The stats are out.

60+percent of people gained weight within this past year.

And prior to the lockdowns, our country was already 40+ percent obese.

That means 330 million x 40 percent = 132 MILLION obese people prior to the pandemic... and now trending far worse.

We shutdown gyms, left fast food open, allowed alcohol to be delivered to doorsteps...and now here we are to face the consequences for decades to come.

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I have asked myself "why" has this happened over and over and over again.

What has been my conclusion?

It is all about our poor mental health.

Less people are mentally healthy or mentally in shape nowadays, compared to decades ago.

The truth is, adversity breeds resiliency. And resiliency breeds stronger humans.

The truth also is, technology is lessening the adversity a lot of people have to go through each and every day. Which leads to less resilient people overall.

(Let me be clear, there are millions of underprivileged people that I am NOT talking about. I am speaking directly about those with standard lifestyles that openly choose not to better themselves and utilize the resources around them).

What do I mean by technology lessened our adversity?

Simple example: I am in Philadelphia right now. Yesterday I flew in, landed, and immediately got an Uber to an AirBnb.

The first Uber messed up and couldn't find me (wasted my time) and I found myself getting mad and stressed. When the reality is, we just ordered another one and it came 5 minutes later.

Then, when I got to the AirBnb, we were early so the code wouldn't work to get in. So we were standing and sweating in sun/heat with all our bags. Again, I found myself getting agitated, but I messaged the AirBnb host through the app and he fixed the situation rather quickly.

A DECADE+ AGO I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE ACCESS TO THESE APPS IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

Aka, we are so used to getting what we want, when we want it, NOWWWWW .... that when it doesn't happen, we get frustrated and stressed.

This is why the world, maybe you, are not in the best "shape" you could be.

It doesn't happen over night.

It takes you consistently showing up each and every day.

You WILL NOT get what you want immediately.

And in a world that you can get everything else almost immediately, why do things that take a long time?!?

Because while running up-hill in life might bring short-term pain, IT WILL ALSO BRING LONG-TERM GAINS.

If you choose the harder path in the short term, ultimately your life will become better in the long run....especially when it comes to your physical/mental/spiritual health and wellness.

So how can you get started on the path to "better shape."

Here is what I would like for you to do for the next week...

1. Drink a gallon of water a day.
2. Sleep at least 7+ hours a night.
3. Cut out as much sugar as you can.
4. No alcohol.
5. Write down what you are grateful each morning.
6. Read 10 pages of any book each day.
7. Do any type of exercise you want, at least 20 minutes of it each day, DON"T HALF ASS IT!

Seems simple right? Not easy though.

Above is guaranteed to make you feel better, do better, and become a better person...yet it will take YOU making the tough choice to show up each and every day.

Have an epic MDW y'all!

#thriveon

CJ

p.s. today I am grateful I got to run around Philadelphia in the sun yesterday. I was raised in and around this city and it was good to see it all again.