Fit for Life: Some Great Habits to Incorporate

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

Matt Espeut

About 5 years ago, I started making a conscious effort to read more books.

In addition to podcasts, audiobooks, and any other knowledge and info I can accumulate, I like to sit down, put the nerd glasses on and exercise the brain by opening an actual book and reading it.

Although it’s highly recommended, I have never read the same book twice, until recently when I picked a book I had previously read as a team reading project.

I highly recommend reading a book multiple times because like seeing a movie twice, you retain much more info than the first time, and you spot a lot of cool nuggets that you missed the first time around.

As a team project, we just read “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and I wanted to share my takeaways from the second time reading this great book.

Like 90% of what I read, it’s a self-help / self-development book designed to structure our life habits, gain some clarity, and devise a plan to become more successful and efficient within our daily lives.

Here is the breakdown of a few of the 7 habits.

Habit 1 - Be Proactive

My version of being proactive is foreseeing future possibilities and adjusting our actions to remedy any problems that are likely to arise. An example for me would be to run a summer special to get new members in the door because the summer is usually slow time in the gym business. On the contrary, if I owned an ice cream shop, I would order extra cones, maintain my equipment, and have extra help on staff to handle the big crowds and prevent any obstacles that could hurt business.

The description in the book says that it means more than merely taking initiative. It means that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, NOT our conditions. We have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.

Proactive people are driven by values-carefully thought about, selected and internalized values.

The big takeaway is that our behavior is a function of our decisions NOT our conditions, so we can’t blame our outcome on what has happened to us, or the conditions that surround us. If either is unfavorable, we have the power to make changes.

Habit 2- Begin with the end in mind

The book says to begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you are going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.

On our gravestones it will say our name, the year we were born and the year we die. In between those dates is a dash, and in my opinion, the dash is the most important symbol on the stone. The dash will symbolize what your life entailed. What will you be known for, and what legacy will you have left behind. My life will be a success if one person stands over my gravesite and says, “Matt was a great influence to me, and he changed my life for the better”. That’s what my intentions are every day, and that’s my way of keeping the end in mind.

So, take a few minutes and think about how your eulogy will be written. What will your friends, family, coworkers, and the people that know you write about you? Give that some thought and try to manipulate the outcome by being a better person TODAY.

Habit 3- Put first things first

This means doing the things that will net us a positive result first, even if it’s something we don’t enjoy doing.

In other words, doing what we need to do over the things we like to do.

I’m self-employed, and I could go to the beach 3x per week if I wanted to (And I would love to), however, I need to take care of responsibilities first, I will be so far behind with my tasks, I will be stressed out and full of anxiety.

Now understand that I have a great team, and they do an amazing job to keep things running smoothly, however they still need some direction and leadership to grow the business to the next level. By putting first things first means focusing on being a better leader so I can develop the team to be self-sufficient.

I’m still learning, and by doing so, I feed them the necessary knowledge to grow and get better in stride with me, so we can move the needle forward together. Soon they won’t need me at all, but right now we need each other to progress.

I still plan promotions, help with their self-development, and write articles and emails for various reasons. I need to be proactive, think end result, and do the important things that move the needle forward, BEFORE I take time off and fool around.

Putting first things first means managing your time and doing what’s important BEFORE you earn the right to solely do what you like to do over the tasks you NEED to do.

Habits 1,2 & 3 are internal habits that we need to instill in ourselves first. They shine a light on how to win private victories in our lifetime. I have learned that you can’t help or give to others until you learn and take care of yourself first. You can’t give what you don’t have, and you can’t preach to others if you aren’t doing it first. So, work on you, because it’s easier to get others to comply when you are doing the work too.

Habits 4,5, & 6 explain the best way to deal with others and be effective while doing so. These chapters and called the public victories. As my teammate, Will Miller put it, “The first 3 are internal and come from within ourselves, and the second 3 are eternal, and are what we give to others.

I need to jump around so this article doesn’t get too long so here’s how I sum up the final habit in the book.

Habit 7- Sharpen the saw

When you work out and achieve your ultimate goal you don’t stop and regress to do it all over again. You stick to your exercise and nutrition program so you can maintain your results.

I go to at least 4 self-development conferences per year, and they are all telling me the same things.

Overcome fear, get organized and take action.

They approach it differently, but the message is the same.

Football teams start practicing in the summer and they practice every day until late December.

These are all examples of sharpening the saw.

You can’t do something once in a while, or when you feel like it, and expect lasting results.

You need to keep getting in the reps in order to get better and stronger.

This principle goes with everything we do in life.

The more you do something, the better you will get.

Consistency is a key element in success on all levels of life, and we will never achieve greatness without it.

I hope you got some value from my “cliff notes”.

I highly recommend reading this book.

It helped me and my team put things in perspective and showed us that it’s not that difficult to live a productive, happy, and influential lifestyle if you are willing to take action, and put a few strategies in place.

Committed to your success,

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitness consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of Fitness Profiles, a one on one, and small group personal training company, as well as Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, located at 1284 North Main St., on the Providence/Pawtucket line. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one.

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Fit for Life: Some Great Habits to Incorporate

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