8 Common Traits Among Fit & Healthy Individuals
October 28, 2022Individuals who are healthy for the better portion of their life share common traits. If you are struggling to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but committed to making this a lifelong pursuit, try applying the tips I have below!
Consistent Workout Schedule
The first common trait in fit and healthy people is that their workouts are scheduled at the same time, same day, each week. I have observed that some of the most committed people adhere to a schedule. This means that these people have created a schedule and made it a ritual. There is research that supports associating any new habit or routine to a consistent day and time equates to adherence. This basic strategy can apply to anything, not just fitness.
Goals
The second common trait I find is that fitness goals are respected, but not obsessed over. Remember, a healthy lifestyle is a lifelong journey. Goals are important. Often, they are associated with milestones. A milestone is a great accomplishment, but once those goals are achieved, some drop off. When goals become the sole motivator of fitness, you can run into trouble. There is a hyper motivation in accomplishing a goal, but those high emotions can easily run out. Deep down, fitness has to be something you just do because you value it and like it. An example of this is an Olympic athlete that retires. Olympic athletes spend 4+ years training for their competition and once some call it quits, depression creeps in because their whole life was associated to competing.
Adaptation to Life Circumstances
The third common trait I witness is that workouts/fitness change based on life circumstances. This is important because your life circumstances WILL change. One of them is aging, but there
are so many other factors. If your workouts do not adapt to your life circumstances, you will either over train, become injured, or disenfranchised and the motivation will leave.
Accept Aging
The third common trait leads to the fourth common trait- these people accept aging. People who have done this long term accept aging. This is an important factor because at some point your physical performance will decline because you get older. Some people try to fight it, but that leads to over training and injury. Fighting against father time can really do more harm than good. With aging, the priorities have to change. If not, the body ends up winning because it will tell you to slow down. Let aging be a feedback system for you.
This is only part 1 of this topic. Stay tuned next month for the next four! If you are having trouble with your fitness, please reach out to a fitness professional to help you achieve what you are meant to achieve.
