Optimal health by human design
By Natasa Kazmer
How has 2020 been for you?
I mean, how has it been for you personally? Home-office with kids, anyone? By the way, high-five for just surviving it! How about the challenge of managing your team virtually, the never-ending stream of Zoom/Teams/Webex meetings, the pressure of having to rethink your business completely to survive, the utter loneliness of staring at a screen all day. It has been tough mentally, emotionally and physically.
So, what was your coping mechanism? Some of my friends started baking bread, some got dogs, others took up yoga and others moved to another country altogether (nicer weather if you’re going to be stuck in one place, they said).
As for me and my husband Jim, we launched ourselves on a journey to optimal health.
Let me be completely honest with you: it was by accident. Earlier this year, I just happened to subscribe to yet another health programme to revamp my (seriously) overweight body and (very) tired brain. And Jim, well, I guess he had no other option but to support his desperate and moody wife (you know, out of love and all).
This happy accident has led to the biggest transformation in our physical and mental health, and a major pivot in our careers that finally put us on track to realise the project of our dreams.
You may wonder what was different from any of my previous attempts to lose weight and get healthier. First of all: lockdown. There was, literally, nothing else to do, which helped with staying focused and engaged. Secondly: awareness. Having spent the last 10 years on a journey of self-discovery, self-awareness and awareness of others, I decided to take a more mindful approach and, instead of chasing after a superficial goal (e.g. lose 10kg), I focused on the process (reseting my body). Thirdly: a caring husband. Jim and I spent a lot of time talking about our ‘why’ (hello, Simon Sinek fans!), i.e. why health matters at all. So, let’s start there.
Why does health matter?
Because unless we are healthy on a cellular level, we can never be the best version of ourselves. And that includes not only optimal wellbeing in terms of health but maximum productivity and success in all areas of life.
We all realise that health is important, although we often take it for granted until it’s too late and we experience some form of serious, but otherwise preventable disease like diabetes; cancer; heart problems, etc. By the way, there is a reason why these are called lifestyle diseases. We create them by the way we live.
