Learn to upkeep your life
If there’s one thing I don’t take for granted when driving cars is how the lights flash up when there’s something to be fixed—similar to how when the body wants rest, you’ll know. My only gripe with this is we only take action when something is wrong, instead of doing something about it before it happens. This requires us to not be soothsayers, but as people who do regular upkeep.
I don’t think it’s fair to say you can prevent certain things if you think about it and plan for it. Even if you keep your car in pristine conditions, eventually something will break down. But the idea to make sure you’re aware of what can go wrong, and consistently do maintenance is a much better option.
There are medical guidelines for people to follow—eye exams every two years, blood work for men over 40 to check their cholesterol, breast cancer screenings when you’re 40, and so on. In an ideal world, we would have the ability to screen each year. But these screenings and protocols can be very expensive and by the time these individuals get screened, it might be too late.
This screams the question of what can we do? If you can’t afford yearly and early medical screenings then it’s better to do daily maintenance. Such activities can include socializing (with the right people and circumstances), exercise, eating and sleeping well, reading or any mental exercise. Some thing you can do every day even if you don’t have much energy or time.
It adds up
I remember working with a trainer in the past and he told me how he used to push an extreme exercise regime on clients regardless of who they were. Sounds fair right? A trainer that just wants the best for his clients so they can reach their goals. The regime worked on those that had the availability and energy, but what about an overworked mother with 3 kids? You can’t tell her to go run 10 miles every day and sleep for at least 8 hours everyday. It’s unrealistic and cruel to put that expectation in her head that everyone should be able to do it.
Instead, he learned his lesson and suggested 15 - 20 minutes of walking with her kids everyday after dinner. It might be a stretch off 10 miles but the compounding of her getting exercise plus spending time with her kids while also allowing the kids to exercise sets up many other ways for success.
Daily maintenance is easy for those that have set up a routine for themselves because they don’t think about it anymore, they just do. For others that want to get into a positive routine, start small and make it easy.
I remembered a high school friend that smoked packets of cigarettes a day, all a sudden quit cold turkey. He explained the withdrawal effects of headaches, fatigue, and weakness of the body made him quickly get back on it. It’s easy to critique when you haven’t been hooked on something and then suddenly drop it. The body and the mind does not like changing the status quo, even if it’s bad for you. Once you do something regularly, that becomes the status quo. So take advantage of the system and let it work for you.
I think about building daily habits as a snowball rolling down a hill. It takes a while for it to become big, but all you need is momentum. But it’s that same momentum that makes you collect stuff you might not need if you don’t take time to make sure that path is still worth going down.
We can look towards Napoleon Bonaparte as an example in history. His military prowess and strategies won him many battles. So many battles that he gain success, fame, and money. He was unbeatable in battles while his French counterparts were losing. All of this momentum led him to become emperor, and there was few that was on top the world like Napoleon. But he made way too many enemies in the process, and got especially greedy while pursuing Russia, and led to many of his own men dying as he soon realize the campaign would be a failure.
As we build onto the momentum, take time to detach and see if what you’re currently is still worth doing. This becomes tough because you’ve found so much success previously, and you’ll justify anything to keep doing what you’re doing. It’s a good idea to note that while you’re making progress, humility is important. Your way might not be the best way and there are many others things that you’ve yet to know. The age old saying of the more you know the less you know holds true.
Be flexible
We’ve all read articles on how sugar is bad for us. It’s incredibly addicting and our body just naturally craves that sugar “high”. Same as when people start getting too fixated on maintaining all the time. I had a friend so focused on exercising, he stopped hanging out with friends. By chasing his ideal body, he almost lost all social connections.
So yes, that donut once a week isn’t going to set you back, especially if you’ve been diligent about exercise. Same as skipping a workout, so you can go see your parents. While you’re giving up one thing, keep in mind that you’re also doing maintenance on other areas. Life is mostly all about balancing, and ultimately the theme of this article: upkeep daily so you don’t lose it.
There’s a phrase in the exercise science world that sums up what i’m trying to say: Use it or lose it. You see this most with athletic movements like jumping or sprinting. If you don’t jump and sprint, you’ll eventually lose athletic ability. You’ll see as adults get older, they stop doing all of that and their body starts to get weaker and frailer as much quicker rate than if you were to continuing to upkeep.
Starting is always the hardest part, and knowing where to start is equally challenging. But I know that if we just start asking ourselves a few questions or even do some research, we can at least start somewhere. The key ingredient is consistent action. Doesn’t have to be big, but it has to be able to be doable everyday. Expand your domain and you’ll start seeing the power of upkeeping. Play the long game and see it work for you in the end.
*Check out my last article on A hero or a villain?*
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