The unsexy truth is real results come from by spending less time building treatment plans and getting nitty gritty with the research and more time looking at your calendar, committing too and actually taking action on a regular basis.
More information makes no difference in someone’s life unless they are actually able to utilize it.
There are enough self help books out there that everyone should be a perfectly healthy, financially thriving individual surrounded by fulfilling relationships and yet we know this is not the case.
From primary school age we are taught knowledge sound bites, but becoming and adult is realizing that eventually unless you put that knowledge to work it has no real value.
There is a quote I’ve always attributed to Tony Robbins which actually comes from a chap named Napoleon Hill. In his 1937 book Think and Grow Rich he wrote, “Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end.”
This quote became a catalyst for me. My goal has always been to help people bridge the gap between nutrition science and practical application. With a solid understanding of why, we can shift focus to how. Taking knowledge and truly realizing its power, building it into definite plans of action.
When we hit this sweet spot of “knowledge meets action” the results are something magical. But there are a couple of common challenges I see.
Busyness
We exist in an exceptionally busy culture. We glorify busyness, we over-commit in huge financial ways and are trapped into busyness as a result, we feel social expectations that mean we don’t say no and find ourselves busy doing stuff we don’t even want to do. For some, it’s about self-worth, if we are not busy we feel we are lazy or not enough and so we never stop.
Eventually all of this busyness becomes so normal we don’t even know what not busy is anymore. If we get a free moment we find it uncomfortable, quickly filling it with something else.
In the busyness and urgency of life we forget that life itself relies on us being healthy and yet being healthy is the one thing we do not put on our to-do list.
Sadly what I see is that most people don’t prioritize changing their habits until something serious happens with their health. By then the come back is harder, the flexibility of choices you have to bring it back are less and the journey is a lot longer and slower.
The first big barrier to turning knowledge into power is taking ownership of your time. Find the one thing you will do for your health, schedule it in your calendar and do it until it becomes habit.
All or nothing attitude can’t combat busyness, in fact it’s a mindset that will mean you are always a victim of busyness. But what can combat busyness is tiny habits built over time that become a part of your routine.
Indecision and analysis paralysis
The psychologist Barry Schwartz talks about the paradox of choice.
Studies show that as the number of options increase, the number of people that actually make a decision decreases.
This was seen in a study looking at investment funds offered through an employer, and the more options they presented their staff with, the less likely the staff were to actually pick any investment. The reason is simply overwhelm. We don’t want to make the wrong choice, and so we make none.
The second part to the paradox is that, if we eventually overcome the decision hurdle we are inevitably less satisfied with the choice, because we are constantly focused on all the possible pros of the choices we didn’t make.
We make a choice and then immediately look over the fence and wish we made a different one.
There are a million possible choices and places we could start to look after or improve our health. There are a million opinions and theories about what is best or most effective and all of this means we get stuck never making a choice. If we do make a choice, we half-arse it, always thinking that maybe that other option might have been better.
To get past this, simply start with something. In an incredibly nuanced field such as health, there are some things that there’s just no argument about. Things like move more, sleep more, eat whole foods, drink water etc.
Once you get started further actions tend to flow from there and we can break ourselves out of the over-thinking rut and actually start making progress.
Real results start with action
The way I work with clients has changed because I realized that people don’t need more information, treatment plans or opinions. I have seen this in my own life. I can access all the information that I need but the people in my life who keep me accountable to taking action are the people that have the biggest impact over all. And man do I value those relationships, because I have seen just how powerful they can be.
So if you work with me, that’s where we will start. Be prepared to take action.
