Changing ones lifestyle from an unhealthy one to a healthy one can be completely overwhelming. It feels there are a million things to think about and a million things you don’t know.
The story of the British Olympic gold medal rower Ben Hunt-Davis is an inspiring one. The British Olympic team had not had a victory since 1912. When preparing for the Olympic games in the year 2000, Hunt-Davis came up with an ingenious question they had to answer before doing anything - will this make the boat go faster? If the answer was yes, they did it. If the answer was no, they did not. They won the race. Watch him speak here.
“Making the boat go faster” can apply to anything a person wants to achieve. It could be achieving an overall healthy lifestyle, it could be running a marathon. Choose your goal.
Whenever faced with a choice or something you want to do but you are not sure about it, ask yourself the question “Will this make the boat go faster?” or, if you prefer, “Will this make the boat move forwards?”
Shall I cook at home this evening or shall we grab a take away? The first will move the boat forward but the second one will not.
Should I spend the hour after work reading a book or should I go for a walk with the dog? Which one will move the boat forwards? If you have been sitting all day, the second option will move it forwards. If you had a hard day on your feet doing physical work, the first one will move that boat forwards. Sometimes it depends on the circumstances but we need to be honest with ourselves.
Let’s go to the pub and have beers and a pie. No thanks, that will not move the boat forwards but a home cooked dinner with one glass of wine will be fine.
Life is always about choices - the soda or the bottle of water, exercise or rest, strength work or no strength work, party or sleep, the list goes on. Just ask yourself that one simple question and let your honest answer guide you.
Things will start falling into place and you will start to feel better but know that it can’t be a fast process. It took time to become unhealthy and it will take time to reverse that. Be kind to yourself, be patient with yourself and always ask yourself “Will this make the boat go faster?" or "Will this make the boat move forwards?"