Learning “The Way” Through Fitness and Nutrition

Losing weight and getting in shape is one of the hardest things you can do.

The evidence is all around us. 73% of American adults over the age of 20 are now considered overweight or obese. And we know that most people who lose weight, will regain almost all of it. To be in shape is to be in the minority.

The odds are against you. Taking control of your health is an unfair fight. You’re choosing to go up against scientists in white coats whose job it is to make food as addictive as possible. You’re up against the best marketers in the world who have unlimited budgets. There’s a reason slot machines, Instagram and Froot Loops all use the same color schemes. The goal is to get you hooked and keep you coming back for more.

Being in shape is great, but it won’t make you happy. What it can do is teach you how to do hard things. It can teach you a process that you can then apply to any area of life in which you want to improve or drastically change.

After losing significant weight or accomplishing a physical feat, that once seemed impossible, everything else in life starts to look possible. You’ve built evidence of yourself being someone who does hard things.

The Way

The Japanese swordsman and philosopher Miymoto Musashi wrote that, “If you know the way broadly, you will see it in everything.”

What does this mean?

It means that when you accomplish one difficult thing, you see what it takes. And then you take that same process and apply it to the next goal.

When you take control of your health and your body, you can take control of anything. If you can lose weight, see your abs or run a marathon, you are on uncommon ground.

All of a sudden you realize there are other areas of your life where you can apply the same strategy and have success. Ask yourself: Where else in my life, if I set a goal, set a plan and delay short term pleasure, can I make drastic changes?

Once you make the healthy choices day after day it’s easier to sit down and write every day. It’s easier to wake up early and spend an hour on a business plan.

Training your body, be it through physical endeavors or nutritional goals, trains you for life. You choose not to quit. Then you take that mentality like a hammer to every other area of your life.

Don’t like your job? Set your sights on something new and start chipping away at it. Like losing weight or running a marathon, understand it won’t happen all at once. Understand the path won’t look exactly like you imagine at the beginning.

Set clear goals then let them guide you. It makes every decision easier. Say yes to the things that bring you closer, say no to the things that take you away.

How We Slip

I think the reason most people regain weight is because they make the mistake of thinking there’s a finish line. They want to know that once they hit a certain weight or finish the marathon, they can let up. They make the mistake of thinking they’ve earned it for life.

There is no finish line. And the easiest way to prevent yourself from falling into this trap is to already be pushing towards the next goal. Health is an ongoing process, not a destination. It’s a daily choice.

What You Get

Taking control of your health changes you. Not because when you reach certain weight you’ll be blessed with some magical aura, but because you’ll know what to do. It takes you from being a person who thinks and talks about what they’re going to do, to a person who does.

You’ll know how to execute on anything you want to pursue because you’ve already executed on one of the most difficult pursuits you could’ve chosen for yourself.