A Simple Process for Becoming the New You
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.
Henry Ford
Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.
Ephesians 4:21–24 Message
One of our favorite sayings is “There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.” When it comes to health, physical health in particular, plenty of people buy into elevator philosophies: pills, powders, fad diets, extreme exercise plans . . . you name it. Why? Because making an ongoing lifestyle change sounds a little too much like taking the stairs—and it will probably require walking some literal ones.
We want the quick fix. But quick fixes always lead to short-term results, followed by a face plant right back into the condition we were in before we started. We may find success for a few weeks, or a couple of months, but it won’t be sustainable. Then the yo-yoing begins.
Think, for example, about that popular diet that comes around under a new name every few years—you know, the one that advocates losing weight by cutting out carbohydrates. Sure, that elevator will take you to a skinnier floor, but only as long as you stay on it. The problem is that kicking carbohydrates for life is not only unrealistic but also nutritionally unsound. Your body needs healthy carbohydrates to function effectively. As soon as you start eating them again, the weight returns with a vengeance and you are back on the ground floor, if not in the basement. Not to mention, the amount of meat consumed on these plans is directly and inarguably linked to many health issues (more in chapter 5). And this is just one of the popular, quick-fix weight-loss plans out there.
The point is that health-related shortcuts will only put you farther behind in the long run. The only way to get and stay physically well is to commit to an ongoing healthy, balanced lifestyle and then get started.
An Ancient Search for Excellence
As I (Nelson) began my own journey toward health, I found myself particularly interested in the life of Moses. Moses was the leader of over a million people. He lived a life of vision and momentum, leaving a legacy that still lives on thousands of years after his death. He was a guy intent on walking in the fullness of life God wanted to give him. And choosing to take responsibility for his health enabled him to do just that. Look how he is described at the end of his life: “Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever” (Deut. 34:7).
Moses was as strong as ever at 120 years old, while most of us feel the wear and tear of age by our early forties, if not before. Sure, we live in a different time than Moses did, but we can draw some pretty accurate conclusions about how he took care of himself from what Scripture tells us about his lifestyle. We know he stayed active by walking a lot (as documented throughout Exodus), he ate only the portion of food provided for him each day (Exod. 16:4), and he communed intimately with God (Exod. 33:11).
I want to live a long life. I want to live to be at least one hundred years old, just like Moses. But I don’t want to live my later years being sick, lost in dementia, and dependent on someone else to take care of me. I want to be healthy, strong, and productive until my last day. I want to be in good physical health, of sound mind, and able to make a positive difference with my life for as long as possible. Just like Moses, I want to honor God with the health choices I make so I can experience all God has for me. How about you?
Living a long, happy life won’t happen by accident. It won’t happen if you just put your health on autopilot and hope for the best. Finishing well will require intentionality. Moses engaged in a way of life that, along with God’s help and grace, allowed him to live to a vibrant old age. You can too. Engaging in this way of life means adopting a lifestyle of complete health—one that honors God and God can honor in return. It means sowing good seeds so you can reap good results. To get there, you have to focus on making ongoing adjustments in four specific areas:
Just imagine what life would look like if you were living up to your full potential in each of these areas. How would you feel? What would you do? Whom could you influence?
Embracing the New You
You don’t have to look far for advice on how to live a healthier life. There is an excess of information about how to get healthy, how to drop weight, how to have more energy, how to sleep better, how to reduce stress, how to, how to, how to . . . There is so much information—and misinformation—out there that it is hard to figure out what is even true.
Maybe you have read all the health books. Maybe you feel you know everything you need to know to get healthy, but you just can’t make anything stick. Or maybe this is the first book about health and wholeness you have ever picked up. Maybe you have come to the end of your rope. You want to change, but you don’t know how. You try to make tweaks here and there—you cut carbs for a while, you decide to work out and do so a few days in a row, you start a new morning devotional and do well with it for the first week, you commit to going to bed early until that football game or awards show on television keeps you up—but then all of a sudden you are back at square one, back to your old ways, still desperate for something new, promising yourself you will start again on Monday. Enter the apostle Paul once again: “I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway” (Rom. 7:18–19).
You and Paul have something in common. We all do, because this is the human condition.
Why Is Staying Healthy So Difficult?
Why is it so difficult to make the changes we want to make? The desire is truly there. Our intentions are good, and yet we fail time and again. That is because three major things work against us.
We Are Wrestling with the Flesh
As long as we live in these human bodies, we will be engaged in a struggle with our flesh. We may know what we should do, but there is always going to be resistance to overcome.
Our bodies will want to sleep later, even though we know we need to get up and exercise. Our bodies will want our favorite comfort foods, even though we know smarter choices will lead to better health. Our hearts will want to hold on to unforgiveness, even though we know letting go will heal us. The struggle is real. Here is a little more of what Paul had to say about it:
So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. (Rom. 7:14–17)
The tug-of-war inside us won’t go away as long as we are living, so we have to learn to overcome it.
An Enemy Wants to Rob Us of God’s Best
Whether we acknowledge it or not, an enemy is continually working against us. We are engaged in never-ending spiritual warfare. When we don’t understand that reality, we are much more susceptible to it. We are prone to think that our own weakness is the only thing keeping us bound. But this is not the case. Our struggle is bigger than ourselves. As Jesus said, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10). In Scripture, this thief, the devil himself, is also known as the tempter (Gen. 3). His goal is to keep God’s people from living the lives God has in store for them—and he can do this in very subtle ways.
One of the enemy’s greatest tools for keeping us bound to average, mediocre living is an attack on our health and wellness. If he can keep us sick, tired, stressed, and bitter, he is essentially thwarting our ability to fully live out God’s purposes. Nothing would make him happier. As Peter wrote:
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. (1 Pet. 5:8–9)
If you are stuck in the rut of poor health in any area, not living an abundant life and not working to your full potential, the enemy is thrilled. He is getting his exercise doing a happy dance because you are compromised; you are not being as effective and influential as you could be.
Even though the enemy is constantly scheming, we are capable of standing firm against him. We can win the battle and walk into all God has for us. We just have to recognize and resist the devil’s ploys. As James 4:7 says, “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Spiritual warfare is nothing to be taken lightly. Whether you are familiar with the concept or not, it has implications for your life day in and day out. If you are skeptical, don’t take our word for it. We invite you to dig in and do your own research. (For a list of resources, go to NewYouBook.com.)
We Have Been Taught to Compartmentalize Our Health and Wellness
We address our health in an ad hoc sort of way. We don’t really consider how this workout plan or that stress-relief tactic will work for our overall well-being, or if it will be beneficial for us long term. We are usually more concerned about how we can drop fifteen pounds before our friend’s birthday bash or how we can squeeze a few more hours out of the day without waking up tired.
The truth is that health and wholeness cannot be compartmentalized. You are not just your physical body. You are not just your heart, your mind, or your emotions. Every part of your being either supports or puts drag on every other part. That is why it is impossible to be truly healthy in any one area if you are unhealthy in others. Paul acknowledged this truth in another letter to early believers: “Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again” (1 Thess. 5:23).
Paul’s words allude to the four areas of health we will be discussing in the pages ahead: physical health, spiritual health, emotional health, and mental health. You will never be able to achieve full health unless you address all four of these areas. Your overall health is the sum of the health of your parts.
The key to improving your health in each area is simply to get started. Draw your line in the sand and step over it into a new life. Change is possible. We know you are ready for it because this book is in your hands. You sense a better way of living is waiting for you, and it is. There is an abundant life, a life of wholeness. And it can be yours. All you have to do is start taking small, daily steps that will produce big rewards in the long run. In other words, start taking small steps to the new you.