Can you believe September is almost here?! Next weekend is Labour Day, which for most of us, is a clear sign that it is the end of summer. Which also coincides with a lot of us making some decisions to start or restart some of the health goals we left on the backburner for the few hot months of the year we have.
If this sounds like you then I want to give you a little tip.
Start with the big rocks first.
If you are Stephen Covey fan you will know exactly what I am talking about, but if you’re not, let me explain.
What Stephen Covey meant, when he referred to big rocks, was your biggest priorities. And what’s smaller than a big rock? Gravel right? That would be your lesser priorities. And after gravel? Sand. Sand was your smallest priorities.
If you imagine that your life was a jar and you only had so much room in that jar, what is the best way to fill that jar with rocks, gravel and sand? Big rocks first right?
If you start with sand, and then add gravel you would not be able to fit as many big rocks. In other words, your biggest priorities would never get done.
But if you put all the big rocks in first, and then the smaller gravel to fill the holes and then the sand to fill those holes you would be able to fit a heck of a lot more.
The problem is that so many of us today do the exact opposite. We start with the least important (some would say unimportant) priorities first…like social media, email. catching up on the news, reacting to someone else’s timeline, putting out someone else’s fires etc and we leave no room for our biggest priorities.
Which means we never reach our goals.
When it comes to our health we do exactly the same thing. Instead of tackling the biggest rocks first, like exercise first thing in the morning, eating healthy food, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, we fill our mornings with sand. We scroll social media, we sleep in, we worry about supplements and the latest and greatest healthy hack like fasting or cold plunges.
And so, if you are ready to get started, or simply want to reassess your health this fall, I highly recommend you pick up the big rocks first and don’t put them down to pick up the little rocks.
Personally, what are my big health rocks?
1) Exercise. If I want to fix my diet, I go to the gym. I know I can’t exercise away a bad diet but I also know that when I exercise my appetite decreases, I make better decisions about my food etc.
2) Nutrition. If I want to be my best in the gym and in life I know I need to focus on a healthy diet. I can’t perform well if I haven’t eaten well.
3) Sleep. If I want to be able to workout hard, I know I need to be well rested. If I want to reduce my cravings and my appetite, I know I need to get a good night sleep.
4) Hydration: I know that if I am not well hydrated my appetite increases and my energy goes down.
5) Sunshine. I need to feel the wind in my hair and the sun on my face, I just do. It puts me in the right mindset to be able to do so many other things in life!
And like I said above, if I prioritize my big rocks I still have so much room left for the small rocks, and even the sand. Whereas if I focus on the sand and small rocks first, my capacity gets depleted and I run out of room for those big rocks.
As you kick off this next season of this year, make a deliberate effort to identify your Big Rocks. Then commit the time to those priorities. It’s so easy to get caught up in sand and gravel, but if you don’t prioritize your Big Rocks you will not get the Future You, you truly want to have.
Not sure where to start? Need help?? Call us!
xo Christine
