Questing

Questing is an essential part of any computer adventure game. In a quest the hero receives a mission from the bland like “fetch 10 tree bark samples” to the extravagant “find your lost son that was taken from your wife while you were in cryo sleep.” The longer quests are  the more steps involved. Fetch wood bark is simple – find trees and collect the bark. To find your son in the Wasteland from Fallout 4 you start out with no idea who took your son, where they went, or any clues. You start out surviving and eventually you gather enough information to follow the breadcrumbs of a trail.

When trying to make healthy choices I like to think of new habits not as chores or “work,” but as quests. When you master one quest you get the reward and the ability to take on more challenging quests.

Today I took on the quest of walking. This is a fairly simple quest. But let me take you through the steps:

1. I chose a time to walk
2. I chose how long to walk – about 20 minutes
3. I chose the right sneakers and clothes to wear
4. I got a partner to walk with me
5. I decided on a route
6. We actually took our walk
7. After the walk I drank some water and rewarded myself with some TV time

Sure, this is a very beginner quest, but without the beginner quests here isn’t the opportunity to take on the more advanced quests – like running a 5k.

Walking is a daily quest. A set of walks is called a weekly quest. Maybe the reward for completing a weekly quest is something greater than TV. A string of weekly quests is an adventure.

It starts with the one daily quest.

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No Excuses

“If it’s important you’ll find a way. If it’s not, you’ll find an excuse.” ~ Ryan Blair

What keeps you from working out? If you are like me, you have plenty of good reasons why you don’t work out. It’s winter now and I don’t like the cold. So I am not walking or running. Fresh fruits and vegetables cost more. I needed to finish the last episode of Sherlock so I stayed up an extra 45 minutes. People are extremely good at rationalizing the reasons why they continue to use bad habits.

In reality, the reason people live unhealthy lifestyles is because they choose to live that way. Here is an example of someone who could have given up, but didn’t. Last week driving to work in sub-30 degree weather I saw a man in a jogging suit running in the dawn sunlight. At first the person did not register as a jogger because the running style was unorthodox. I realised this man had some sort of condition that impacted either his bones or muscles which caused his arms and legs to move in a jerky motion. He wasn’t moving very fast. He wasn’t moving very smooth.

Yet he was out there. He was running. He was taking care of the body God gave him. He had no excuses. He did not give up and say health was out of his reach. He persevered and struggled and beat down the excuses.

The power of will this man possessed is available to everyone. I might not be an olympic runner, but I can run. If he can do it with his condition I can do it to, and so can you.

Love Yourself

“When you catch a glimpse of your potential, that is where passion is born.” ~ Zig Ziglar

Objectives, Purpose, Activity

I love Tony Robbins. He energizes me and makes me believe I can actually make lasting changes to my live.

When discussing healthy habits most people know what they need to do. Eat less and exercise more. Get more sleep and drink more water. Stay away from sweets and soda. The activities of a better health are obvious. So why do so few people who start a diet or a wellness program actually reap results?

Missing Objectives

Clearly identifying objective is key to change. “What do you want?” Losing weight is an objective, but might not be exactly what you want. I want to be able to keep up with my teenager. To do that I need to lose weight, but the real objective is quality time with my son. I also need to keep my sugars under control. The objective for cutting out soda is a long and healthy life with my family, not necessarily low sugar.

Missing Purpose

Purpose is the fuel for life change. The why to an activity is very powerful. A strong emotional tie to an activity correlates to completing an activity. Why do I want to live a healthy lifestyle? And who am I going to do this for? I want to feel good about myself. I want to be able to live long enough to see my grandchildren. I want to be a blessing to many generations of people. Generating emotion for an activity leads to completing an activity.

Missing Activity 

Finally, people do not complete life changes because intellectually they know what to do, but take no steps towards progress. Without clear objectives and clear emotional purpose change becomes a burden. Like anything difficult or new going back to old habits are comforting.

Listen to the video above. Does it resonate with you? Do you have a clear objective, purpose, and activity? Listen to Tony’s message an develop a massive action plan of your own.

To learn more about Tony Robbins please visit his web page tonyrobbins.com