77 tips for a healthy mind and body starting NOW.

May 7th, 2009 |

So you know you need to make some changes. Gotta lose the gut for the summer, gotta quit smoking, gotta exercise. Gotta start saving money.

I’m going to share with you 101 tips to help you make a shift in your life to make the changes you already know you “should” be doing but haven’t gotten around to… in every area of life, not just physical. Even some tips that will help you in financial and social situations. I will be expanding on these tips on future blogs.

Since true health requires a balance of all areas of life, I will give you tips on every area of your life. I will share pearls of wisdom I have learned from my teachers and my research. These are tools that I have applied and have been proven to be reproducible– that means that if they work for me, they will work for you. I am in no wise an expert in all matters. I’m a student of Health and Wellness.

You may not agree with everything I say. I don’t expect you to. If I challenge one of your beliefs, by all means, stand up for yourself and make a comment. By the way– all these tips are just as much for me as they are for you.

Eating Well:

1. Drink more clean water. Your mother was right. Instead of FIRST focussing on cutting down the sodas, try to just drink more water. Drink water all day and watch your energy levels rise. You like the sodas a bit too much? No problem… I’ll show you an easy way (#5) to get over your soda addiction.

2. Add raw fruit and vegetable content to your meals gradually. And make sure you eat it before the cooked stuff.

I used to eat 10% raw, now I eat 33-50% raw, depending on the meal. I’ve lost weight and haven’t hungered or deprived myself at all. It was so easy I’m going to write an article about it. Stay tuned.

3. Give in to your munchies. Don’t deprive yourself. You’re not an idiot, you know junk food is bad for you….Just make sure you start out with fruit or veggies. Have plenty of frozen grapes prepared. Have baby carrots and dip, with broccoli and cauliflower ready for your munchie cravings. Cut up apples and throw some lemon juice on them, sprinkle some cinnamon. Have an orange. Eat those foods FIRST. You’ll be amazed after a while you will be craving those healthier foods. You actually survive if you don’t eat junk. Amazing discovery for me. You’ll crave less wheats, carbs, and glutens.

4. When making your meal choice, stop and think. Ask yourself “how am I going to feel 2 hours after I’m finished?” Nobody eats a grilled chicken salad and says “oh man, what the hell did I do to myself?”

5. Stop Drinking your Calories. Increasing water is one way…. Wanna know how I got over my soft-drink addiction? Just watch this video and you’ll see how.

6. Get a juicer or blender. Yes. It’s a pain in the butt to clean. I’m telling you it will save your life. In the morning, throw in carrots, apples, beets, strawberries, oranges, you name it. You drink a tall glass of all that…, you can feel your cells saying “ahhh… finally some nutrition. We don’t have to work as hard, you jerk.” Your blood sugar levels go up gradually, and you won’t feel a crash. Your food cravings will be GONE. You can last until lunch with that. Try it for a week.

7. Treat yourself as though you are a child, animal, or automobile that you love. You would put in only the best food and fuel and care, time, energy, resources, and money. Why don’t you do the same for yourself?

8. Take a high powered multi-vitamin supplement. That’s one thing you don’t go cheap on. Even if you eat organic, chances are, the food you are eating has been in transit for a long time and they lose their nutrients. Those in tropical climates have an advantage, but you gotta get your anti-oxidants. Email me if you want suggestions for the products I use.

9. Remember the good fats! Essential Fatty Acids are not ingested in sufficient amounts in our diet. We REQUIRE it in sufficient amounts to avoid skin, hair, and nerve-related ailments (among a zillion others). There’s great research out there that EFA’s in the form of fish oils have a great results in “treating” depression. The truth is, it’s not a treatment for that! If you have a deficiency, you could easily become depressed.

10. Drink alkalizing agents like alkaline water, and pure fruit and vegetable juices. When at a restaurant, ask for a lemon and squeeze the juice into the water. The citric acid acts ironically as an alkalizer after it passes into the stomach. Our acidic PH in the blood is responsible for a series of health problems. Balancing it out is important.

Getting Moving:

11. Consider daily exercise as a nutritional requirement. For the sedentary, start by adding a 1/2 hour walk a day. Nothing is as cheap and effective, and boosts your serotonin levels so easily and naturally.

12. Get a trainer if necessary to help motivate you. First, motivate yourself by seeing how getting healthy will help you attain your family, hobby, and career, and financial goals. Otherwise, you won’t ever do it.

13. Start your program with postural exercises. Your mom was right about that one too, although she probably needs help with it as well. Bad posture and poor general health are linked together in the research. Have 2-3 simple postural exercises you can do in 5 minutes every day as a break from work. Your energy will skyrocket. (Check for future update blog on posture coming up at a later date.)

14. Play a sport that requires cardiovascular endurance, fun, and a moderate to high level of skill. Not only is it good for the heart, but good for the brain as well. When you are in the pursuit of mastering a skill, you are feeding your brain and nerve system and protecting against advanced deterioration. Golf (without a cart), hockey, basketball, and climbing are great examples. Use it or lose it.

15. Meditate. Meditation, to me can be defined as any shift in awareness that brings the mind a state of re-connection with the body in the present moment. You can do that even sitting on a bus. It has been shown to lower stress hormone levels with no side effects. There’s always a meditation class going on somewhere if you need, or CD’s and DVD’s you can get for that.

16. DO YOGA (or pilates). I haven’t come across another practice that challenges the mind and body in such a manner. I’m fascinated with it and now want to learn how to teach yoga. You look at a person who has been in the regular practice of yoga or pilates for several years… Even before Lululemon existed… They all have one thing in common. They look and feel better than most of us do. They’re in better shape. They’re more integrated as human beings. They’re even sexier.

17. Have sex at least once a day (minimum), preferably with someone you love (Parental Guidance Version recommends it only if you’re married ) Even though I’m joking only a little bit, I recognize this schedule is tough to keep up with daily stresses, work, kids, resentments… I’m recommending that you make it a priority. It’s extremely good for your mind and body, and if done appropriately, a darn good workout. Can’t wait to blog about it.

18. Take dance lessons. Shameless plug. I know I’m biased, but nothing is healthier and safer (unless you were that poor girl in Milan, Italy who’s head I crashed into another girl’s head during the final hit of the song- sorry about that one, hun). Our hunter/gatherer ancestors made dance a part of their rituals. There’s a reason for that: It’s social, it’s primal, it’s healthy, it’s expressive, and it releases “feel good” chemicals into our reward centers of the brain naturally. This reduces stress and anxiety levels. Salsa classes have been described as “the cure for depression”. Dance classes are not a treatment for depression! But–if you don’t get enough movement in your life, you will become depressed. Guaranteed.

19. Take the stairs. If you’re out of energy by the time you get to the top, take it as a sign that you are in desperate need of prioritizing your health.

20. Stretch daily. Going from “downward dog” to “cobra” (yoga poses), and finishing off with the “chair” pose every day would make a huge difference to prevent back problems. If you don’t know what they look like, get an instructor to help you.

The nerves that branch out from your spine allow the brain to control every single cell and organ of your body. Stay connected.

21. See a Chiropractor Regularly. Ya, ya, of course I would say that. Think about it, though: Our bodies are exposed to stresses daily. Postural stress, work stress, chronic sitting, lifting, bending, standing, repetitive motions, as well as deficiencies in movement. You spine soaks up tension from all these daily events the way a sponge soaks up water. An adjustment “rings out” the tension so you can take on more, and keep on abusing yourself. Since you don’t live in a plastic bubble all day, it makes sense to have these movement deficiencies corrected. Hippocrates, the father of medicine said “Look well to the spine for the cause of disease” . You won’t hesitate in maintaining your teeth, car, hair, nails. You wear out your spine, and life is miserable. I see way too much of that, and it saddens me because it’s so preventable.

Healthy Social Interactions:

22. Beware of becoming “too nice”. It’s transparent–people know that everyone has two sides, and either they will see through it and avoid, or put unbelievable expectations on you to stay happy all the time. My patients wrongly assume that I’m “positive” all the time. Those same people get extremely dissapointed in me when they see I can have a bad day too. Be truthful and balanced with the expectations on yourself, and with others. Easier said than done, I know. Just work on it.

23. Become aware of your values, rules, and beliefs. Realize that as you are only expected to live your beliefs and values, others want to be appreciated for living their lives as they see fit. Resist this truth and suffer the consequences. People will go to where they are appreciated the most. And so will you.

While you're looking at someone's grass, someone else is looking at yours.

24. Whenever you assume someone else has a better deal than you…look again. Emmerson said “Envy is ignorance and immitation is suicide”. Appreciate what you got– someone, somewhere is looking at you and wishing they had it as good as you.

25. Don’t expect to have close interpersonal relationships with others if you haven’t come to terms with the relationship with yourself. Appreciate the duality that is you: A little angel, as well as a little devil. Your fears and guilts about yourself will come across to your friends. Those who are the most miserable socially are the ones who pretend to be someone they are not. Love your shadow. You don’t have to get rid of half of yourself to appreciate yourself.

26. Release the expectation that a true friend must support you all the time. You’ll lose less friends this way. Allow people to have their opinions, even though they might disagree with yours.

27. Go with your gut. Make your own decision rather than basing it on a friend’s opinion. By tomorrow, and almost every day afterwards, you will have to make a decision that might be frowned upon by some of your friends. They will respect you more if you go with your own gut, even though they may disagree.

28. Share your fears about your friends with them. You’ll be surprised at how they will open up to you. It’s a magical exercise that will connect you in ways you wouldn’t expect.

29. Look at the other side. Next time you are being gossiped or talked about, look at who is building you up at the same time. Both criticism and praise come in pairs and are designed to keep you balanced and growing. You’ll always have both– so before you get too up or down about it, look at the other side. This keeps you from getting too emotional. I learned this the hard way. The bigger my career gets, the larger the numbers of people who talk crap. It’s inevitable. Embrace it, or stay small. Imagine what Brittney and Madonna go through.

30. Connect with a group of individuals you resonate with. Going through the joys and pains of live, social interaction is necessary for growth.

31. Make your expectations clear. By constantly sacrificing yourself for the benefit of others, and not letting people know what you expect for yourself, you slowly grow resentments towards people. When you inevitably blow up at them, you feel guilty and repeat the process, until in your late 60′s you realize to keep things balanced from the get go. Don’t wait till later in life to create win/win relationships. Do it starting now. Find a better cause for which to be a martyr.

Creating a healthy relationship with money

32. Observe where you spend your money. Where your money ends up is a clear indication of your highest priorities in life. That’s where you express your own unique form of wealth. If your money goes to clothing and dining out at fancy restaurants or vacations, don’t beat yourself up if you are cash poor. Be realistic and grateful for the wealth you have chosen.

33. Pay yourself FIRST. Why would the universe invest in you if you aren’t willing to invest in yourself? The wealthy pay themselves first. Create a deposit only money market liquid account and build up a cash cushion to take away the mental stress of fear, which will be a money repellant. Imagine the freedom of working without fear of losing income, because you’ve built enough of a cushion.

34. Discover the hidden fears and guilts you have about acquiring wealth. I’ve consulted with countless individuals who resent the fact that they are broke. Behind their resentment for being a slave to money is a resentment to those who are financial masters. Do you truly believe that “it is easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than a rich man to go to heaven?”

35. Realize that money won’t buy you happiness. But also realize that poverty won’t either. Money isn’t designed to make you happy. It’s designed to make you comfortable, and give you options with your time. Appreciate it for what it is truly there for and stop repelling it. Stop putting “happy”expectations on having more money. You’ll be just as miserable when you get it, but you’ll have more options. Fulfillment comes when you are getting paid handsomely to do what you love– you’ll always have both happy and sad within that fulfillment.

36. Be aware of your monthly expenses. Ask yourself, “how much does it take to live one month comfortably for me?” If your income isn’t more than that number, take a closer look and make the changes. The “starbucks factor” will surprise you. Track where your money is going.

37. Appreciate your debt. Realize it’s there for a reason. If you don’t appreciate what purpose it has served in your life, you will forever be running away from it. It will haunt you and ruin your relationships. Appreciate it, create a strategy to pay it back, and focus on building wealth.

38. Don’t use credit cards unless you can pay them off monthly. Buying things we don’t have the means to pay for is a huge part of the reason why we are in a recession in the first place. The american dream turned out to be an illusion and is now the american nightmare, simply because people placed a higher value on things they don’ t need. Stop carrying credit cards that have a balance. Stop using them unless you have the cash to back it up.

39. Accellerate your savings. You’re going to think I’m crazy for this one. Pay yourself first, doesn’t matter how much. Start with as little as $50-$100 per month into a money market fund (liquidity). Increase this amount by 10% every 3 months. Build up to a 6 month cash cushion for all your expenses. This removes the emotional strain of living paycheck to paycheck. As you pay yourself more, you’ll notice money coming to you from unexpected sources. Trust me on this one! You have nothing to lose!

40. Appreciate the money itself. You have to be able to link saving money to that which is most important to you. Ask yourself “how will building wealth and saving money help serve my work? My family? My social life? My spiritual growth?” If you can’t come up with enough “why’s”, then there is no motive for you to save and you will never have more money at the end of your month, than month at the end of your money. Money acts the same as humans do–it will go to where it is appreciated the most.

Healthy Spiritual Growth

41. Realize that spirituality takes on many forms. Appreciate your own form of it and let others do the same with their own form. Forcing someone into your belief system is as egotistical and productive as someone else forcing their beliefs on to you. Unless they ask you about your beliefs, chances are they’re not interested.

42. Your spirituality and science must agree. Matter without spirit is motionless, spirit without matter is expressionless. You are your most powerful when your spiritual calling and material existence is working together in a state of balance.

43. Heaven is in the NOW. Assuming that everything is terrible, that we live a horrible existence and that happiness is just around the corner if we can all change and think the same way….is the definition of pure hell to me. I could be wrong, but if you can find a way to become grateful to what is NOW, then you are already there with a simple shift in perception.

44. Start a gratitude journal. Every night, before you go to bed, start thinking about exactly what you are grateful for. Even though you can focus on the things you are ungrateful for (you do enough of that, don’t worry), think of 20 things that you can be grateful for in the past and present. Don’t get out of bed in the morning without doing the exact same thing.

45. Start becoming aware of your prayers. What do you REALLY want? You will notice a simple “thank you” to God is enough. In fact, you can be in a “prayerful” state all day if you are walking around in gratitude all day, and that will basically be the answer to any prayer– when you can be grateful for what is.

46. Practice the art of surrendering to the moment. Part of our frustrations and depressions come from resistance to what is going on in our lives right now.

47. Trust yourself. Realize that if you are a tiny slice of the Infinite, then you have all the tools necessary to get through your challenge. Repeat the mantra “I trust myself completely,” or if you are Religious, you can repeat “I trust God’s wisdom and presence within me,” surrender to the moment and move forward, and observe the amazing things that will unfold. Do it right now.

Healthy Family Relationships

48. Realize that the purpose of your relationships are not to only be supportive and make you happy. It’s purpose is to force you to see the universe from a perspective other than your own. This will bring you both happiness and sadness, elation and depression. Suffering comes from the expectation that it’s supposed to only be one-sided. Think about that.

49. Realize that the purpose of your family is not to only be supportive and make you happy. Their purpose is to force you to see the universe from the perspective of greater numbers of people. This will bring you both happiness and sadness, elation and depression. Suffering comes from the expectation that it’s supposed to be one-sided. Think about that.

50. Notice how your family members display your opposite traits. Often, they seem to be interested in opposite things that you are interested in. One’s a social butterfly and another is a recluse. We might label them as dysfunctional, but there’s an order to the chaos. Appreciate them for their uniqueness rather than try to fix them.

51. Approve of yourself FIRST. You’ll notice your family members will follow suit. The best gift you can give them is someone who loves themselves. Ironically when you love yourself, you are less fearful and can be present with others. They feel more appreciated when you are present with them rather than worrying about what’s missing in you.

52. Create a win/win. By sacrificing your own needs and desires, you inevitably grow a resentment towards your loved ones. Let them know your desires and find creative ways to keep a balance of give and take. True fulfillment in a relationship can only be attained when both parties win.

53. Stop “fixing” people. Whether you like it or not, people want to be loved for who they are, not changed. If you don’t love them for who they are, they will go elsewhere. This is the greatest challenge in my life: Trying to balance “fixing” people’s ailments, knowing we have to change their toxic and deficient lifestyles and thoughts, while trying not to fix them and appreciate them for who they are. I go through cycles of extreme frustration to gratitude every day with this. This is my journey of growth. I’ve already blogged about these challenges. I’m learning this one as I go.

54. Become aware of your boundaries and appreciate them. The main reason why conflict happens in our relationships is because we unknowingly step over the boundaries of our loved ones, or vice versa. If we just communicate our priorities and boundaries, it makes a difference in the communication. It makes the other person communicate their own boundaries, which gives both parties an opportunity to bridge the gap and try to create a win/win. Try this next time. It works like magic.

55. Become comfortable being disliked. This may sound counter-intuitive, but it’s actually quite liberating. You stop trying so hard, which makes others feel way more comfortable around you. This applies with family too. I think George Costanza did this in a Seinfeld episode, and it worked well for him. If that’s not reason enough for you to try it, I don’t know what is. (Notice I didn’t say try to be a jerk… I said be comfortable with yourself even if you’re not liked.)

Maintaining Mental Wellness

56. Read about your interests. Spend time in the pursuit of them. Become a master in your area of interest. If you only read 30 minutes a day, every day, on a single subject, within 7 years you have read enough to be a master and expert in the field. If you have read 1 hour a day, you have mastered it after three and a half years.

57. Give your brain plenty of exercise. In addition to expanding your mind and self confidence, reading and constantly pursuing the expansion of knowledge keeps your brain stimulated. Your brain energy and mental sharpness are like muscles. Use them or lose them. My grandfather is 90 years old, and despite his body slowing down, his mind stays sharp because it gets constant stimulation with books, newspaper articles and crossword puzzles.

58. Play memory games. They’re available everywhere. Google it and play these games to stay sharp.

59. Start teaching what you learn. When you teach, the questions your student asks that you have difficulty with will inspire you to learn more. A teacher is a constant student. The greater your expertise in an area, the greater your sphere of influence. The more I learn, the bigger my audience magically becomes.

Career Health and Fulfillment

60. Do what you love and love what you do. Everyone knows what they love to do. If you don’t know what you want to do, just ask yourself what you love to do and start doing it. Read about it, spend time in the pursuit of things you love to do, and realize it’s not worth doing if someone doesn’t criticize or challenge you for doing it….Just do it regardless.

61. Read about what you love and become a master. While in the process of doing your unfulfilling job, read about your interest. When you are ready, you can learn how to teach it to other people who are interested in the topic you are in the process of mastering. You’ve just passed the torch and enhanced someone’s life.

62. Decide on the size of the field you want to play in. If you have a vision as big as your region, you can be a leader in your city. If you have a national playground, you will be a leader in your state. Fo a national influence, you require an international playing field. To become an international leader, you have to have astronomical playing ground. Realize that you are limited only by your own vision. Your career and influence will grow to the degree that you grow. Invest in yourself.

63. Repeat empowering affirmations: ”I trust myself completely” and “I am a genius at what I do”. Make these your running programs rather than unproductive ones.

64. Remember that you are going to die someday. Steve Jobs of Apple made an amazing commencement address in 2005 to the graduates at Stanford University (it’s on youtube!), and he suggested this unusual reminder as the students began on their career journey. Assume Career Fulfillment is your natural state. If you’re not there, it simply means that you’re not tuned into what your purpose here is. You’re going to die someday anyway, and at that moment, most of the people that were around to judge you won’t be there… In the end, the one question you want to answer “yes” to is “did I do everything I could with what I was given?” What the hell are you going to do about it starting TODAY? When is NOW going to be the right time?

65. Hire a coach. Another shameless plug. But seriously, think about it. How on earth can you achieve anything without someone to share your goals with and give you feedback either way, if you are on or off track? If you are doing your job right, you are present when you are engaged in your work. It’s impossible to stay focussed the entire time. Tiger Woods has at least one coach at a time, sometimes 3 coaches… one for his swing, one for his mental game, and one for his physical training. There’s no better investment for your physical/mental/financial health. None. Period. Find someone who you trust, that will give you both support and challenge.

66. Take you interest and learn how to create and deliver value to people. You are contributing the most to the world when you are aware of who you are and what you love to do, and you find ways of serving others based on your area of interest. If you like to weave baskets, you can be sure there are others who are into the same thing. If you keep asking yourself “how can I create value for those people?” An answer will hit you hard one day. When you then figure out how to deliver that value to others, then you are on the road to living your best life.

67. Pay yourself first. I know I just repeated myself, but it’s so important in developing your business that I can’t stress it enough. In my first day of practice, I had a $100,000 student debt. In my first month of practice coming right out of school, I made a whopping $1,500 for the entire month– hardly enough to pay all my bills. You know where my first payment went to? Myself. I payed it into my “wealth account” I created with an advisor. I put $150 (or 10% of each check from then on) into it. I continue to pay myself FIRST every month, regardless of income. Let’s just say that today, my business has grown enough that I now have given myself a considerable raise. And money is coming in from several sources that bring value to other people’s lives. And I’m contributing more to others than I ever have as a result. All because I selfishly pay myself first.

68. Commit to personal growth. When my father was an employee of a company, he used to think I was crazy for studying so much personal development and spending my hard earned money taking classes and seminars. I intuitively knew that I was the wisest investment I could ever make. Now that my father is self-employed, he’s recognizing the importance of personal growth in the growth of his business. I chuckled when I found out he’s now starting to take business development courses. As his self-awareness grows, so will his business.

69. Set Aside Personal Development Classes as an Education expense in your budget. Think about it. If you spend $1000 in print advertising, you are lucky if you get $1500 in return. After I spent the same amount in one weekend seminar, the very first time, my return of investment equated to a jump in income that equated to 5 times that same amount, only within the first month!. I discovered that you can’t put a price tag on personal growth. It’s always so ironic for me to see that the people who need it the most often say they can’t afford it, but the people who have invested in themselves always recognize the value, have seen results, and won’t hesitate to keep learning and getting greater returns on their investment. Remember this: Those that whine the most about their lives don’t really want to change their story. I personally have a tough time sitting back and staying quiet when I hear someone whine about their life. (Workin on it) You see? Personal growth never ends.

70. Love what you do. If you are doing an unfulfilling job, you can easily love it in ten minutes by asking yourself the right question: “How does my current job serve my highest values, priorities and beliefs?” Find 40-50 ways that your current work serves your greater purpose.

71. Write your own personal mission statement. Since I wrote down (back in 2006) what I wanted to be, do, and have in all areas of life, I have sat in awe several times as strange, “coincidental” synchronicities have occurred to help me fulfill it. I can’t wait to see what’s in store over the next 12 months. As my career develops, I increase my sphere of influence, network of friends, and touch more lives. Each step of the way, there is a greater challenge, greater level of criticism of people who negate you, and greater level of fear, stress, responsibility, and anxiety to overcome. That’s why having a successful career isn’t for everyone. But it all begins by knowing your mission. Put yours down on paper, read it every day, and watch amazing things happen over the next six months.

General Healthy lifestyle

72. Get plenty of sleep. Among the obvious brain function problems that can result from a lack of sleep, if you aren’t getting enough, your cells can become resistant to insulin, and you are opening the doors to a myriad of health problems that can result.

73. Get sunshine. Lack of sunlight prevents proper vitamin D absorption. This is a critical vitamin for our immune system to function properly. Flu season just so happens to be when the stress levels are high (after Christmas) and sunlight hours are at a yearly low. Moderate use of tanning beds or bright lights are a good 2nd best.

74. See a Naturopathic Doctor that you trust. You might as well try natural remedies first, in addition to the traditional medical care you are receiving. Modern medicine’s strength is in emergency management. It is my opinion that modern medicine should be avoided if you can first find answers with alternatives to drugs. Drug care is not the first answer to most complaints. Research and find the root cause!

75. Get regular Colon Hydrotherapy treatments (Colonics). It clears out the toxins and helps you absorb your food by removing particles that might have been clogging your tubes for years.

76. Learn to appreciate the art of breathing. Taking deep, diaphragmatic breaths every single day and becoming present with the breath is an amazing way to appreciate your body. You can’t live long without it. Imagine following each breath of air that flows into your lungs and alveoli, oxygenates your red blood cells to be transported into the heart to be pumped throughout the body, while at the same time those red blood cells in your alveoli have transported waste (Carbon Dioxide) and dumped it back to be exhaled. All this happens automatically, while you are asleep or waking. If all that doesn’t appear to be a magnificent miracle to you, I don’t know what is. When you take the time to go through that whole automatic daily ordered system that is you, it gives you a bigger appreciation about what the purpose of life is, and how our stresses, frustrations, resentments are all so meaningless. When you are undergoing stress, the best way to instantaneously lower your stress response hormones (that are slowly killing you) is to stop and become aware of your breathing. Appreciate what your body is doing, even if your heart rate and breathing increase. Your body is working for you, for your survival. Appreciating this fact is the first step to becoming healthy in both mind and body.

I’ve become obsessed with researching tools to empower all areas of my life– Health being the top priority. What good are friends, family, money, job, hobbies, vacations, if you don’t have your health? The choices we make every day either make us stronger or weaker. I’ve given you some tips that I know will help you become stronger in mind, body, and beyond.

Realize that you never get there. It’s all about the journey. I’m working at it every day, and sharing what I learn. The best belief shift I can give you towards your overall health is the belief that your body is actually working for you. Your symptoms and illnesses, and challenges in life are put in front of you as mirrors for how you are living. If you don’t like what you see in that mirror, it’s time for you to take a look at how you eat, move, and you think (Fear, guilt, anger, and resentment are all toxins to the body– and I will share the research on that one with you some day) . If you don’t change all 3 of those things and get them all firing on all cylinders, don’t expect to live a healthy and fulfilling life.

You are more than your body. This body you are living in is a vehicle for you to fulfill your purpose, and you are going to die someday. Most of us walking around are completely asleep to this fact. Discover who you are, find out what you love to do, make your health a top priority so you can go out and do it. Take care of your vehicle… You can’t trade it in for a newer model.