2541: How to Create Better Priorities with Your Health AND Wellness Strategies for Better Wellbeing by Bret Gornik and Jason Loebig of LiveBetterCo

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[00:01:35] This is Optimal Health daily episode 2541. How to create better priorities with your health

[00:01:41] and wellness strategies for better well-being both by Brett Gornick and Jason Lobig of

[00:01:47] livebettercode.org and I'm Dr. Neal, your very own personal narrator. Happy Saturday and welcome back

[00:01:54] to another weekend edition of Optimal Health daily. This is where I read to you from some of the best

[00:02:00] health and fitness blogs on the web and always with my commentary at the end. And with that,

[00:02:05] let's get right to today's two posts as we optimize your life. How to create better

[00:02:15] priorities with your health by Brett Gornick and Jason Lobig of livebettercode.org.

[00:02:22] Let's first define what we mean by prioritization. Our aim is to create effective health strategies

[00:02:29] for our goals, then be efficient at them. It's about choosing the right things to focus on,

[00:02:35] meaning better priorities, then becoming good at executing them. Too many of us struggle to

[00:02:41] define what the right health markers to focus on might be. For instance, what should our macros be?

[00:02:48] How much water should I drink? How much should I run? Should I be lifting more? Organic? Supplements?

[00:02:55] It can be quite overwhelming. The problem usually lies in our nature to want to go specific

[00:03:01] right away. We want granular answers to complicated questions trying to be too efficient

[00:03:07] rather than become habitually effective. It's not an all or nothing game. Usually getting it

[00:03:13] right most of the time can move the needle on good health forward. We like all or nothing games,

[00:03:19] though, don't we? We like elimination diets, 30 day challenges and so on. We're wired to think

[00:03:25] in terms of absolutes. However, your health doesn't work like this. It's a sliding scale of

[00:03:32] good versus bad and the scale doesn't reset tomorrow. Whatever you choose to do today will

[00:03:38] affect how you wake up tomorrow. If you're going to start on Monday, you better hope Sunday was

[00:03:44] also kind of productive or else you're starting from a deficit, making it that much harder.

[00:03:50] Health priorities. Let's start with some health priorities. One, nutrition. Two, exercise.

[00:03:58] Three, sleep. Four, sunshine and nature exposure. Five, play. Six, mindset. Seven, community and

[00:04:09] connection. And eight, self development. These eight areas are a solid framework to begin your

[00:04:16] review. You've likely set some lofty resolutions this year and we'll bet at least one of them

[00:04:21] is health oriented in some way. Looking to meditate for the first time? See mindset number six,

[00:04:29] trying to read more. See self development number eight. Notice that we didn't put a recommended

[00:04:34] amount or time to any of those areas. Your first step is to simply review all eight categories and

[00:04:42] in your terms decide where you might be lacking. Better health starts with improving on your

[00:04:48] weaknesses, not doubling down on your strengths. For instance, you can't make up for poor sleep

[00:04:53] by working out twice as much. Everyone has a weakness and at least one category relative

[00:04:59] to the others and we can all improve in every category. If you're really focused on exercise,

[00:05:05] what could better nutrition do for your exercise performance? Could improving a mindset of resilience,

[00:05:11] grit and focus improve the way you look and feel? Could reading more on your fitness

[00:05:16] goals help to improve them? What about taking that physical goal outdoors? Once you've got the basics

[00:05:23] nailed down, then you can work on becoming more efficient with your time, energy and money. You

[00:05:28] can improve and develop a new skill until it's working well without it being your primary focus.

[00:05:33] There are always multiple ways to get better. That's why our business name is Live Better.

[00:05:39] The process of learning, improving and adapting never stops. You know what you're good at,

[00:05:46] but what are you worse at? This is your starting point.

[00:05:54] Wellness Strategies for Better Well-Being by Brett Gornick and Jason Lobig of LiveBetterCode.org.

[00:06:01] First, let's start with the most overemphasized part of wellness. It's that this process is

[00:06:07] somehow all or nothing. You don't have to work out for 60 minutes each time you hit the gym.

[00:06:13] You don't have to eat healthy or on diet for every single meal. You don't have to meditate

[00:06:18] for 20 minutes every day. You don't have to get 8 hours of sleep every night. You don't have to drink

[00:06:24] 128 fluid ounces of water daily. You don't have to be happy all of the time. The goal is to make

[00:06:32] better decisions more often than not. Simply, it is to make the best choice available over time

[00:06:39] more often than you don't. Certainly, the more consistent you do this,

[00:06:43] the better shape you'll be in. A consistent good night's sleep will provide more energy

[00:06:48] than a consistent 5 hours. In fact, striving for happiness may not be an effective strategy.

[00:06:55] Happiness seems to find us best when we are in rhythm, focused on our purpose,

[00:06:59] and making a positive difference for others. We aren't perfect. Your wellness routines won't

[00:07:05] be either. You'll have off days, down days and days where you absolutely get your butt

[00:07:09] kicked. The key is in making tomorrow better than today. Dinner better than lunch, and the next breath

[00:07:16] one filled with gratitude rather than exasperation. To that effect, here are the 4 most underrated

[00:07:23] daily wellness strategies for better well-being, meaning the low hanging fruit.

[00:07:29] Daily wellness strategies for better well-being. 1. Take a 10 minute walk outside.

[00:07:36] It gets you out of your desk or out of your seat, into nature, into fresh air and gets you moving.

[00:07:42] It helps clear the mind and reset our task focus or priority. It creates another stop and start,

[00:07:48] leading to better memory, task orientation, and productivity.

[00:07:53] 2. Listen to your favorite song. It's an immediate mood changer. It doesn't

[00:07:58] matter whether you get up and dance or not, although we think that can help,

[00:08:02] it takes your focus to something positive and will allow you to reset your mental focus.

[00:08:07] 3. Text a friend you're thankful for them. Gratitude, that's why. Get out of your own head

[00:08:15] and make someone else's day. Selfishly, you'll feel really good and they will too.

[00:08:20] We have less time than we think with the ones we love. Don't waste a second of it,

[00:08:24] especially if they're an out-of-town friend. And 4. Smile at a stranger and tell them

[00:08:30] you hope they have the best day ever. This might create the best moment of their day,

[00:08:35] and we promise if you do this in an elevator, they'll never forget it.

[00:08:39] We bet you smile pretty big afterwards too. The grand prize is knocking these all out

[00:08:45] in one swoop. Take a walk, listen to your song, text a friend, and then make a stranger's day.

[00:08:55] You just listen to the posts titled, How to Create Better Priorities with Your Health

[00:09:00] and Wellness Strategies for Better Well-Being, both by Brett Gornick and Jason Lobig of livebettercode.org

[00:09:07] and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:09:30] Dr. Neal here for my commentary. Just the other day, I was feeling a bit down.

[00:09:45] Nothing major but was just feeling a bit low. I didn't feel like doing anything. I had already

[00:09:50] worked out and didn't want to push myself out the door for more activity because knowing me,

[00:09:56] if I took a walk outside that would quickly turn into a jog, which would then lead me to

[00:10:01] over-exercising, I didn't feel like reading or watching TV. My body wasn't telling me it needed

[00:10:06] a nap. I was just restless and in a sour mood. Once I realized I was in a funk, I made a choice.

[00:10:14] I could continue to wallow or I could bring myself out of it.

[00:10:18] I decided to get myself out of it by doing something that today's authors mentioned in their

[00:10:23] second article. I decided to send a message to an out-of-town uncle. Now I did deviate

[00:10:29] slightly from their advice. I didn't send a text expressing gratitude, but I remembered that my

[00:10:34] uncle just had surgery and I never checked in on them. I never asked how the surgery went and how

[00:10:40] the recovery was going. So I sent them a text and said that I was thinking about them and

[00:10:46] hoped that their recovery was going well. They responded and after some light conversation

[00:10:51] over text we thought we should set up a time to actually talk on the phone and connect the

[00:10:56] next day. And after that little exchange, I immediately found myself in a better mood.

[00:11:02] So yeah, these suggestions actually do work. Alright, that'll do it for the Saturday episode.

[00:11:08] I hope you have a great weekend. Thank you so much for being here and listening every day

[00:11:13] and I'll be back here tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits.