Lifestyle Change

by Ken Milling, ID Executive Coach

In a previous eBulletin we looked at manageable ways to initiate lifestyle change with regard to fitness and, specifically, a training regimen that included 3 x 5-minute morning walks per week. Our main objective was to establish a routine that would become integral to our usual commute.

Walking helps us get away from directed thinking, allowing the left hemisphere of the brain to give way to the right hemisphere, with its greater capacity to see the big picture and create imaginative leaps. By initiating the 3 x 5-minute walks as part of our usual weekly morning commute, we not only established a baseline of regular exercise, but also gave ourselves 3 x 5-minute mental and emotional ‘breathers’.

The time has now come to increase our baseline of regular exercise. This can be done in a variety of ways, but I suggest that we up our 3 x 5-minute walks to 5 x 5-minutes as part of our usual morning commute and add a 5 x 5-minute or 5 x 10-minute walk during our lunch break. Perhaps this could be achieved by increasing the distance walked every day to purchase your lunch or the distance walked away from the office to a quiet place where you can sit to eat your lunch.

For those of us already on board – by increasing our baseline of regular exercise as described above we are gradually introducing a manageable lifestyle change that is integral to our usual routine and we will realise the myriad benefits. For the others, we encourage you to jump on board now with the 3 x 5-minute morning walks per week, perhaps increasing to a couple of 5 x 5-minute or 5 x 10-minute walks in your lunch break so that we are all at the same level before the next edition of The eBulletin.