Worldwide Success

Being healthy is fundamental to success.  Without our health it becomes very difficult to achieve anything else in life.  So what exactly is the definition of health?  It wasn’t until 1940 that the definition of health as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) expanded beyond just the lack of diseases or symptoms of diseases.  It was then understood that health should be defined much more broadly as a complete state of physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being.

Today, preventive medicine is much more pervasive and health is treated as a much broader, holistic concept.  You shouldn’t wait until you are sick to start working on your health.  If you follow a healthy lifestyle, given the current state of medical science, you have a very good chance of living a healthy, long life.  Just 100 years ago, if you were lucky enough to make it to 65, you most likely were limited to what you could do at that age due to physical limitations and sickness.  Today, you can live a very active, full life, at the age of 65.  It’s like we gained 20 years in our lives, so that 65 today feels more like 45 just a few decades ago.  And who knows where science will take us?  Maybe in a few decades we will gain another 20 or more years.  Can you imagine living a full active life beyond 100 years of age?  Given the current rate of medical advancement, I am optimistic that I will see this happen within my lifetime.

So how do you maximize your health today so that you can enjoy life to its fullest and so that you can pursue other areas of success that are important to you?   There are a few very simple rules that you can follow to maximize a healthy lifestyle:

1. Exercise regularly
2. Eat the right foods
3. Keep a healthy weight
4. Watch your cholesterol
5. Sleep well
6. Don’t smoke
7. Don’t use drugs

Following the rules above does not guarantee that you will live a long life without sickness, but it will greatly increase your chances of living a healthy life.  Let’s look at these seven rules of a healthy lifestyle in more detail: 

Exercise Regularly 

Regular exercise is extremely important to a healthy lifestyle.  The benefits of exercising have been proven scientifically. Regular exercise burns calories, which helps you maintain a healthy weight, reducing the risks of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.  It also increases you self-confidence, as you improve you physical appearance, and gives you more energy to achieve your day-to-day tasks.   In the article How Physical Fitness Influence Success, I provide a more detailed review of this subject.

Eat the Right Foods

Much has been written on this subject.  Americans seem to be in love with fad diets, specially the ones that promise immediate results with little effort.  From the South Beach Diet, to the no carbs Atkins craze, every once in a while a new miracle diet becomes in vogue, until the not so desired side effects of an unbalanced diet is understood and publicized.  We seem to always go full circle and back to the basic facts that the best diet is one that we can live with every day of our lives, and that includes a variety of foods.  The USDA food pyramid is a good guideline for eating right:

• Whole grains, bread, cereal and pasta group: 6-11 servings
• Vegetables group:  3-5 servings
• Fruit group: 2-4 servings
• Milk, yogurt and cheese group: 2-3 servings
• Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts group: 2-3 servings
• Fats, oils and sweets: use sparingly

Keep a Healthy Weight   

Obesity is a huge problem in America, and is spreading throughout the world, including the developing countries where industrialized, processed food is more readily available to the masses.  Keeping a healthy weight is key to living well, preventing diseases such as diabetes and heart disease and having the right level of energy to do the things you want to do in life.

Watch Your Cholesterol

Heart disease is the number one killer in America.  One of the highest risk factors for heart disease is you cholesterol level.  You should have your cholesterol checked on a regular basis and make sure it is within acceptable guidelines, especially if you fall within the high risk group for heart disease (family history, smoker, overweight, high blood pressure).  There are many medicines available today called statins that help reduce your cholesterol level.  I personally prefer to control cholesterol the old fashioned way, that is, through diet and exercise.  But if your cholesterol level is too high and you are unable to lower it through diet and exercise you may want to consider using statins.  Consult your doctor for the best treatment for you.

Sleep well

Sleep is your body’s natural way to recover from the demands that you put on it.  This is the time when certain important chemical reactions happen in your body.  During sleep you body also burns calories and feeds your muscles with the necessary nutrition they need to function properly.  A good night of sleep also helps control stress and helps improve your mood.

Don’t smoke

Smoking is one of the worst habits that you can form, and one of the most damaging activities to your body that you can possibly do.  Nicotine is highly addictive, and once you start smoking it is very hard to quit.  That is why it is so important that we educate our young people about how harmful smoking is, so that they never try it for the first time.  In the article Success from a European Perspective – Part 1 I talked about how pervasive smoking is in the UK.  But this is also true in other parts of Europe and in Asia.  I was disheartened by seeing so many very young teenagers in Germany smoking.  This is an area where the US has made great strides in the last few decades.  We seem to be doing a much better job of keeping our kids away from smoking, but we need to stay on this battle until this terrible habit is eradicated.

Don’t use drugs

The other battle against intoxicating addictive substances is the use of illegal drugs.  Drugs not only have devastating social and behavioral consequences, it can also cause great harm to your health.  This is an ongoing battle that requires continued vigilance and education of our young people.

If you just follow the simple guidelines in this article, you will greatly improve your chances of living a long healthy life.  As simple as it may seem, this is really everything you need to know about living a healthy lifestyle.

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