I've long been an advocate of long-term thinking when it comes to planning your health, fitness, performance and lifestyle
For as long as I can remember the fitness, diet and wellness industry has been dominated by short-term thinking: “7 day blast”, “abs in 14 days”, 30 day plans, or, at a push, 6 week plans. In contrast to this for many years we've been encouraging people to think about where they want to be, how they want to look and feel in 12 months time - as realistically that's how long it takes to really transform your health and lifestyle.
I don't believe we went far enough.
I now think it's crucial for us to look even further ahead into the future: We need to be thinking about the next decade…and even the decades beyond that.
Why?
Several reasons:
LONGEVITY - It is now clear that the origins of many long-term diseases that have the potential to hijack our health can begin years or even decades before we notice them. Nothing is absolutely guaranteed with our long-term health of course, but the more we learn the more we are discovering that to a large extent we can choose how we fast age and we can choose what our physical and mental capabilities will be into our 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. Then it goes without saying that the sooner we make those choices, the better our chances and the less difficult it will be to make it happen
OVER-FOCUSING ON SHORT-TERM FADS - this fuels the on-off, yo-yoing diet culture that still pervades - that's not building a lifestyle - and let's face it: It's never worked!
BEING INSPIRED BY YOUR GOALS - As Simon (Sinek) would say, you need a big enough “why”. Sure, shifting a few pounds now is often a good idea and quite appealing, but is it really as motivating as a goal as the following?
making sure you live longer
reducing the chances of getting debilitating diseases
having the ability to travel
continue with your hobbies and pass-times, take up new ones
see and participate in your grandchildren growing up
keeping your independence
do the things on your bucket list
having the ability to lead an extraordinary life rather than a little-bit-better than average one
That's why we need to plan for decades down the line but start taking action now:
If you're in your 30s and 40s, that work starts NOW
If you're in your 40s and 50s, it's imperative you get cracking!
As we head into that time of year when people start planning for 2026, inevitably health and fitness will come into focus.
So my message today is not to think too much about how much weight you want to lose in January, but to ask the bigger and more important question that needs addressing:
“How do you want your life to look 10, 20, 30 or 40 years from now?”
Then plan and act accordingly
Thanks for reading,
Darren
