Create a healthy aCtion plan
Your fitness mission statement
Putting healthy behaviors into practice
Why a mission statement?
A mission statement is a clear, simple statement of intent.
It’s what you want to do. What you want to live. What will guide your food, fitness, and wellness choices. Every day.
Now, you’re not following some external “rules” made by someone else. You’re starting to be accountable to you
and your body.
Now, you’re the boss. And you have to report to you.
Your two selves
When it comes to exercise and wellness, we all have two selves inside our head.
One wants to goof off, eat junk food, and wear ugly Rodney Dangerfield-style Hawaiian shirts while smoking a
cigar. He wears those shirts because he’s embarrassed about his body.
The other one gets off his ass, goes to the gym, eats vegetables, and rocks a tailored suit. He knows he looks
sharp and feels great.
Fat guy and fit guy live together. And we all have them in our heads. No matter how fit we are right now. No
matter whether we run a nutrition company.
And that’s OK.
We must remind ourselves to be what we want to be every single day.
Every day we are tempted to make bad choices. Every day, we must refresh and revive our commitment to living
healthily.
No matter how well you do with your new practices, you will always have feelings/urges to act against your good
habits. Sometimes those urges will be nearly silent. Other times, they’ll yell.
Having the urges is not wrong. It’s normal. It’s OK to feel them.
You’re never going to get rid of feeling schlubby, inadequate, self-conscious, or anything else that contradicts your
“fit person” identity. You may feel these feelings less frequently, and not as intensely. We hope you’ll go days —
weeks, months — without feeling them.
But those impulses will be there, lurking in the closet. Again, it’s normal. It’s OK.
And feeling these impulses doesn’t mean you’ve “failed” or aren’t “really” a “fit person”. It means you’re human.
Every new habit requires daily labor and practice.
Over time, each habit becomes ingrained. But we still need to practice good habits. To organize our lives to
help ourselves succeed. To give ourselves the tools and strategies we need. To clean the slate as necessary. One
step at a time.
Create a healthy aCtion plan
Your fitness mission statement
Your fitness mission statement is part of that process. It helps keep you centred, and reminds you to cater to the
“fit person”. Every day, you can remind yourself of who you are, who you want to become, and why you’re doing
this in the first place.
We suggest you start by throwing out that Hawaiian shirt. Just in case.
How do i make a mission statement?
Start by revisiting your thoughts from early in our wellness program. Think about:
•Who am I? (And who have I become?)
•What do I stand for?
•What is truly valuable? Truly meaningful?
•Why is making healthy choices important to me? How do these choices help me accomplish my purpose in life?
•Where do I want to go, and what behaviors will get me there?
•How will I know if I’m making progress?
Now, see if you can capture the who, what, why, where, and how in a few simple, very clear sentences.
I am a mother, wife, and doctor. I care for other people, and help them heal. Choosing to keep my body
healthy — and sharing my knowledge and experience with others — ensures that I live my values, foster
integrity, and serve as an example to my family and clients.
I am dedicated to living my life creatively and joyfully, and to learning new things. I eat well, and mindfully,
because it feels good. I will choose activities that are fun and teach me skills. I will try at least one new sport
or activity every 6 months.
I’m a superhero who needs a strong body for fighting crime. My nutrition fuels my quest for justice. My activity
must keep me powerful, lithe, and able to hang upside down. I also commit to regular mobility work to combat
the inevitable tight hamstrings from asskicking.
We know that this is challenging stuff to wrap your brain around. It takes time. We don’t expect you to come up
with a perfect, all-encompassing mission statement today. Just try. Brainstorm first.
Create a healthy aCtion plan
Your fitness mission statement
What do fit people do?
Here’s a little exercise that might help you.
A fit person…
Fill in the blanks, as many times as you need to. (We’re going to assign you five.)
1. A fit person chooses to .
2. A fit person chooses to .
3. A fit person chooses to .
4. A fit person chooses to .
5. A fit person chooses to .
As a fit person, i…
Now, match “fit person” with your own values and actions. What could you do every day — maybe even right now
— to act on that “fit person” ideal?
1. A fit person chooses to , and therefore to live as a “fit person”, I choose to
today.
2. A fit person chooses to , and therefore to live as a “fit person”, I choose to
today.
3. A fit person chooses to , and therefore to live as a “fit person”, I choose to
today.
4. A fit person chooses to , and therefore to live as a “fit person”, I choose to
today.
5. A fit person chooses to , and therefore to live as a “fit person”, I choose to
today.
