What kind of supplements should I take? What should my heart rate zones be when I’m running vs. when I’m cycling? Which diet is best for me? Is CrossFit or Spin Class better for me? Is Detox really a thing? Which mattress is best for my sleep? Is diet soda better than regular? Which superfood should I be eating?
Stop. Yes – these are all fun questions – they make for great headlines and we’ve had expert guests covering many of them over on the Catalyst Health, Wellness & Performance podcast over the years. They are important questions for a small subset of the population. However, for the vast majority of us, until we address the 4 CORNERSTONES of health & wellness – they’re all essentially meaningless!
We’re going to dig into those 4 and how you can get a running start with each of them on this feature video. By the way, if you’re into health, wellness & performance, please consider subscribing below to stay up to date on the latest resources here on the YouTube Coaching Channel.
I’m Dr. Bradford Cooper with the Catalyst Coaching Institute and we work with thousands of people to help them enhance their lives through accredited and personalized coaching. In doing so, we’ve discovered an intriguing pattern. Most of us are so busy focusing items like those noted earlier that we ignore the 4 areas that will have a FAR greater impact on our health, wellness and performance! We’re trying to put the icing on the cake before we make the cake in the first place! (although that analogy itself might provide a hint as to why – that icing can be tasty).
Let’s drill down into the 4 keys so you can bring this back to your own life or integrate it into your coaching. The 4 cornerstones? Move – Fuel – Rest – Connect. Let’s hit each of them quickly so you have a starting point. Then we’ll circle back on the application…
MOVE – It doesn’t have to mean running a marathon or running at all! Maybe it begins with the phone strategy – never, ever using any phone for any purpose when sitting down. Whether on a conference call, checking Facebook or texting a friend, if the phone is in hand, the butt is out of the chair. Or maybe it’s getting out for a walk over the lunch hour or you’re ready for something more. The key? Reflecting honestly about whether movement is a significant part of my life.
FUEL – simple question. Am I primarily eating? (satisfying the tongue) or Fueling? (satisfying the body). Before we start pondering the latest supplement or celebrity diet, answer – and then address – this cornerstone question.
REST – if you walked up to me and asked me what one thing you could do to improve your health, wellness & performance before I knew a single thing about you, I’d put my money on sleep. Almost anyone would see positive changes across a range of areas by adding 30-60 minutes of quality sleep each night. Yet we push this one to the side while exploring the latest health & wellness headline. Folks – if you’re watching this and saying “which of these 4 is MOST important??” – in a large number of cases it’s probably this one.
CONNECT – we recently had Lydia Denworth, the best-selling author of Friendship, on the podcast and it was a great reminder of this one. Like many of you, I’m an introvert, and that certainly plays into this. But a connection with others – and this may include your faith walk as well – is critical to our well-being.
I remember when I first got into triathlons, I was reading a column in Triathlete Magazine where someone wrote in to say they were a relative rookie in the sport getting ready for their first Ironman. They listed out multiple detailed questions around wattage, speed of training and the like. I’ll never forget the answer from the coaches: It’s your first Ironman. To maximize your chances of success, Swim a lot… bike a lot… run a lot. While it provided a smile, it was also sage wisdom for US.
Yes – we can focus our time, energy and finances on the shiny fads and headlines that unfortunately get most of the attention but have very little impact in the bigger picture. Or – we can focus in on the 4 cornerstones, apply the PLUS ONE strategy, and experience better lives.
What’s the PLUS ONE strategy? Very simple, and essentially an extension of our #BetterThanYesterday theme here within the Catalyst Tribe. Wherever you are today, add a PLUS 1.
Take 5 minutes to assess where you stand in the 4 cornerstones of Move – Fuel – Rest – Connect and look for a small enhancement you can make in one or more of those. Interestingly, they build on one another. So if you improve just one of them in a small way, that will likely lead to improvement in other areas. For example, if you integrate improvements to your sleep that we emphasized earlier, research demonstrates you’ll be more likely to increase your activity level and choose healthier foods. You get the idea – in many ways it’s similar to the concept of 1+1=3. Consistent progress will have a compounding positive effect on your life as a whole, without spending your time chasing fads and headlines.
Was this helpful? I’d love to get your comments down below. And if you’re a subscriber here at the YouTube Coaching Channel, please feel free to mention other topics you’d like us to cover in the future. In the meantime, we’ll link to some related episodes on these 4 areas on the description section below.
This is Dr. Bradford Cooper of the Catalyst Coaching Institute signing out. Thanks for joining us and I’ll look forward to speaking with you soon on another feature here on the YouTube Coaching Channel or over at the Catalyst Health, Wellness & Performance podcast.
Take care everyone.
