HEALTH VALUES AND WELLNESS

Health and wellbeing is one of the key areas of our lives, but what does being healthy mean to you? In order to achieve goals in this area it is vital to give some thought to this.

Ask yourself the question - What does being healthy mean to me?

Write down the first answer that comes to mind - perhaps it might be, living longer

Then ask it again, noting down your answer - perhaps, feeling fitter or avoiding serious illness.

Keep going until no new repsonses come to mind.

Now look at your list. Which is the most important to you of the answers you have written? The aim is to rank your responses and achieve a list, in order, of your health values.

Does your list surprise you? Look at your highest values. Is this where you are putting your energy right now? If not..... why not?

For me, the concept of wellness encompasses much more then just physical health. It means achieving balance in the areas of emotional and spiritual wellbeing too. At the root of all of this is loving yourself - if you do this you will feed your body the right foods, nourish it with the right drinks, exercise it and look after it every way that you can.

You need to start doing this, you need a healthy body - where else are you going to live?

AT THE END OF THE DAY

When you think about your life, how satisfied are you with it right now?
Can you look in the mirror at the end of the day and really feel proud of who you are?
Are you being your true self - living an authentic life, or spending your time living up to other peoples' expectations and dreams rather than your own?

If these questions make you stop and think......when are you going to do something about it?
It's never too late to be the person you always dreamed of being.

We all want a happier more peaceful world don't we? One in which we can all work together towards a better future, supporting eachother rather than fighting. Well you can start today by contributing one happier, more peaceful person to that world-YOU.

All change starts with you. By improving your own small corner of the universe, not only do you make your own world so much better but you contribute to making the larger whole a better place too. In my last post I talked about which areas of your life might get your attention first. Over the next few posts we'll be looking at various areas in more detail and considering how changes can be made.

Sometimes making changes can seem daunting, but I'll leave you with this thought - A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.....

BALANCE - THE OIL RIG

Do you think that your life is balanced?

What do I mean by that?

Do you devote too much of your time and attention to an area of your life that maybe shouldn't be getting quite so much of it? Such as your job? Is this happening at the expense of other areas - like your relationships, your spiritual development or your contribution to the wider world?

A much loved former colleague of mine used to speak about what he called the oil rig analogy. He'd say, imagine yourself as an oil rig, with each of your three legs representing an important aspect of your life. He used to label them as work, family and friends. He'd talk about how if there was a problem in one area, strength in the other two legs would still support you. The trouble came if more than one area had problems at the same time.

This always stuck in my mind. I might argue that to be really stable the rig should have had a few more legs.... but the concept is very valid - balance across many areas of your life is the key to happiness.

It's all too easy to pursue our career goals at the expense of our health or relationships. When looking at making changes in your life it is vital to take what coaches call an ecology check - that is, to look at how changes in one area affect other areas and also other people.

Next time you have a few minutes to yourself (and if you read yesterday's post that should be soon) - make a list of what you feel are the most important areas of your life. Most people include areas such as relationships, family, wealth and health. Think longer and you'll probably add contribution, spirituality, personal growth and hopefully fun to your list too. Look down that list and think how happy you are in each of those areas at the moment.

Now do you feel your life is in balance? If so - fantastic, what steps can you take today to make things even better? If not, what can we do together that will improve things? Keep reading.

BARRIERS IN YOUR MIND

Have you ever had the experience of putting off doing something because you thought it was going to be a really big deal? Whenever you thought about it, it seemed like it was just too big to even try and do? Of course you have.....

What did you do? Probably, like most of us, you kept putting it off. Doing this causes several problems, not only does the task not get done but it reinforces your perceived difficulty of achieving it. Every time you intend to do something, but bottle out...... you build up those barriers in your mind. Before you know it, you believe you've got a real mountain to climb.

So much of the difficulty involved can be exaggerated in your head. Why not just do it - just imagine how good that's going to feel!

Don't let what you think about a task affect your ability to complete it. Try and see it for what it is, grab it by the scruff of the neck and get it done. Not only will you have achieved it but you'll be able to bask in the feeling of conquering those barriers in your mind.

TAKE TIME OUT FOR YOURSELF

Have you ever made great plans to get things done and then somehow found that things just didn't work out? Did other things get in the way? Did you let them get in the way?

Sometimes, to achieve what you really want to - you need to put yourself first. In our culture, this is often seen as selfish..... but think of it like this, if you don't look after yourself, who else is going to? What good will a burnt-out you be to your family, your friends.... let alone to you?

Think about being on a plane. Once you've been shown where the emergency exits are and how to do up a seat-belt (can there be anyone left on the planet who doesn't know how to do that?), next it's the bit about the oxygen masks. We are told that if travelling with children, to put our own mask on before theirs - for the very same reason. If you can't breathe what good are you going to be at helping them?

How often do we do this though in our everyday lives?
How often do we set aside a few minutes just for ourselves...... to be.... whatever we want to be and do whatever we want to do? Why not try it, not just today but on a regular basis. Try and get into the habit of setting aside a regular bit of time just for yourself. Maybe to do an activity that you really enjoy, or maybe just for a bit of quiet "me time".

You'll soon notice the benefits, believe me. When now is a good time to start?

STOP TRYING & START ALLOWING.

Inspiration......Think about the best decisions you've ever made....

Have you ever struggled to make your mind up about something or struggled to work something out..... only to find that the answer just came to you when you weren't even trying to find it? That's what I mean by inspiration. 

How did it happen? What changed when you stopped trying to force the solution? Maybe something else took over, some other part of you, or some higher power? How did the answer get through to you? Ever thought that maybe it was there all along and that when you stopped trying to force it and just allowed it to bubble up..... there it was.

How often have you decided to sleep on it or go out for a walk before deciding something, or when stuck with a project? This does more than just change your environment for a while, it disengages your conscious mind and let's your unconscious mind (the clever bit) take over.

Most of us spend our days just using our conscious minds, deliberately thinking our way though life. So much of our brain power goes untapped when we do this as we literally block our unconscious mind from guiding us to the right solution.

So next time you are struggling with a decision, stopped trying to force a solution. Take a step back, listen to what your unconscious mind is telling you and allow the answer to come through to you.

Sometimes life can seem hard enough. Any excuse to try less hard has got to be worth a go!

MAKE IT EASY - USE YOUR VALUES

There's an easy way and a hard way to do everything....... so why not choose to make it easy for yourself? Learning to use your values is one such way.

Values are the things that are really important to us, the real bottom- line things that we stand for. As a coach, values elicitation is a really valuable exercise to do with a client. People are often surprised at what is most important to them - when someone really pushes them to focus in and decide.

Once you know your values, you can combine them and use fulfillment in one area to help you in another. Let me explain.....

As a doctor, you'll probably not be surprised to hear that health is one of my highest values. Striving for wellness and all that that involves is very important to me. I adore training in the gym, but those who know me know that I'm not exactly a great athlete! Yes, I once ran the London Marathon but I don't think Paula Radcliffe lost much sleep over my time....

Anyway, I love it and I know it's important for me but everyone needs something to help keep them on track when the going gets tough. It's always easier not to.......

I'm also a huge fan of personal growth and self-improvement. I love reading and listening to the work of those who really inspire me. I find that listening to my I-pod whilst cycling or on the treadmill, playing Anthony Robbins, Joe Vitale, Jay Abrahams etc. really fires me up as I train.
The time flies by, the physical effort seems much less and I've stretched my mind as well as my body. This simple tip might help you too.

Wellness is all about balance. Take a good look at what you are trying to achieve and think how you can make it easier for yourself. When now is a good time to start?