Hi and welcome to this week's 50 & Beyond Health & Wellbeing blog. Each week I will provide you with knowledge, tips, advice and recommendations to inspire you to sustain good metabolic health specific to being over 50. Chris Deavin, myHealthCoach
Over the last couple of weeks, I have shared with you the first two reasons why most people don’t achieve the body, fitness, strength and health they desire. Today, I want to share the third one with you. The lack of tactics.
The first reason people fail to have the body they want is not having a strong enough ‘why’. When you don’t have a strong enough reason to change, you will not be able to persevere through the challenges and barriers that come with wanting to change.
The second is not having clear enough strategies on ‘what’ it will take to change and leave things to chance.
I recommend going back and reading the first two parts of this series, as it will help you understand the third reason better.
What Are Your Tactics?
Failing to establish the ‘how’ when it comes to changing where you are currently to what it is you want to become will undermine any good intentions you have and all the time and effort you put into achieving the change you want.
The ‘how’ is how you implement the habits and behaviours you will need to follow consistently to achieve the desired results.
How will you go about achieving the body you want? How will you implement the strategy you have come up with to improve your strength and fitness? How will you ensure you don’t fall back into your old ways?
It is one thing knowing what to eat, what exercise is best and what you need to do to manage your life better. But how do you actually go about doing it?
How do you execute the strategy (the what) you have come up with to achieve the vision (the why) you want?
There are three primary ways to make sure you deliver the right tactics.
Record your process
Measure your outcomes
Review and adjust your tactics
Record Your Process
What is your plan? What do you need to do to see the results you want?
Is it a specific meal plan you know will work? Is it exercising first thing in the morning and not leaving it to later in the day? Or is it going to bed at the same time each night, so you wake up feeling fresh and energised?
Whatever your tactics are, it is down to your ability to repeat them until you get the desired result.
You will become more successful at implementing a tactic consistently if you have a process that you can follow every day.
For a meal plan to work, you must first have a process that ensures you have the right food to make the meals. If you want to exercise first thing in the morning, ensure your training gear is ready to go when you wake up. If you want to make sure you wake up fresh and energised, turn off all distractions (TV, internet, gaming) at the same time each night.
If you don’t have a process laid out, you will leave things to chance. Therefore, success will be hot or miss.
Measure Your Outcomes
To know if you have the right tactics, measure what outcomes you are achieving.
If your goal is to reduce overall body fat and look in better shape, how will you measure if your tactics to achieve this are working?
If you want to achieve a fitter and stronger body, how will you measure if the training plan you are implementing will deliver those results?
If you don’t measure your results, how will you know which tactics are working or not? Don’t blindly follow a plan and hope you will achieve what you want. Keep a constant eye on the results you are achieving before you go too far down the wrong road.
Review And Adjust Your Tactics
If you measure your outcomes, you will be better placed to adjust any tactics that are not working. And don’t worry, not every tactic will work. It’s knowing when it’s not working and changing to a different tactic that is important.
Constantly review what you are doing. Is the meal plan you are following something that will be easy to follow or become too challenging to do consistently?
Does exercising first thing in the morning fit in with the rest of your day or make the rest of your day more challenging?
Does getting to bed at the same time each night fit in with other people in your life, or does it put a strain on the relationship?
What seems like a good tactic to start with can quickly become more of a chore and unrealistic when it encounters the real world.
You need to be constantly reviewing and improving on what you are doing to achieve the changes you want. Successful people routinely give up on tactics that don’t move their strategy and vision forward.
Conclusion
If you have a strong enough reason to want a healthier, fitter and stronger body and have the right strategy to achieve it, don’t mess it up by not being able to apply the right tactics.
Create a process on how you will deliver the right tactics. Measure your outcomes so you know that you are applying the right tactics. And keep reviewing and adjusting your tactics as you go along so as to avoid ending up going down the wrong path.
Are you struggling to stay consistent and reach your health goals? Here are a couple of ways I can help;
Free Health Plan Review
Get feedback and recommendations on your current health plan and what you can do to improve it and get even better results;
Free Health & Wellbeing Assessment
Not sure what sort of health plan you need to follow? Take my free health & wellbeing assessment, and I will send you a comprehensive, personalised health plan that you can start using from today;
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To learn more about improving your health and what I provide as a health coach, feel free to email me any questions via myhealthcoachuk@gmail.com. Happy to help in any way I can.
Chris, myHealthCoach