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HABITS are like WATER 💦. Here’s why ….

One ☝️ of my “soul” places…. Where the grass meets the sand meets the water meters the sky … we’re all walking, talking capsules of predominantly water.

I believe habit is like water (I’ll come back to why later).

Have you set your goals for the year? How are you progressing towards it? How are your physical goals?

Right about now, for some, is a “sticking point “ as far as adopting new/good habits towards a healthier & fitter you.

is Your will power 💥challenged?

What is “Will-Power?”

Well, there are various forms of Power – military power, horse power, financial power, political power, wind power etc

The most relevant to each of us is WILL POWER, the strength to do more than we thought we were capable of doing.

The ability to go that extra step, that is what Willpower is and everyone has a personal limit to how far their willpower will be pushed until it breaks.

Remember, to modify a habit, you must DECIDE to change…. and the most important ingredient in creating belief in change is the WILL to BELIEVE.

… so, you’ve got to keep going…. and build a powerful weapon- “momentum”.

We are affected by what we feel, certainly.

You need to start with education not motivation and letting go bad habits in replacing with good habits isn’t necessarily easy or quick.

It isn’t always simple.

Learn not only to ask questions but more importantly… to ask the RIGHT questions. Not to know the answers…. No. Simply because you have a why(s)?

There is Power in Habit.

There is power 💥in habit.

Yes, there is.

How do I know? Well….

Consistent & persistence application of habits took me to two consecutive world natural physique championships.

Being one of the best in the world in my chosen sport (or anything for that matter) requires many inputs and the adoption of relevant habits. Talent alone is not enough.

You must also have DEDICATION to the DELIBERATE PRACTISE of the DISCIPLINE you’re in.

In effect you must be DISCIPLINED WITH DISCIPLINE. This, my readers, is a beautiful definition of “love”.

Now, anyone that lifts weights (grandfathers & mothers to teens), aiming to build muscle, improve strength & health & transform their body is, by definition – a “bodybuilder”.

The competition for this physical activity is “physique contests”.

Representing Australia 🇦🇺, & competing against the best from nations around the world, I made the Finals (the top 5) in the world at natural physique contest) two years in a row. This was staged in NY, USA.

There is Power in Habit.

Feel your emotions. Think through and with your heart. Listen to your íntuition We are not ‘thinking creatures who feel’ … but instead we are ‘Feeling creatures that think”. We need to always remind ourselves of this.

With curiosity & education, I learned the half dozen (6) key habits that make 80% of the difference in reaching body re-engineering goals (for me, being in the top 5 in the world).

Working “with my body” (increasing awareness of how the body/mind/spirit works) and the amazing machine that is the human body allowed me to achieve efficient & effective results, safely.

One of the things I see after almost 3 decades of training with bodybuilding principles is many people “work against their bodies”, instead of WORKING WITH THEIR BODIES.

For example, each individual cell of the 75 million cells that make up your body is made up of 75% water. So, give it more of what it needs. Thirst should never be an indicator to drink (generally too late).

One (out of the 6 key habits) habit that was a key contribution to achieving a world class physique is:

– adequate (1 litre : 25kg of body weight) daily intake of water (h2o)

Try this one habit for 7 days – 1 week!

(Even if you didn’t change any other existing habit). Your body snd brain/mind will love you for it.

Your energy will go through the roof and you will feel fantastic!

Remember this:

The REAL power in habit is the realisation that your habits are what You CHOOSE them to be.

Brings me back to my first point I made in the beginning of this post, that habit is like water.

Water 💦 creates channels, which grows deeper & broader over time… and even when it stops flowing, it begins when it flows again, the channel/path traced by itself before.

These are the new neural pathways in your brain 🧠!

So, even if you haven’t started, that’s ok, it’s never too late to BEGIN. Just decide to begin.

Besides, LIFE is truly a constant BEGINNING. We are all just at different stages of beginnings

All the very best to you … you can do it.

I’ll share with you the other 5 key habits over the next 5 weeks that makes up 80% of your results. (Simply applying one of nature’s principles: the 80-20 principle).

Cheers 🍻!

The old man –

P.

🌺🌴💥

Changing habits – releasing bad eating habits and adopting some good ones is like facing an internal Predator. You need to ‘face the Lion’ within you. Having a conversation with a lion.
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a better life, asking questions, authenticness, awareness, Beliefs, better choices, choices, consciousness, decisions, Energy, examined life, game of life, gratitude, greed, needs, servant, slave

Needs, or Greeds?

Do you have to satisfy every desire you think of?
I don’t think so
Need, or Greed?

Don’t be a fool, you’re better than that

We have been told that the Top 1 to 2 percent of the world’s Rich people (which includes Nations), control and own 96% of the earth’s resources. I sit back and go ‘wow!”

How did it come to this? Why was it allowed to continue to happen?

I find a clue when I read up on the evolution of science and scientific thought over the last 5 thousand years. One thing is certain: Big Business is intricately connected to Big Politics, to Big Sports & Gambling and to Big Religion. That is the Macro-Business Summary of this imbalance in ownership and resources.

This has been happening before and during Biblical times, for instance, The Bible states –

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”

You, me and most of the world’s 98% are in debt to someone or some thing (bank, lender, mafia, government etc). It is just a matter of degree to you and your life. Anyone who read that biblical statement knows there is utter truth in it. Anyone who has borrowed or been in bondage to debt knows the truth of this verse.

Very often, time and time again, people get in ‘head over heels’ over debt and the mis-management of the their debt:equity ratios.

Here’s what you should do:

Look around you, many loan ‘opportunities’ are popping up all over the place in this time of perceived increases of insecurities and fears. You have to be very diligent about this process of accepting loans in these times … and at any time, for that matter. There will be many perceived ‘opportunities’ to take loans but beware during uncertain times like these, especially when there is increased fears.

Firstly, truly understand your position and your ability to service your debs – short term and long-term. Don’t be fooled in to thinking ‘no repayment for 6 or 12 months’ will make the debt ‘go away’.

Don’t be a fool, you’re better than that. You know you’re only lying to yourself if you believe that.

These times are testing, yes, but it’s important to come to grips with and remind yourself of the distinction between a need and a want.

Find your inner-peace but don’t wait too long … or until you’re a skeleton
But, don’t kill yourself with debt

Need or want

My grandparents taught me a lot in my early youth. They raised me.

As I grew up in an extended family in a communal setting, everything had to be done that benefitted the whole. We didn’t have much but my grandmother had this amazing ability to cook a large pot of food to feed the whole family. She always had an “abundance’ mentality and this was reflected in the way she spoke, walked and thought and in everything she did.

Till today, I still do not understand how she managed to feed over ten people in the household every single day.

They taught me how to not only know the difference between a ‘need’ and a ‘want’ but to make decisions on material possessions using this. I have learned over the years that – knowing is one thing but ‘doing’ is a completely different ball-game. Someone can ‘know’ but would not necessarily ‘act’ on the idea. Throughout my years on this planet so far, I am very happy to say that, just like any habit, I am close to mastering my balance between a need or a want.

I don’t have one hundred percent success rate but over eighty percent success in the key things in the key areas in life.

What about you?

What is your percentage so far? Honestly.

Don’t let your ego overtake the Real YOU.
You don’t need to be caught up with ‘the Joneses”
You don’t need to live with ‘status anxiety’ just to exist.

Master-Servant Relationship

The reality is that whenever you have borrowed from another person, in it’s most simplest reality, it is a Master-Servant Relationship and you are a servant … to that person.

Before you take that debt/loan or whatever fancy name it is called … ask youself Are you happy to feel that way?

Don’t get me wrong, that Bible verse, does not prohibit debt, no … but it certainly makes you urr on the side of caution. So, from a Christian perspective, we could interpret it as saying that any person that uses debt for any purpose, at the very least, is NOT using Biblical wisdom. They (the borrowers), may in fact, be classed as –

“Fools”

Are you a fool? Didn’t think so. Debt is important to surviving in this life but the smart choices with regards to debt is key. Don’t over commit yourself. Don’t be ‘low-level, uneducated slave/servant’. Be a sophisticated and educated slave/servant’. There is a difference. Know this difference and then …

Apply this difference.

And that ‘difference’ is your ability to distinguish what it is that is truly a need and want. Thank you grandma.

Don’t be a slave and eternal slave to this Boss “debt.
That is not the best way to live your one and only life.

The UN-Believer is the same as the UN-Provider

What else does the Bible say about uncertainty and the balance between abundance and scarcity? I’m sure, being a strong Biblical Scholar, you could find many. Here’s one I found, 1 Timothy 5:8 says –

“If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

The underlying Biblical principle relative to debt in this verse is that by taking on debt you may run the risk of not providing for your own. Because debt mortgages the future. This is where the negative effect of the ‘compound effect’ works against you. The interest upon interest upon interest on you debt locks up your future life.

It locks you up and prevents you for providing for those you love.

Therefore, this verse says that you have denied the faith and are worse than an UN-Believer. Obviously, this risk is very real and very great and … should be avoided.

Exactly.
That is exactly what many experience when they get more debt than they can manage.
They experience “Holy Shit!”

Abundance vs Scarcity

Yes, it is important to believe (in terms of keeping you less stressed), to believe in the ‘abundance mindset’ rather than the ‘scarcity mindset’ because it just helps you live a more positive life and draws more good to you than bad, if used in the right manner.

In the Bible, Luke 12:15 says –

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

It is quite obvious what the verse is trying to say – be aware and cautious and be on your guard against every form of greed. This is not, however, a matter of abundance vs scarcity.

Debt makes it very easy to fund short-term greeds; yet in doing so, we may violate the Biblical principle set forth in this verse.

The question to ask is what my grandmother told me when I was in my early youth –

“Son, ask yourself, am I funding my NEEDS or my GREEDS?”

We all have one life.

Where we end up in life has a direct correlation to the quality of decisions we have made to that point. Don’t let greed overpower your needs. Learn to discern between the two.

Your decisions are fuelled by the thoughts you have and these are based on your values and principles and belief system you adopted in your life so far. As my grandfather used to tell me –

“Be careful of your thoughts, they determine your actions; be careful of your actions, they determine your habits; be careful of your habits, they determine your character and be careful of your character, it determines your …destiny.”

As you can see, your decisions impact on your destiny in life. Learn to make good and better decisions.

All the very best in your decisions,

 

Best of Vitality to YOU,

Paul e Valentine

Vitality, Health & Lifestyle Coach/Entreprenuer

The Best of the Best.
Phil Waugh – retired ex-Australian Wallaby & Warrahs Captain willing to embrace knowledge.
Increasing his awareness towards being the BEST HE IMAGINES HE CAN BE, using my framework.
An A+ Student!

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