Like What You Do -- The Only Way To Improve Health And Fitness

Motivation, willpower and discipline are some of the key ingredients for every achievement. It’s not different in the areas of personal growth, health or fitness. If we really like what we do to achieve whatever goal we have set, it significantly reduces the energy we need for motivation, willpower and discipline. For growth: do what you actually really like I know this sounds obvious. But that is the main reason why we fail in many things such as diets or consistently sticking to exercise routines. If we don't like what we do, if it is hard and annoying to do, then it will only be a temporary endeavor. We will not stick to it. And soon fall back into previous patterns. This is easier said than done. But here are some ideas that will help. Do not change what you want to achieve (your goal). Change how you want to achieve your goal. There are always several ways. Pick the one that you like more, that is easier and to which you can stick consistently. If your goal is to get fitter and improve your health, then choose ways that make this more fun. You don’t have to completely change your diet and only eat salads. Start by replacing some foods. Choose sports that you like doing and you can do with friends, like playing football or go hiking on weekends in a group. In order to make it easier to achieve your goals you can also choose an online health and fitness program. Personal growth, especially in health and fitness areas, is a significant contributor to happiness. Happiness = Health + Freedom I am a big fan of Scott Adams, the inventor of the Dilbert cartoon. In his excellent book “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big” he talks a lot about happiness, its importance and how closely it is linked to health. He proposed the happiness formula which is health plus freedom. According to Scott Adams, the main measures to achieve that are eating right, exercising, getting enough sleep, imagining a great future, and creating a life with as much freedom as possible. Of course, everybody has her/his own priorities. For me and my health approach, however, these areas are essential for personal growth and eventually maximising happiness. Achieving superior health and fitness for happiness Health is our most important good. Everything else is secondary. Too often we only notice that when we are actually sick -- when it’s too late. We must appreciate our health and fitness when we are well, and constantly work on improving our health level. To achieve this we created a comprehensive lifestyle model which we call the 4 Legs of Fitness. This model integrates the key areas of health and fitness: strength, cardio, nutrition and recovery. Like a chair becomes unstable if the legs are not balanced, the same is true for our health. Our online fitness program makes it very easy to find this balance. To come back to the initial premise of this article: In order to improve health and fitness, which is a major ingredient to happiness, find a routine and form habits that you like and that make it easy and fun for you to consistently stick to it. This will not happen ove ight but gradually. About Manfred and 4legsfitness.com Manfred is the founder of the fitness startup 4legsfitness.com. He is a health and fitness enthusiast, certified instructor and sports nutritionist, athlete and overall happy person. He invented the 4 Legs of Fitness model which he published in the bestseller “From Healthy to Athletic: How to Master the 4 Ingredients to Superior Fitness.”