Hey guys, Sco here! I hope you have all had a great week and a good weekend!
🔥 Fitness
How many steps are you doing daily? You can track this via your phone, or something like an apple watch, or Whoop band (which is what I use!). Looking at my stats, my average over the past 6 months is 9.5k daily so not too bad! My general target is 10k per day. For me to hit that though I need to actually make an effort, outside of the gym I am generally on my PC most of the day. I try to do an afternoon ‘speed’ walk for about 30 minutes after lunch if I can (which is great in general for more than just the steps), and on the weekends we normally always go for a hike somewhere in Scotland for a few hours.
So why is it important you get a good amount of steps in? Primarily for cardiovascular health; lower blood pressure, cholesterol and also resting heart rate. I heard Bryan Johnson recently saying that resting heart rate was one of the best overall health indicators (I also track this with Whoop). You will also likely burn off around 300-500 kcals doing 10k steps, and if you walk in nature it's probably going to be good for your mental health too. So make an effort to walk daily!
🧠 Mindset / 🎯 Purpose
“Everyone must choose one of two pains: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret” In many cases we know what we need to do to achieve the results we want, or we do once we create a plan. Take losing weight for example; you know you need to eat a calorie deficit, track the calories, make certain choices, and if you follow through with this with discipline (i.e. actually do it, and stick to it) then you will see results. However if you don’t follow the plan with discipline then you will just be in the same place or worse many weeks, months, or even years down the line. In my experience regret is the much worse pain, so put in the work, the discipline, and you will thank yourself down the line.
🤝 Community
For the past few years I’ve been going to Thailand in January, and a big part of why I enjoy it so much (outside of the sun, the food, the people, and more 😀) is because it's an opportunity to meet up with a lot of friends that I rarely see throughout the year in person otherwise - we all meet up there. But I’ve realised I also need to make more of an effort to build friendships closer to home. Online connections are great, but nothing compares to having people you can train with, grab a coffee with, or just hang out with in person. Real-life community brings a different kind of energy and balance that we all need. I need to make more of a conscious effort in this area!
💡 Lifehack
Once you get into the later part of the afternoon, swap out your soft drinks and coffee with the decaff alternatives. That way you can still enjoy your pleasures in life without ruining your sleep - which as you probably already know is one of the most critical components of good health. Drink decaff diet coke (or other soft drinks without caffeine, I think 7UP zero and Sprite zero are also good here!) and decaff coffee - in my case I don’t notice much difference in taste and I don’t need to drastically change any habits to preserve a high quality sleep! In before someone says just drink water! 😀
📜 Quote of the Week
“I’m a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have.” - Thomas Jefferson
I am a big believer in the above quote, as long as you are working hard, doing your best, and ideally also doing something you are passionate about then opportunities will come your way. Similar to the above quote in the Mindset/Purpose category, everything takes time, discipline, and energy, keep at it and stay focused as you move into this next week! Have a great week everyone! -Sco