LIFE STRATEGY

When it comes to strategies for a happy life, one of the greatest obstacles is FOMO (fear of missing out) and something economists term Hyperbolic Discounting, where people opt for short-term gains that come at the expense of long-term benefits.

Long-term results come from thinking strategically.

Strategy in life and business is hard. We need to accept our ignorance and learn to think better.

Most business owners share that they don’t make the time to work on strategy, and almost as many say they don’t have the strategic mindset needed to be more strategic.

A beginning point in becoming strategic can be to ask three fundamental questions:

Q1. What is really going on here?
Q2. What are our options?
Q3. What will we do?

Let's take longevity, for example.

Q1. What is really going on here?

Many people want to live a long life but party like it’s 1999.

Stressful jobs, big mortgages, buying the latest fashion, lots of air travel, eating fast and processed foods, taking recreational drugs, binging on alcohol and having sugary treats.

Q2. What are our options?

> One option is Hyperbolic Discounting and keep feeding FOMO. Indeed, thanks to modern medicine, it is possible to live a stress-filled, sleep-deprived, nutritionally depleted, social media-addicted, materialistic, and sedentary lifestyle and still live to 90.

> Another option is to aim for health span, rather than life span, and educate ourselves about what it takes to live a healthy life, free of any medical intervention until the very final years or months of our lives.

I have just read "Outlive" by Peter Attia MD, who takes neither a remedial nor preventative approach to health. He takes a proactive approach to health and shares that aging can be a healthy experience, free from the Four Horsemen [Cancer, Heart Disease, Dementia and Metabolic Syndrome (Pre-Diabetes and Diabetes)].

Q3. What will we do?

If we want to build resilience against the Four Horsemen as we age, Peter shares that we should:

(i) Prioritise daily exercise [a mixture of long-duration zone 2 walking/running, HRV interval work on machines or up hills, heavy strength work sessions, and whole body stability exercises]

(ii) Get 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night

(iii) Eat a diet free of sugar, alcohol, fast food, and not too many refined carbohydrates, but with plenty of protein, good fats, and lots of fresh leafy and fibrous vegetables.

(iv) Raise our emotional intelligence via group work and therapy.

Life can become strategic when we embrace our need for healing and choose a stronger healthier path.

#thestrategyguy 
#strategicmindset 
#healthspan