If you’re reading this, chances are you don’t have a “normal” schedule.
Salespeople, business owners, entrepreneurs…we simply do the work until the work is done (except it’s never done, but that’s a topic for another day).
To live healthily, we must first establish a foundation to build upon.
Too many people get caught up in intricate details of diet and exercise when they haven’t done anything, to begin with.
The Blueprint of a Healthy Entrepreneur
You don’t construct the walls of a house before the concrete slab is laid.
Don’t skip the necessary pillars upon which your health and wellness are built.
Exercise
We’ll start with the easiest piece of the puzzle, regular physical activity. It’s no secret exercise is good for us, not just for our physical bodies, but our mental health as well.
I often hear “I don’t have time to work out.” It’s probably my favorite excuse because it’s absolute bullshit, and it’s a story you keep telling yourself to prevent you from taking action.
If you “don’t have time”, what you have is a time management issue. I’ve yet to meet a single person in my life who cannot carve out at least 30 minutes a day to purposefully move their body.
Here’s what you need to know. Working out does not have to be some giant, formal undertaking taking up hours each day. If you can go to a gym, do it!
I’m incredibly partial to weight training and all its benefits. However, if your time is truly limited, you can always just run outside, do calisthenics (pushups, situps, squats, jumping jacks, etc), go to Amazon Prime and find a workout video to follow along, hire a coach (I know a guy) to give you time-friendly, customized workouts, etc.
There are a plethoric amount of ways to get your exercise in and still be efficient with your time. You have to decide it’s important enough for you to stop making excuses and start taking action.
Nutrition
Nutrition is where MOST people struggle on the health and wellness continuum. One of the biggest issues is the vast array of conflicting information on the “best” style of eating.
Let me quantify this for you: the best “diet” to follow is the one you’ll be most compliant. There are many ways to fuel your body with proper nutrition.
Doing so keeps your mind sharp, your immune system high, your energy levels up, and allows you to do what we all need to do every day, perform at our highest level.
If you’re starving yourself, eliminating entire food groups, and all you can think about is food, that’s not a sustainable plan.
On the flip side, if you never give a second thought to what you’re shoving in your pie hole every day, and never have a plan other than “find some food”, you’re driving yourself down a path to obesity, sickness, and disease.
Once again, don’t tell me you don’t have time to food prep/grocery shop/meal plan, etc. It’s far too easy these days to order groceries online, order healthy prepackaged meals shipped directly to your door, or simply take the time to do these things yourself because it’s important.
Here are the best guidelines I can give you towards what your eating should look like regularly:
- Lean protein at every meal
- LOTS of veggies
- A moderate amount of fruit
- Healthy fats (avocado, raw nuts, olive oil, etc)
- Limit alcohol as much as possible
- Limit/eliminate highly processed foods (snack cakes, sugary cereals, frozen junk foods)
- Drink mostly water, and a lot of it
Follow this and you’ll be ahead of about 90% of the U.S. population!
Stress and Sleep
Stress and sleep don’t get talked about nearly as much as they should, but for those of us who are solely responsible for our income, and sometimes that of others if you have employees, they can be detrimental if not addressed appropriately.
A healthy amount of sleep is 7-9 hours per night. Less than that and your health will suffer. More than that will cause other issues.
Again, many people have a time management issue (myself included at times), so if we’re not getting all the things done in 17 waking hours each day, we may want to evaluate how we’re spending our time.
To help foster good sleep, set up a routine of turning off electronics at least 45 minutes before bedtime. Make sure your room is dark and relatively cool. Allow your mind to settle, and write down all the things you need to do the next day to clear your thoughts. When possible, have a regular bedtime each day to instill consistency over time.
Regular sleep can drastically help reduce stress. When we sleep, our bodies repair themselves, so getting enough sleep aids the process and reduces the physical stress our bodies feel each day.
On the mental side, most of you should be familiar with Ryan Stewman’s GCode.
Part of the GCode is recording gratitude and wins each day. We are often our own worst critics when it comes to performance each day. It’s easy to go down the rabbit hole of all the things we should and could have done.
When we start our day off with gratitude and end our day recording our wins, we positively frame the day. By putting our focus on those things we can control, we’re able to see our progress and not let the stressors of everyday life infiltrate our minds.
At some point, we all realize our health is our wealth
We can do all the things and make all the money and build the companies, but if we sacrifice our health to make those things happen, and spend our later years giving our money to doctors and hospitals, is it really worth it?
If you know your health is currently subpar, start implementing these guidelines to make sure you’re able to fully enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Aaannnddd GO!!
