Coach Oz here,
As I currently undertake some professional development of my own, I thought what a great topic for this week’s post. We all have periods in our lives where health matters more (or less) and we look to make sacrifices both for the good and the not so good. I believe professional development can take on many forms, not just as it relates to your career advancement or continuing educational training but also your healthy behaviours while working/at home, self-confidence, health impact on the people around you and key factors that enable you to do the best you can within your position (i.e., posture, flexibility/mobility, sustainable energy, stress management and work capacity).
Summer is in full bloom and for those of you who are in the “ready to make a change” stage but haven’t yet fully committed, consider a few of these great fool-proof strategies aimed at creating a better professional “YOU”.
1. Become more knowledgable in your personal health
Look to learn more about all the various aspects of health and wellness by reading books, websites/blogs, podcasts or attend health-based seminars/conferences on a regular basis. I have always stated that you are best doctor and nobody knows your mind/body more than you. By opening up your mind and body to new and different health methods you may just find your overall health changing for the better.
2. Focus on your physical/mental weaknesses
Whether its muscular or flexibility imbalances, poor stress management coping skills, unhealthy/inconsistent nutritional habits or poor health-related issues (BP, cholesterol, sugar levels) make it priority number one and address 1-2 weakness areas over the next few months. Baby steps foster significant gains.
3. Failure to plan – plan to fail
Set specific goals and timeframes and assess your baseline(s) prior to starting and every few weeks to analyze your progress. Post little notes with your goals/timeframes EVERYWHERE (workplace, kitchen, living room, cell phone, computer, dashboard of your car, etc). The old saying “out of sight, out of mind” holds true for many of us and when making lifestyle changes (which will be challenging) you need to be constantly reminded of your goals in order for adherence to your committed plans.
4. The 90% 80% Rule
Be consistent 80% of the time with your nutritional and activity habits but allow yourself to have room for minor setbacks/time commitments and to reward yourself for achieving your goals and body composition targets. If you can be 90% then all the better in terms of further accelerating your results but for those of you who find it hard to be strict the majority of the time or cut out bad habits cold turkey then the 80% rule is proven to be more sustainable for making positive progress. The 80% rule for dietary habits forces you to be strict for the majority of your meals during the week, however, you can allow yourself a little leeway and reward yourself for your weekly commitment one day a week. (*I suggest choosing 1-2 meals one day on the weekend where you enjoy yourself with a moderation of your comfort “indulgences”, any more than 1 day of “cheating” increases the likelihood of prolonged cheating leading to nutritional failure and halting your progress).
5. Having social “health” connections just plain work
Are you looking to ensure progress? Need constant external motivation to stay on track? Do you work harder as part of a team rather than alone? Having social connections that directly relate to your professional “health” development is one of the best strategies you can establish. Such connections can include your workout buddies to provide motivation and guaranteed workout attendance, workplace “military sergeants” to watch over your every nutritional choice, and immediate family for positive reinforcement and motivation especially during any potential setbacks. Lastly, look to follow health-conscious people/groups/friends on social media such as twitter or facebook to further establish a health-changing mindset and for a community-like environment. @healthyliving, @greatist, @inspire_us, and @fitnesspsych are a few people I follow on Twitter and Real Food Market, Food Inc, and Mind Body Green are a couple of groups I follow on Facebook.
6. In the words of Nike – JUST DO IT! (nuff said)
Owe it to yourself to always never settle for status quo and aim to focus on your physical and mental weaknesses and enhance your “true” capabilities both personally and professionally.
Eat, move, live….better!
Coach Oz
