Fitness is Beyond Physical

" Reaching Your Highest Human Potential " 

 

"FIT" 

What does is it truly mean to be FIT? - If one is FIT it is said to mean that one is in a positive state of wellbeing with weight management and a quality lifestyle of eating the proper food. It could also be said that a person has taken on the task of performing consistent acts of appreciation toward ones self. To be FIT at your physical health means that a person has taken on the task of performing consistent acts of appreciation toward ones personal composition goals pertaining to body mass, weight loss, cardio, muscle building as well as nutrition. To think about the idea of being FIT this can be related too many areas in a persons life that could be improved by the “FIT” principle. Now that we understand the concept of what being FIT is about its now time that we apply it to the areas of life that need the most structure in directing the path of becoming FIT. 

 

Physical Health - In most cases our physical health can be acknowledged as a desire to look a certain way on the outside. For example, most sports athletes, bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts spend time dedicating themselves in effort to look the part in relationship to their job or role. In present time the importance of physical health has become more and more popular throughout the years encouraging people of all ages to take better care of their body. Working out or exercise can be daunting for some and thrilling for others that find it easier to partake in activity. While exercise is necessary to maintain a certain level of your physical health it also requires discipline and determination to attain the goal. To increase physical health, a person can choose exercise such as walking, running, cycling, weight training, dance, yoga and much more. For those individuals that are limited in the ability, exercise options like therapy and rehabilitation can be provided in response to adapting to the environment. Physical Health is an important piece to the puzzle when it comes to being FIT. Physical health can be gained as well as lost. To maintain a high level of physical health it takes consistency over time with patience to see the lasting results. To get FIT or to improve in a given area of a persons life it takes effort and attitude. Effort and attitude are two things that only the individual can control and change at will. Working to get FIT and improving physical health will help direct a more strategic path for success in the long run. Working out and Exercise are very important for maintaining physical health however the mental structure on the inside is what drives the boat. 

 

Mental Wellbeing - Mental wellbeing is an ability to evaluate your feelings and assess how well you are doing in certain areas of life. How well you cope with your emotions, relationships, communication and the overall satisfaction of life all make up the components of your mental wellbeing. If one is said to be unstable mentally, it is not meant that this person has a lack thereof or has not an ability to stabilize themselves. To be mentally unstable a person is struggling with the ability to cope with problems or daily activities. Mental wellbeing is like muscle building, the more you work at it and develop it, the more you progress. If you don’t work on mental wellbeing then you are asking experiences to guide your mental wellbeing throughout life. If you rely solely on experience to guide your wellbeing then this could take a lifetime to achieve the appreciation needed to reach such a level that creates satisfaction within.  Each day as life goes on, there are areas of life that can cause pain, sadness or even a sense of feeling lost. As we live on earth we collect experiences and these experiences become apart of our perspective. The perspective that is received from these daily experiences can often time shape the way that we view the world. Experiences, whether good or bad will have an effect on a persons mental wellbeing. Try this exercise, take the numbers one through ten with ten being the highest form of happiness and one being the lowest form of happiness, where do you rate your happiness on a scale from one to ten. If you didn’t rate yourself a ten then that’s ok because rarely is anyone walking around happy their entire life. The identifiable component of the exercise is helping you understand where you are on the radar as of today. Since we know that mental wellbeing is like muscle building then we also know that we can work to become FIT in this area of our life. To make small improvements with your mental wellbeing it will take discipline and the ability to be open minded about what you feel is happening on the inside. What’s happening on the inside is usually reflected on the outside but that is not always proven. So what can one do to become FIT with their mental wellbeing? To improve this area of life we need to understand that nothing in life happens to us, it happens for us. If life is a reflection of the energy we put out then it is the energy that we receive that we can work with and use for satisfaction in daily activities. This means one would have to do more thinking before acting to create a responsible outcome. If a person doesn’t take the time to think before the action then it is said to called a reaction because there was no  reasonable thought first. Mental wellbeing is about the improvement within and meaningful quality of life. The activities that happen on a day to day basis should bring joy and satisfaction to ones self. It is only until a person decides not to be so hard on themselves that it is understood that it is ok to make mistakes. Mistakes are also experiences but these experiences shall have a lesson that is taught to bring the experience truthful meaning so that it may applied to life. Learning to cope with mistakes and adapt without reaction is an improvement to mental wellbeing. It is the appreciation of self that helps unveil the awareness needed to receive feelings or emotions of satisfaction. The “FIT” principle is all about improving the quality of life with small action steps at a time over time. 

 

Emotional Intelligence - Can you remember the last time you had an encounter where you needed make a quick but educated decision that keeps you safe or potentially puts you in danger? For instance, being out to eat and some guy wants to start trouble with you and your friends. Although the easy thing to do is to show how macho you are and handle the situation without thought. Let us back up a bit, do you happen to know who this guy is or why the situation transpired? Do you know if he has a weapon on him or the intention to hurt someone for no reason? It is in the split moment that you don’t know any of those things and the wrong decision could stop you from making it home that day. Instead, emotional intelligence requires the ability to reason, think logically and access any given situation without any emotion taking over the action response needed in the moment. The easy thing to do is to react out of pride and ego but where would that get you if you truly have a life worth living. Emotional intelligence can sometimes be overlooked and frowned upon because some human beings seek out control and not good reasoning. To improve emotional intelligence it takes consistent effort and patience while learning to appreciate your decision making ability. It takes emotional intelligence to have proper conservations, to manage relationships, to operate a business, and much more. Emotional intelligence is a way of life, once you learn to use it properly it can guide your entire lifestyle to an improved quality. On the journey to having improved emotional intelligence you may become more aware of personal strengths like self confidence, but you also have the ability to become aware of things such as self doubt. Simply put, emotional intelligence helps us regain the awareness to take control of what is really important to us. When you have loved ones to take care of and support it is hard not to desire the correct decision making. Have you ever been in a situation where you know that you have made a big mistake? Sure, we’ve all had inopportune moments that called for better decision making. Emotional intelligence is also what will allow us to forgive ourselves and to let go of what may be hindering improvement. The “FIT” principle is not about running as fast as you can, it is about having access to the data collected on the journey. The marathon is where we slow down and focus on endurance of the race because not everything has to happen so fast. Most fast decisions are not always the appropriate ones, rather it is the decisions that require thought first before a response that will help improve emotional intelligence. 

 

Spiritual Wellbeing - Since we now have a firm understanding of the “FIT” principle, it is safe to say that our life meaning and purpose are no different. Spiritual health can be related to a connection with culture values, morals, and seeking life’s meaningful purpose. There are many components that create spiritual health but most of these are solely up to the individual seeking appreciation by the definition. Becoming FIT with your spiritual health could also mean that a person seeks better acknowledgment of  the “WHY” factor. The “WHY” factor is the ability to pause and simply ask the question “WHY”? Why am I doing this and what is the purpose? When you use the “WHY” factor with your spiritual health you are seeking a deeper connection with life’s meaning and desire to discover purpose. As much as we can work out and commit hours to the gym focusing on the physical appearance, the same should be applied when focusing on spiritual health. Since spiritual health is not something that you can see on the surface it often becomes a more personal journey. Each of us on this earth have our own personal journey and it is during that personal walk of faith that we have the ability to seek appreciation of spiritual health. To be FIT at spiritual health your beliefs, morals and values may be tested but only to confirm that they correspond with your life’s meaning. Often times our purpose can be revealed through our passions. Passion is thought of to be where we put our energy and effort unconditionally without the notice of distraction. The truth is that we have many passions that collectively help us identify our purposeful life meaning. Spiritual health is how you carry yourself when you are with yourself and ultimately how you treat yourself. To become FIT at spiritual health you want to appreciate who you are right now to understand how seeking better spiritual health can improve your life. 

 

Healthy Habits - A habit is a regular tendency or practice that is consistently done and often times hard to give up. I’m sure you have heard the saying that humans are creatures of habit. Think back to that time when you were just a little kid and mom or dad first taught you how to brush your teeth, you also learned that it should be done everyday. You would go on to learn to take baths, get dressed, tie your shoes and much more. All of these habits throughout the years have been done over and over until you no longer have to think about completing them, you just do it. These are pretty small examples of habits to help you visualize the concept. To create healthy habits the first area of concern would be identifying any unhealthy habits a person has and work to remove those habits. It is personal to each individual to identify their unhealthy habits and actually want to change. Some examples of unhealthy habits could be eating poorly, inconsistent exercise habits, uneducated financial habits, relationship habits and more. Unhealthy habits consist of any possible area of life where a person could be doing much better but hasn’t identified or isn’t aware of the problem. To become FIT with healthy habits you may utilize the principles of physical health, mental wellbeing, emotional intelligence and spiritual wellbeing. These components all make up the explanation of the “FIT” principle. Adopting healthier habits will ultimately help a person improve in most areas of life from jobs, family, finances, nutrition and overall decision making. Healthy habits are those that give a return on investment when time is spent learning what to do and what not to do. If you were to continue making the same decision over and over then receiving the same result every time  then why would it persist if the result is not positive. This is because humans are creatures of habit. To add to the cause, a person would have to know whether the habit that is continued is a healthy or unhealthy habit. To identify unhealthy habits a person must get to know more about themselves as discussed in the segments on mental wellbeing, emotional intelligence and spiritual wellbeing. Healthy habits are those such as eating better, making better financial decisions, choosing a better circle of friends to spend time with, exercising regularly and much more. There are no limits to the healthy habits that a person can create but the idea is to create habits that give the best return on investment. When utilizing the “FIT” principle we need to consider that decision making is a top leader in creating healthy habits. The choices that you make will ultimately become the life that you live. With experience and time, our habits become that of which guides us with the ability to reach our highest human potential. 

 

Tim Buckley "Fit"