Building a Foundation of Confidence & Control
Unlocking our potential by focusing on one foundational pursuit
Every Sunday, Prompted delivers insights and prompts designed to help readers become a bit better each day.
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The first wealth is health.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The most important thing we can do is exert control over the basic tenets of our day.
To do anything worthwhile we need a foundation of confidence and control.
We hate feeling out of control. Our lives are significantly worse when we feel like we cannot influence our outcomes.
Even if our actions are small, exerting control over our lives has powerful ripple effects in all areas of our lives.
The wildly popular book “Make Your Bed” written by Admiral William H. McRaven demonstrates the power of a seemingly trivial example of taking control.
Simple chores are great, but the true foundation of our lives is our health. Without it, nothing else matters.
If we’re sick, tired, cranky, or otherwise physically or mentally compromised, there will be significant negative consequences to our relationships, our work, and our lives as a whole.
The choices we make about our diet, exercise, and sleep are the foundation of our well-being.
Done properly, they amplify everything else that we pursue.
Done poorly, they drag us down and hold us back.
Health choices also have an outsized impact on our lives because we make them every single day multiple times per day.
Every day we’re faced with the choice to exercise, countless decisions for our diet, and the familiar battle of getting to bed on time.
When we’re not making the right choices in these departments, not only does our well-being take a hit, but it contributes to the foreboding feeling that we don’t have control over our lives.
Every day we don’t exercise, every time we choose the easy meal instead of the healthy one, and every time we stay up and/or sleep in too late we’re proving to ourselves that we don’t have control over the most basic and important aspects of our lives.
Feeling we lack control, combined with the physical and mental consequences of poor health choices makes everything else in our lives more difficult.
However, if we make the right choices with regard to our health, everything else becomes easier.
We look better, we feel better, and we have more energy.
We also prove to ourselves that we are in control when we eat right, exercise, and sleep enough.
When we prioritize our health and fitness we create an unshakeable foundation to pursue everything else.
If we try to make progress on other worthwhile pursuits before we’ve built the foundation of our health, then we’ll always be fighting an uphill battle against lethargy and imposter syndrome.
Before we kick off a big road trip we always ensure the car is packed carefully and topped off with a full tank of gas.
Pursuing progress in our relationships, careers, or any area of life should be no different.
We need to make sure our bodies and minds are well taken care of and primed to push us forward instead of holding us back before we attempt to improve the other areas of our lives.
Prompts
On a scale of 1-10, how much control do you feel like you have in your life?
What would you consider the foundational habits or pursuits in your life?
What is the most basic version of success with regard to your weekly habits for exercise, diet, and sleep? How can you prioritize these above everything else?
Deep Dive
Importance of Sleep for Health and Performance
A short blog post detailing the negative impact of the average American’s sleep habits and the benefits of proper sleep.
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next Sunday.
Kevin
You’ll get no argument from this fitness freak on health and fitness (and nutrition!) being the foundation for a successful life. Good one today, Kevin!
I make my bed & exercise every day not because I know that good habits lead to more good habits. It's not perfect by any stretch but it makes a difference.