Let’s start with a bit of straight talking. Getting healthy and staying healthy takes work. You live in a body that was designed to work hard, yet you live in a world where strenuous work is discouraged. We have lifts, escalators and cars to replace the tedium of physical movement, and food is easy to find, and easy to eat. It is over-processed too; we call it pre-chewed un-food. Businesspeople work at jobs that require very little physical movement, and we bathe our entire bodies in chemicals at the expense of our immune systems from the food we eat, the air we breathe and the products we put on our skin. See here for more on preservatives and parabens in the everyday products we use.
We humans have managed to achieve the ultimate goal of evolution: to find an easy way of staying alive with minimal exertion and a reduced chance of being killed by another life form, big or small. But Mother Nature has never been concerned with longevity. Her main objective is survival and the propagation of the species as a whole, not you specifically. We are programmed to survive into our twenties, at which point we’re old enough to reproduce. Beyond that, we’re on our own.
YOU represent the pinnacle of evolution. How about that?
So congratulate yourself. You represent the pinnacle of evolution. You! It makes you feel a little better when you look at yourself naked in the bathroom mirror, doesn’t it?
No? Not really?
Well, that’s because there’s another side to this story. Although we as a species have attained a degree of evolutionary nirvana, our bodies didn’t get the memo. They forgot to show up to the meeting, and as such we are all still walking around in last year’s model. Well, actually, it’s a little more than last year’s model. The body, brain, nervous system, digestive system, reflexes, musculature and everything else that makes up ‘you’ and ‘us’ hasn’t changed much in the last 100,000 years. The model you are wearing is used to scrabbling around looking for food that is really tough to chew and digest. It is used to walking many miles in search of this food, as well as for shelter and safety; and it is careful to store extra energy around the midsection for use in those lean months when food is nowhere to be seen. And it is used to movement. Lots of movement.
So when this old-model human body finds itself in the prosperous age of the twenty-first century, it has a hard time shifting gears. Our plentiful food supply is stored as efficiently as ever – as fat – wrapping itself securely around our waist, legs and organs. Meanwhile, our innate need to store energy makes it very easy to slide into a sedentary life where only the texting thumbs are kept busy.
So we – you – are up against a challenge.
Is There Any Good News in All of This?
Actually, it is all good news. Your body is a remarkable device. It has the power to heal and to take care of much of what comes its way. It listens and it learns. When you use it, it grows stronger and better. When you give it a chance to clean out the pollutants and replace them with healthy foods, it responds vigorously and rewards you with all kinds of perks, such as greater energy, vitality, sexual drive, charisma, better skin tone, vocal power and posture, clear thought, better memory, better sex, better sleep, longer life – the list goes on and on.
You can achieve all this, but it is hard, which makes perfect sense.
If it isn’t hard, if it isn’t tough, if it isn’t a challenge, then greatness will not be achieved. To work your body means to move against the instinctive desire for rest, but to also move with the instinctive desire for health.
You were lucky enough, smart enough and quick enough to be born. You beat many millions of other sperm for that opportunity. You were clever enough and tough enough to survive the challenges and illnesses of childhood. And you are clever enough now to be interested in becoming a better person, or else you wouldn’t be reading these words. Doesn’t all this tell you something? Your body, mind and soul all want you to become the best person you can be, even if you don’t consciously know it yet.
This book provides the insights you need to become aware of the fantastic power of being truly human, and to make it a permanent reality for you.
Wealthy Body Wisdom: A sharp mind and a lean body is an all-or-nothing proposition. You can’t have one foot on the platform and one on the train – you know how that’s going to play out. . .
What do you suppose it’s going to take to get you back in shape? Into the kind of shape you’ve never been before in your life?
Think back across the history of your life. Was there a time when you were in good shape? Probably when you were young, with energy to spare. What were you doing at that time to maintain that sort of physical condition? Were you playing sport every day? Were you running, cycling, rowing? Were your growth and hormonal levels high?
They say that youth is wasted on the young, and that is so often true. So many young people take their health and vitality for granted. Many ignore it, some abuse it and others just believe it will last forever.
To change the result, you must change the data.
Unfortunately though, people age. As you get older, and as you collect more and more sedentary years under your ever-expanding belt, you become less active, less strong, less able to commit the time it took to be fit. You become weaker, softer and fatter than your younger self.
It’s a trap to think that a little change here and a little change there will be enough to reverse the damage that those years of sedentary living have wrought and bring you back into a fit and functional condition.
If you want to reshape your body, but are forced to remain in the sedentary environment you operate in today, something has to give. There has to be a point where you are prepared to commit total effort to adjusting the way you do things.
To change the result, you must change the data. If you want to be lean, you must cut out the things that make you soft and fat.
It’s great if you want to cut down a little on bread, cheese, butter, wine and sugar, and to add a little exercise into the mix, and yes, this will produce some changes in your body. But you must understand that the degree of change you are prepared to make is always proportional to the degree of result you will get. Change a little – get a little. Change a lot – get a lot.
Wealthy Body Wisdom: The difference between hot water and steam is just 1 degree. Step up your game-plan – a little change makes a big difference!
If you start walking and continue to walk, you will become fit enough to walk. But that’s it. However, if you then push yourself on to a slow jog, and then to a run, there is no limit to how fit you will become because you will be constantly challenging yourself to improve. If you really want to get a result that will make a significant difference, then you must be prepared to sacrifice some of the things that have made you soft and fat, and embrace the things that will harden, toughen and define your physique and your mind in the way nature designed them to be.
You are not alone in wanting to make this happen. And you will not be alone in taking on the challenges and regimens required. And you want to know something else? You’re not unique. Sure, you have schedules and conflicts, meetings and emails, a hellish commute, a family to deal with and way too much already demanding your time. But you know what? So does everyone else. It’s all a matter of what you choose to do with your time; what you say yes to and what you say no to.
Being in great shape isn’t about self-sacrifice – it’s about self-respect.
Wealthy Body Wisdom: What you eat and how you exercise today, will determine how you look and feel tomorrow. . .
Read any biography of any successful CEO and you will see two items in common. First, they never fill their calendars to 100 per cent full. They know how to say no to tasks of lesser value, in order that they can focus on those items that yield the most; and secondly, they always factor time in for exercise.
This book teaches you how to get strong enough to achieve The Wealthy Body, just like thousands of the world’s top CEOs who are already doing so. It’s about both physical and mental toughness. It all boils down to what you want. Are you prepared to do it? Is it important enough to you to get it?
Really?
OK. Then here’s a test for you . . .
Drop and do 20 push-ups right now.
Did you do it?
The only acceptable excuse at this point is if you are on a plane at this moment, in which case, you are permitted to do them in the Arrivals lounge later.
No other excuse is allowed.
Now you might be asking yourself, ‘Why should I do 20 push-ups right now? Nobody can see me.’
Well, that’s true. Only you know if you have done the push-ups. But if you want to get into shape, then you will have done those push-ups to satisfy no-one but yourself.
If you did those push-ups, your mind-set is already well on the way towards building The Wealthy Body.
If you did not do those push-ups, your mind is still in resistance mode, comfortable sitting atop those excess kilos of flesh, muscle and fat.
Not to worry. You can have another chance. Do them now.
Then we can move on to creating the body you’ve always wanted.
Wealthy Body Action Points: To help get you started. . .
1.Join a gym. The most important criterion is making sure it’s handy. The more convenient it is to get to, the better.
2.Book a trainer. Ask to see client testimonials and before-and-after pictures, and ask to see their abs. Trainers simply knowing the theory isn’t good enough – they should also believe it enough to follow it themselves. Make sure they have a system to log, track and improve every exercise in every workout to ensure your progress. Insist on having your measurements and fitness assessed regularly. You can’t manage what you don’t measure.
3.Clear out all the rubbish. Throw away all the food and drinks from your cupboards at home, and desk drawer at work, which you know you probably shouldn’t be having. There are suggestions as to what to replace it with further on…
Wealthy Body Wisdom: There are only two moments in life. Now and Too late!