Creating An Executive Life Part 2 - Master Your Habits

If you’re looking for the ONE skill that’s going to allow you to burn have more energy, build a fitter physique, and keep you healthy for the rest of your life...

...you don’t want to skip out on reading today's newsletter.

But before we get into today’s message, if you missed out on last week's newsletter, you need to go back and read that first; where we talked about the first 2 of the 5 Pillars of an Executive Life Transformation, and how to approach crafting a plan that not only helps you get in shape, but helps you do it in a way where you're feeling amazing and improving your health at the same time.

But what we’re going to talk about today is equally important, but for different reasons.

The 5 Pillars of an Executive Life Transformation:

1. Lifestyle Assessment

2. Expectation Management

3. Habit Mastery

4. Simplified Nutrition

5. MED Training

While Assessment and Managing Expectations are crucial in setting yourself up for success, it’s Establishing Habits that are responsible for actually helping you succeed.

Here’s what I mean…

So many people believe getting in better shape comes down to finding the perfect diet...

Copying the training split of their favorite professional athlete or bodybuilder or what worked for someone at your office...

Or discovering some long-lost ancient weight loss secret...

And while diet and exercise DO matter (which we’ll talk about over the next few weeks), you need more than that.

The only true way to permanently change your body and health is through changing your approach. And that comes from building habits that support the body, health, and life you want to have.

People think they can make short-term changes to their diet and activities until they reach their goal, then switch to maintaining it just like that.

I was just talking to someone earlier this week about this. He said, “I’m just going to do keto to jump start my weight loss then switch to something more sustainable.”

??♂?

That’s not how it works.

That’s not how you build a long-term sustainable approach that allows you to lose fat and keep it off, rather than yo-yoing between losing and gaining the same 20 pounds.

If you want to get in the best shape of your life for the rest of your life, what you do to see results has to be the same thing you do to maintain those results.

If you don’t see yourself doing for the rest of your life in some form what you’re doing right now, then your plan is not sustainable.

Meaning, you have to focus on building sustainable habits that fit your lifestyle.

This means learning how to:

• Count macros so you can understand the nutrition value of different foods, portion sizes, and eventually how to eat WITHOUT counting calories and macros.
• Follow a sustainable weight-training program, so you can give your body the rest it needs, allowing you to get the most out of your efforts and time in the gym.
• Listen to your body so you can start working with it, instead of against it.
• NOT be perfect all the time; understand that the body is not a calculator or machine, and that what you need to do for yourself and your health changes and evolves as you change and evolve.

Habits are the key to long-term results. Not macros. Not HIIT.

Your long-term results will come from learning how to change your existing habits through developing better decision-making frameworks.

But the thing to remember is that building habits don’t happen overnight. It doesn’t happen in a few weeks or even a few months.

You have to remember, oftentimes we’re trying to undo decades of poor health habits - many of which were instilled in us during childhood.

That takes time. And expecting it to come overnight (like we talked about last week) is only going to set you up for failure.

The most important thing when it comes to building long-term habits is you need to stop focusing on the outcome and remain focused on the process.

Because here’s the thing:

If you’re constantly focusing on the outcomes, and how much fat you’re losing or how much muscle you’re adding, then you’re missing the opportunity to actually focus on the actions you need to focus on to make those results happen in the first place.

But if you put your focus where it needs to be - on the daily habits and actions like improving your sleep, reducing stress, making better choices around food, recovering, and regular activity - then the outcomes are all but guaranteed.

I’ve coached a lot of people who were solely focused on the outcomes; who placed all the value in their plan about the numbers on the scale and how they looked. And some accomplished their goals. But most didn’t. Most gave up because results weren’t happening fast enough and they got frustrated and quit.

But the clients who were focused on the actions and their daily habits - I’ve never had a single client who stayed focused on these and didn’t eventually reach their goals.

Because they were focused on what actually matters when it comes to seeing results: The actions. Not the results themselves.

Habits create actions that lead to results. And the only way to achieve the latter - permanently - is by focusing on building habits around your training, nutrition, and health.

Until next time,

Coach Jorden

PS:

Want to learn more about what it means to create your Executive Life? We have a free community where men and women just like you are learning how to effectively get in shape, have more energy, improve performance, and optimize their health on a daily basis. Get tips, strategies, and direct access to me in our FREE Executive Life Community on Slack.