When you are thinking about taking the steps to live your life at an optimum, there are some primary basics that must be covered to enable you to progress through the rest of your journey. Each of these principles have extraordinarily beneficial side effects which may also contribute to your over-arching goals anyway. They are non-negotiables and are scientifically-backed in improving emotional and physical health and wellbeing.
1. Move Yourself – A minimum of 30 moderate-high intensity exercise. Again, this is a MINIMUM and, yes, you do have time. There are a lot of people who are just as busy (or busier) than you who exercise A LOT. You just have to prioritise this. If you have trouble keeping up a habit – join a local running club or community team for free. If you have money at your disposal, hire a trainer, join a regular class. Movement wakes your body and gives you important seratonin and endorphins, fights off cortisol (a destructive side-effect of stress), improves your cardiovascular capacity and kick-starts your metabolism. If any of your goals are weight/health/fitness related – this will also help you to achieve these specifically. This principle is number 1 for a reason: It is simply important.
2. Nutrition – A diet that is high in processed foods and sugars as well as saturated fats will rob you of your vitality, impede your body functions and become a barrier to your energy levels and success. This is another non-negotiable. You may sit there and dream up your goal life, but I guarantee you that three McDonald’s trips later you will have zero passion and will be happy to sit on your couch and waste your life. If you would like help with this – there are plenty of companies that deliver groceries and recipes for you to learn to cook your own meals (they are usually healthy, fresh and quite simple recipes).
3. Sleep – 8 hours. Going to bed early is the new black. You don’t have time NOT to sleep – if you cut back on this, you will experience ‘burn out’ and start to believe that you are not cut out for the extraordinary life that you absolutely can achieve. 8 hours of sleep has been shown to contribute significantly to the reduction of depression and increase the individual perception of happiness significantly in less than 2 weeks. All of these basics feed into each other. As you exercise, eat better food and limit screen time, you will also sleep better. When you have slept well, you have more energy to exercise, be purposeful, eat well and achieve your goals. It’s a really cool cycle.
4. Screen Time – We are always connected, it’s the world that we live in. Be mindful about how long you are spending with a screen in your face (be that a phone, television, computer, iPad, Tablet, etc.), as heavy use of these devices has been linked with listlessness, depression, anti-social behaviour and a perceived sense of social isolation. I particularly have a beef with reality TV (live your own life, instead of watching others!) and games (what did Candy Crush EVER add to your life?). You have one life, one go at EACH day – don’t flush it by mindlessly scrolling down endless selfies, recipes that you will never cook, cat videos, etc. Limit your notifications to certain times of day dedicated to mindful and purposeful use of screen time (we all have to check emails, work, keep in contact with people). Don’t let it creep into things that are more important – keep social and family time ‘phone free’ and talk to each other.
We have a small baby and have noticed that he tries to destroy/take anything away from us that we pay attention to. Food/phones/keys/remotes/computers. It’s been very enlightening to look at it from his point of view and realise how important it is to spend quality time with those who are physically in our presence, instead of being ‘half’ there and looking through Facebook.
5. Self Talk – Replace “I need to” with “I want to” – your body physiologically responds much more positively to thoughts that include your ‘wants’. For example, “I want to go to the shops to get some fresh ingredients for dinner” feels much better than “I need to go to the shops to buy some fresh ingredients for dinner” – try it, practice it, make it a habit. If you constantly tell yourself and others that you ‘need’ to do things, inside a small resistance builds and you simply do not want to do it anymore.
6. Keep record – whether you write a journal, keep notes in your phone or discuss your progress over dinner with someone, you have to make sure that you are accountable. Are you spending your time doing things that actually ACHIEVE what it is that you want? How much ‘busy’ work do you do that isn’t getting you anywhere? What adjustments should you make? How will your daily habits add up over time – physically, financially, spiritually, mentally, socially, etc.? These are important questions that should be asked on a daily or weekly basis and reviewed every two weeks to ensure that you are moving FORWARD in your progress.
These are our 6 BASIC principles. These need to be aligned in your life before we start tackling your big picture goals. These are STANDARDS that are part of a rich and fulfilling lifestyle – do not rob yourself of the opportunity to be feeling your best!
LLUMI Australia 