Mindset

Now, you could start anywhere in this list of the 6 foundational principles of health, but as mentioned in the quote above, “With a big enough dream, you don't need a crisis." -Jerry Welch. Most people are more willing to live in the familiarity of discomfort than to move out of it into a place of empowerment. This is a major reason people do not make long-lasting shifts in their lives.

It becomes very helpful, if not absolutely necessary, to know why you are doing something. Why is it that you want to get healthier? Why do you want to get out of pain or lose weight? Why is it you want more money or a new car? Is it just to accomplish those things, or is there a deeper meaning? What does losing weight do for you? How will having a new car change your life? Will it really make your life better?

These are all questions that will help you make long-lasting changes.

What if I told you the way to lose weight was to stop eating bread, or drinking coffee, or (fill in the blank)? Would you be willing to make those changes? Or if I told you, "You need to turn off your phone and TV when the sun goes down and be in bed by 10:30 with the lights out." Could you make those shifts, and if so, for how long before the old familiar voice of "Temptation" creeps in the doorway with the shadow of the nightlight, saying, "Hey! What are you doing? You look hungry, let's go downstairs and make a sandwich and have a nightcap to help us go to sleep. What say you? You look like you're having a hard time falling asleep."

What would be your response?

Sure, the first week, no problem, temptation has no grip over you. But the second week and the third, do you have the willpower to fight them off, day after day, night after night?

What if I told you I knew the kryptonite of Temptation?

And it just so happens to be in the form of a single word. "Clarity."

What do I mean by clarity? How the hell is that supposed to help me fight off those late-night warm milk cravings, or the lullaby of hate scrolling on social media to put me to sleep?

Let us revisit the words of Jerry Welch. “With a big enough dream, you don't need a crisis."

If you know the "Why," the "How" does not matter. You will do what it takes.

What does it take to create a Dream?

A direction - You might not know at the moment where you want to go, and that is fine. The point is to start to move in a direction that aligns with your values. (A future post of values will come.) For now, that may simply be to get out of pain, and I would like to get a bit more specific on why you want to get out of pain or (insert your starting point here). What happens if you get out of pain? Well, if I get out of pain I can play with my grandkids. If I get out of pain, I will enjoy going to work more. If I get out of pain, I can garden.

If you don't choose your career, life will choose one for you. Just start somewhere. If you don't know what path to take, just take one and you will get somewhere. Sometimes to get clarity, what you need to know is what you don't want or don't like, and that comes from life experience.

The Nightmare - What is it that you fear the most in the world? Name it, tame it, flip it. That is your dream for now. i.e., "I most fear being alone in life." The flip - My dream is now to become the person that attracts people to me. How do I become that person? You live into them. What would they do... Now do it.

You are only as young as you believe. A few years ago, I dressed up as an old person for a school class. I went all out, fully playing the part. I bought a suit and tie, shaved my head, and put on makeup that gave me wrinkles. After the day, I felt like an old man. I was only 28 at the time. It took me a couple of days to shake off the wrinkles in my body and return to my own. The point here is your mindset on life is just as important as anything else. If you believe that as you age, your body falls apart, well, that is going to come truth. If your belief is you can find joy in your body until you die, guess what? That will be your truth. How you treat yourself is how your body will respond.

Belief systems:

All beliefs worth having are worth challenging. This is a lot easier said and written down than practiced. I promise you, you live by belief systems that are not your own, and if we recognized them, we would, to put it lightly, become disappointed by them. The challenge is to bring awareness to them. They are often hidden deep within our subconscious, protected by our ego from looking too closely at them. I won't go any deeper for now. I will leave it with these words.

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." -Carl Jung