10 Secrets To Success In Health & Wealth

Always stay positive. Focus on success, not failure. For example, if your day gets so busy that your workout plans go off track, don’t dwell on the failure of that day. Instead, focus on how to make the next day better. Keep control of your thoughts rather than feeling overwhelmed. Plan again. For exercise, develop a short, convenient workout that you can do on exceptionally busy days. Never think “all or nothing.” Twenty minutes of activity is far better than nothing. In summary: to stay healthy, you need to believe that you can do what is necessary, and you have the resources available.

2. Set your true dreams and goals.

Close your door, turn off your phone, and email, and keep it that way for about 30 minutes. These could be the most crucial 30 minutes of your life. Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them. Create a list of your precise health goals (weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, exercise level, etc.). Print several copies and tape them in various places like your computer monitor, refrigerator, bathroom mirror, and full-length mirror.

Review them several times a day. Read them aloud, especially first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. In reality, make them your personal identity. Eventually, they will become more powerful than any craving for a candy bar or a cheeseburger. Nothing.

3. Take action.

Without action, goals are nothing. Don’t be afraid to start now. Define the five most crucial steps to reach your goals. Then take one step at a time. If, for example,

• step 1 is ensuring you eat a bowl of hot cereal with fresh fruit every morning,
• step 2. Dispose of calorie-laden dry cereals and energy bars in the trash, or take them to a local food bank.

Then stock up on bags of hot cereal with whole grains, readily available in the microwave. Carry a bag and a bowl with you when you travel. When you start each day with a nutritious breakfast that keeps your muscles healthy, you stay energetic and satisfied until lunch, making it much easier to stick to your weight loss goals.

4. Never stop learning.

Read as much as possible about health. When you get back home, tour the aisles of your grocery store each month and see if any new healthful and interesting products are displayed.

Choose new fruits and vegetables from farmers’ markets. Ask vendors for suggestions on preparing them. If your exercise routine becomes routine, try new classes, join another gym, or hire a personal trainer. Seek out people who look good and feel good, and discover the secrets of their success.

5. Stay strong and work hard.

Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up. There will be setbacks, but just as you wouldn’t want to ruin your career because of a bad day, you wouldn’t want to ruin your healthy life when times get tough. Failures are part of the path to success. For example:

• If a waiter forgets to bring blue cheese dressing for your first arugula salad, as you requested, there’s no need to worry. “Oh, that’s okay. I think I’ll order fettuccine Alfredo for my next course.” Don’t accept the soggy salad with cheese. Give a nod to others and keep an eye on the leftovers between one and three. You can bargain at home. Repetition and failure are not the same as failure. They only mean that you are human. 
• Come back to the drawing board, and praise yourself for all your successes so far. Like business and other commercial endeavors, failures are also an opportunity to ask, “What went wrong? How did Oreos reach the pantry?” They are a chance to fix the problem (remove Oreos from the pantry) and strengthen your commitment to your goals.

  

6. Learn to analyze details.

Gather all the information. For example,

• Take the time to read labels when buying groceries.
• Take your time when ordering at a restaurant.
• Don’t succumb to pressure from servers or friends.
• Just two minutes of questioning can work wonders for your nerves and your back.

Additionally, don’t trust everything you hear about health, especially if it comes from the media. In a recent analysis of health-related information on 100 local television news stations, researchers found that the average airtime for health-related stories was only 33 seconds.

Furthermore, they identified serious errors that could harm viewers who trust the information. There are many quack doctors out there, and many studies funded by companies that profit when data is in their favor. Find out what the research really says. In the end, always look for scientific conclusions that have been repeatedly proven true.

7. Focus on your time and money.

Like your professional goals, don’t let other people or events distract you from your health goals. Your health is the number one priority. Old habits die hard. Learning new habits takes time and money. Think about it this way: you’ve invested in the education of your children and perhaps your grandchildren. For your midlife and beyond, investing in your health education is equally important.

And what an experience it could be to learn. We live in a world where staying healthy is not the norm. No investment provides more important or better returns than the one that teaches us to love preventing illness, live well, and lose interest in unhealthy foods and other unhealthy substances we used to be attracted to.

8. Don’t be afraid to do something new. Be different.

Following the crowd is not only a recipe for mediocrity in professional life but also a definite way to bad health in your personal life. Due to specific American eating habits, the average American has over a 50% chance of dying from heart disease, more than three-quarters of American adults are overweight or obese, childhood obesity and diabetes are nationwide epidemics, and the likelihood of developing it in a lifetime is higher.

Blood pressure is 90%. Is this the path you want to take? In a skewed society, a wise person is often ridiculed as “skewed.” (We’ve all been there, laughter and jokes around the office, whispers, “Oh, she’s going again, ordering grilled vegetables.”) That’s okay. You know you’re on the right track. See it. And you can feel it. And what does it matter? Be different. Stay healthy!

9. Interact with people in a different way and communicate.

No person is an island. Learn to understand and inspire others. Be ready to be involved in or establish a support system for help in your own and others’ education. A community of like-minded friends is always stronger with willpower. Seek help from fitness trainers, chefs, doctors, nutrition specialists, and others, and then enjoy the camaraderie that follows.

10. Be honest and trustworthy. Take responsibility.

Otherwise, numbers from steps “1” to “9” will not work. Your health is your responsibility. Do it first. Don’t wait for a magic pill or a bullet. Remember, the big secret to weight loss and health is this: there is no secret. Just proper nutrition, plenty of exercise, and a healthy, positive attitude. But there is no better return on your investment.