40 health truths from 40 years (21-30)

21 - Your environment impacts your actions

The way our environment is set up encourages us to interact with it in a certain way. It forces particular actions. Reshaping your environment slightly can have a BIG impact on the actions you find yourself taking.

22 - Action happens in 3 sizes. Optimistic, Realistic, and Minimalistic

Most of us plan to take optimistic level action. This type of action is large and works best on the days that everything is going well. On the other days this action does not fit with our life.?

Realistic action takes into account the reality of the day in front of us. When things are “not bad” but need a bit of wiggle room when life gets in the way.

Minimalistic action occurs on the days where things all turn to custard. It's the baseline action we take that keeps us moving forward.?

Knowing our optimistic, realistic, and minimalistic plans in advance creates consistency.?

23 - Reducing the mental load around action makes it happen more often

Knowing in advance the action you will take increases the chance of it happening. You have already set up the domino's, you just need to knock them down.

Helpful planning questions for your action - get super specific.

What are you going to do?

When are you going to do it?

Where is it going to happen?

Who are you going to do it with?

What equipment will you need?

What is your backup plan?

24 - Remove friction to facilitate action

Reduce as many barriers as possible to taking healthy action.

Put your floss on the sink by your toothbrush

Exercise after work - get into your gear before you leave work

Have your fruit bowl on the bench you walk past the most

Program your wifi to switch off an hour before you want to go to bed.?

25 - Increase friction to inhibit action

Make unhealthy action more difficult to take by adding barriers.?

Put those cookies on the top shelf at the back of the cupboard.

Put your phone on the charger behind a closed door when it's family time.

26 - Size doesn't matter as much as consistent movement does

Doing something small repetitively has a bigger positive impact than doing something BIG every now and then

27 - Action becomes automatic when our identity aligns

We all have particular narratives about ourselves. What roles we play and how we view ourselves.?

It's not difficult for me to exercise even if the weather is bad (I live in Wellington) because I think of myself as an athlete. It's just what an athlete does.

It was scary for me starting a business because I didn't see myself as a businessman. Which meant that I often didn't do the work that was required.

28 - Changing our identity is a slow process of changing our stories

It's hard to believe you are something that you have never considered yourself before. It creates a huge amount of cognitive dissonance.? Which is overwhelming.?

Tell yourself slightly different stories that you can still believe about yourself.

29 - Grit is fit

It's much easier to keep doing something that you actually enjoy, and that fits with your life. There are so many different ways to good health. Pick ones that you like rather than ones you think you “should” be doing.

30 - It can be easier to do it together?

Having someone else along the journey with you can really help you stay the course.?

A gym buddy

Your partner happy to change their diet too

An accountability partner for those actions you want to take

I have a favour to ask. I run some wellbeing strategy workshops for businesses who want to help their staff develop individualised health and wellbeing plans. The start of the year is a great time to roll these out and get people?in the wellbeing groove for 2024.

I've attached an info sheet. If you know anyone?who would?find this valuable for their team I'd love it if you passed it on.