“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”—Benjamin Franklin
I have been thinking this morning about the difference between having a growth plan and merely living a healthy lifestyle. The idea of “well-centered fitness” is to be balanced among the Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social dimensions. But, is balance, alone, enough? Well, no. Of course, we need to be pursuing constant growth—be your best today; be better tomorrow.
It is easy, as one starts down this path to simply form habits that over time become routine. Admittedly, I have gotten to that point of stagnation myself a time or two. While habits are challenging to establish initially, once an activity has become a regular practice—something we do every day—it begins to hold less and less significance. For example, few probably give any thought to brushing our teeth in the morning or before bed any more. We just do what we have “always” done. The practice of being well-centered can become repetitious—we get up, we journal, we exercise, we read, etc.—not giving any thought to why or asking the question, “am I improving.”
Maintaining our routines is certainly healthy, but we must have a plan for growth. In exercise science, we refer to this as “overload”—in order for a body system to adapt, it must be stressed to a level greater than that to which it is accustomed. The dimensions of wellness are no different. Growth is not haphazard. Our efforts to grow must be purposeful and intentional.
I see personal well-centeredness as a target in which the bulls-eye becomes increasingly precise—smaller. The dimensions of wellness are often considered from the perspective of “balance”—that one who is balanced spiritually, physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially is “well”. It may well be true that this is healthy, but there is ordinary health, and there is (extra)ordinary health. There is being well, and there is being the best we can be. Well-centeredness is an asymptote. We are ever approaching perfection. We always have room to get just a little bit better.
I had fallen into a bit of a routine, myself. It is easy to do. I wasn’t challenging myself. I was just maintaining—coasting. Truth be told, I was probably slipping a bit. Just like our body adapts and requires progressive overload or the body system declines from disuse, so too is wellness.
It has helped be to join a Fundamentals of High Performance cohort group (www.coytecooper.com). Having a Mastermind group keeps one accountable. For me, it renewed my purpose and my intention. Now having a growth plan, I am back on track to (extra)ordinary self-improvement.
Without a growth plan, it is like having a map but choosing to jog on the track. You are moving but you aren’t getting anywhere. We need a destination—a destination that we never quite reach. I think of it like traveling to a particular state, then a city in that state, then a specific address in that city, then a specific address in that city, then a location at that address, etc. We keep getting closer to a destination that is ever more refined. This (extra)ordinary growth. Without a plan, we really have no idea where we are going.
Having a growth plan requires that we have goals. Having goals means we need to have a Purpose (a mission statement). Our Purpose is defined by our values.
Initially, we might need to just get going with healthy habits. Over time, though, our habits will need to be honed. First things first, start doing. Start moving in the right direction with intention.
Carpe momento!