First the Head, then the Heart

Oh, I know what you’re thinking.

Sid, it’s about the heart first. Follow your heart. Listen to your heart.

And, you may be right if I were talking love.

But, I’m not talking about love, even though I could. I’m pretty darn qualified to do so.

I mean, I’m one of the few who knows that Notting Hill is the best romantic comedy ever, and that Love Actually is one of the worst.

Not relevant right now.

I’m not talking about romance or love.

I’m talking about getting healthy and strong.

And that, dear friends, is about the head first, and much later, the heart.

Too often, when we desire a change for better with our health, we go straight to the body (read: heart). Fitness, diet. We think, “get the body healthy.”

We think…

But alas, most of the time our efforts come up short in the long-term. Our improvements don’t last.

Know why?

Because we didn’t start with the head.

Many who have worked with me privately (before I launched Small Steppers, that is), know that while most have come to me to talk diet/food, I immediately kick that can down the road.

“We’ll talk about food later on.”

That’s right. The subject they want to talk about most I don’t talk about until much later.

Because…in order for me to do my job, which is to give them the tools to get to their desired level of health, strength, and happiness, I gotta talk about the head first. Always head first.

Before they make any moves on the body, they gotta get some things straight: their actual goals (i.e. not a scale weight), the ridiculousness of quick fixes and diets, the awesome but hard work ahead, and how to manage their stress in order to avoid overwhelm.

That’s all head-stuff.

Tools that help with this? Deep breathing, meditation, journaling, and even therapy and/or counseling if they think it’s necessary.

In other words…they get their heads on straight first.

In other, other words, in order to be a healthy and strong person, you’ve got to BE it, long before you look it.