Foundations of Health: The Four Cornerstones
The Butterfly Effect, an idea within chaos theory, states that a tiny difference in the initial state of a physical system can make a significant difference to the system at some later point. In other words, the smallest shift extrapolated out ultimately creates a trajectory with a very different endpoint. This idea proves true in many facets of life, including health and fitness.
If you look at your current health across the plains of time, what do you see?
You can create a vastly different health landscape by simply making small shifts that push the trajectory in a different direction. Often times, as individuals adopt a healthier lifestyle, the difference between their current state of health and the one they desire can seem quite incongruent, the challenges insurmountable. But you CAN to shift the trajectory! Movement creates Inertia and even the tiniest steps can lead to BIG BIG Changes.
Take this simple Health Self Assessment
- How many meals do you currently prepare at home?
- How often do you feel overwhelmed by obligations an things you “should” be doing?
- How many hours do you sleep each night on average?
- When was the last time you had a conversation with a close friend or family member without the interruption of TV, cell phone, or some other distraction?
- In a given week, how many minutes would you consider yourself active?
- How much unstructured time do you get each week? Outdoors?
When embarking on a journey of health, take a moment to define what healthy means to you!
It is helpful to have a clear understanding of what a healthy person looks like, feels like, and acts like. Though media focus on health often identifies with the image of being skinny or having abs, true health is so much more. A truly healthy individual has a vitality and glow. Over the years, in my career of bringing health and vitality to people who were overweight, sick, weak, stressed, tired, angry, depressed, and victimized, I have found that total health comes down to 4 Cornerstones: Nourishment, Movement, Enjoyment, Fulfillment. These four areas are in a constant ebb and flow that ultimately determines how you feel, how you act, how you perform, and how you view life.
You can experience deep lifelong health by starting today!
Though it is virtually impossible to have all four areas under control at any one time, it is important to understand the role that each plays in your overall health and to have a strategy for continual improvement. Picture a Juggler with me. He has four balls that he is keeping in constant motion. He has a few balls in the air and a ball in his hand at all times. Only one ball is ever at the furthest point away from him. Managing your health can often be just like this. You have a really good handle on one area, a few areas are close to you but either getting closer or going further away. And then, one area is farther out of reach. That’s the area you have to focus on and reign back in.
Today, you might look at your health and see a trajectory that doesn’t lead to a satisfactory endpoint.
You might feel that all four balls have been thrown high in the air and you have no hope of catching a single one! I am here to tell you that you can and you WILL! Start by looking at each of these areas of health and understanding why they even matter in the first place. Identify where you need the most work and create one tiny change, nothing earth shattering. Now, repeat it and repeat it again and again and again. Slowly add small changes, create new habits and know that each one is shifting the outcome closer and closer to one you can love!