Self-reflection is one of the most powerful actions you can take in your journey to better health. We are often caught working in the “business” rather than onthe “business.” We’re busy, stressed, and distracted. If you don’t take time to evaluate what you need today for a better tomorrow, how will you ever improve?

It’s time to flip that script. Here are five (better) questions you can ask yourself today to achieve better health.

1. What is my top health priority?

First question — what do you need to work on most (i.e. your “weakest” area of health)? It likely stems from one of the following categories:
– Physical Fitness
– Nutrition
– Sleep Management
– Stress Management

The goal is to gain a feeling of control over this “top” priority, which should provide momentum in moving on to your next need. It may even feel like an 80/20 analysis here — what small set of changes can you make in this area to create a big (positive) outcome?

2. Do I have a plan to execute my top health priority?

You can’t just wake up and say, “I want to be more fit” to will it into action. There must be a plan. Hire a coach, seek out a program, or start collecting resources on easy changes you can make in the area. Need to change your physical fitness? Youtube it. Join a gym. Ask your sister’s friend that’s a trainer. Go outside and just walk. It doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective, either. Don’t leave your success to chance.

3. Do I have someone (or something) to keep me accountable to my top health priority?

It’s all fun and games until life gets in the way again. Most of the time “life” here can also be interchanged with “you”; you are your own biggest enemy (more specifically, your brain and the way you form habits). We all need accountability; it can come in the form of a specific person, community, social media, or committing to a date, race, event, or outcome that you will need to publicly show up for. The baseline here is simply showing up consistently to do the work!

4. What do I get when I “win”?

One of our favorite sayings is, “Don’t play games that aren’t worth winning.” Everything about the outcome should positively affect the future, including moving you towards point number five below. The goal is to build momentum in addressing weakness so that we can systematically create positive change in our life that self-perpetuates more positive change. Push the snowball of better health down the mountain until it no longer becomes necessary to “push” (i.e., dedicate time, energy, and focus to the task) but simply becomes part of your lifestyle. 

5.  What’s my next health priority after I complete this one?

We must always ask, “What’s next?” How will completing question number one lead into question number five; where is the systematic link between goal completion? Maybe you want to push your first health priority to “level 2” rather than move on to something different entirely (e.g., run a 5K > run a 10k — here, the act of running may increase our ability to run more, leading to better physical health). Maybe you’ve tackled your physical fitness and now it’s time to marry nutrition to your needs and goals. This is where you really get smart.

No matter how advanced you may be in self care, we can always live better (get the name now?). The “best day ever” is the daily deposit of improvement we need to Live Better, which comprises our four tenets; Move Better, Eat Better, Think Better, Give Better. Find 5-10 minutes today to journal your thoughts, then get to work!

Are you ready to take your health to the next level? Come with us to El Salvador for our retreat this November!