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- The 1 in 60 rule: where are you headed?
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Good morning, 66.1ers.
Where are you headed?
Maybe you’ve seen this from Sahil Bloom?
Apparently there’s a thing in aviation school.
If your aim is off by just one degree, you’re going to be way off the mark over the course of a flight.
You can apply the logic to all sorts of scenarios.
But you’re here to increase your health span beyond the US average of 66.1 years.
So let’s try applying the principle to your health.
Let’s say you’re 35-45 (most of my clients are; this is old enough to realize your mortality, young enough that you still believe you can change).
Continuing to paint the picture: you’re 20 pounds overweight. Blood pressure is in the “keep an eye on it” range. If you were a car, your maintenance required light would be on.
What will life look like in another 10, 20, 30 years? Will you be able to get on the floor and play with your grandkids? Will you succumb to chronic disease before the American average of 66.1 years old?
Let’s work backwards. How can we correct the course so you don’t end up on a study like this one I’m a part of for my day job?
As with anything bad, better to fix it early. But, oftentimes, the pain isn’t bad enough early on to realize that you have a problem. 5 pounds of belly fat didn’t really slow you down. Then your shirts got a little tighter. Now your knees hurt when you go on a run.
Here’s a helpful visual from Michelle Curran on LinkedIn:
So, here we are.
Time to fix.
Get back on the right path.
How?
Step 1 (this is the fuel in your rocket; don’t even try to change if you don’t have fuel): figure out why you want to change. Why do you want to lose weight? Is it so you can look better? Feel better? Compete in the race you registered for? That’s a start. But I’m not sold. Vanity is kind of motivating. Know what’s much more motivating, though? Relationships. Social accountability. Shame. Pain.
All the most successful clients I’ve worked with are motivated by a relationship (or relationships) in their life. They have kids they want to be there for. A spouse they love, who they’re holding back. It might be that they have coworkers they really want to show up for.
Find that why and now your rocket is fueled.
Permission to proceed to Step 2.
Step 2 is to build your system.
If you’ve fixed your problem once before, good. You have some tools in your belt. Weight loss, injury rehab—whatever it may be, we’re going to deploy those tools to tackle the problem again today.
In that system, you might want to include an expert.
Someone who can help you stay on track, to shave years off your path between where you are and where you want to be.
Step 3 is to make it sustainable.
I was working with a client this week who’s rehabbing an ACL. Walking is part of her program, but she’s prone to walking too much today and then having to take 2 days off. Now we’re working on shorter walks, every day. If it’s not sustainable, we’re going to fall off course again. Here’s our exact conversation.
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