HOW TO USE THE 12-KEY PLAN FOR GOOD HEALTH

Maybe you have heard the saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” That phrase simply means nothing truly great happens overnight. The best things in life take time to grow, to develop, and to become established. Your personal health is one of these things. It’s an ongoing project, something you will need to be attentive to for the rest of your life. But like any big project, you begin with a solid foundation and build from there. That’s what this book is all about. Each of the following 12 chapters, called “keys,” explains one important element of building a lifestyle that nurtures a healthy, sound body, soul, and spirit. Your task is to read each key and decide if you need to improve that area of your life. If so, the book will help you figure out how to do it.

In each key, I will explain what the important principle is and why it is vital to physical and spiritual health. Then, I’ll make several suggestions for incorporating that change into your life. At the end of each key, I will ask you to choose to take as many of those suggestions as you feel you need and write them down in a list you keep as you read this book. You may end up doing all of them, or you may end up doing only one or two. The important thing is to do whatever you need most. There’s no need to be in a hurry about them. Just work on one at a time, without trying to tackle them all at once, and over a period of time you’ll see great improvements in your health and well-being. You should jot down the changes you commit to in each key, so when you finish the book you will have a list of the lifestyle changes you have adopted. If you really incorporate these changes into the way you live, you will be amazed at the positive changes they will bring to your life.

If you are wondering how long you will need to spend on each key, that’s entirely up to you. The important thing to do is to put in enough effort that each one gets established and becomes a new habit for you. Certainly, taking a new key every day would be too fast, but taking a new key each month would not necessarily be too slow. It would simply mean you would spend the next year committing yourself to a firm foundation of physical and spiritual health; in addition, it would give you plenty of time to work on each key before moving on to the next. You might even want to begin this process by reading the entire book quickly so you can have an idea of what you are working toward, then go back and take each key one at a time, putting into each one the kind of effort that is right for you before moving to the next. The pace at which you will need to work through this book depends on how quickly you adapt to change and how eager you are to develop a healthier way of life. I would prefer you take more time and achieve lasting success than rush through the book and not be able to sustain any of the changes it can bring to your life.

You certainly don’t have to do the keys in the order in which they appear in the book, but it would be a good idea because each one builds on the one that precedes it. The first few keys (dealing with right relationship with God, good self-esteem and healthy body image, and strong metabolism) provide a solid foundation for the rest.

As I mentioned earlier, I do recommend reading the entire book before going back and focusing on each key in a diligent and committed way. Think about the big-picture goals you have for your future health and well-being, then let each key serve as a small step toward that larger vision. Keep those long-term goals in sight and determine to reach them one step at a time.

Got it? Now let’s get going! It’s time to take your first step toward a new you!