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so why do we—or should we—care about all of this, anyway? What’s the point of getting fit or sharpening our mind?
Well, let’s reverse those questions for a minute. Put simply, what’s the point of not being healthy and fit? Of not being mentally sharp? Why would any of us not want to fulfil our potential?
I believe that the five Fs—Fitness, Family, Faith, Finances and FUN—are the cor-nerstones of happiness. And of course we all want to be happy! The trouble crops up when we focus on short-term goals rather than thinking about life as a whole. We get lost in dealing with our day-to-day schedules, chasing immediate gratification, or just reacting to whatever life is throwing at us in any given moment. But once you start to widen your focus to your whole life, those walls and roof all start to matter a lot more.
If you have kids in your life, watching them grow up can be a powerful reminder of how fast time ticks by. When we’re just dealing with our own lives day in, day out, we don’t notice the passage of time so much, but there’s nothing like the wonderful wake-up call of witnessing your children develop new skills and learn new things. Who wants to look back five years down the road and suddenly say, “Hey, what the heck did I do with that half decade of my life?”
Having a passion, or a deep-rooted sense of purpose, helps to guide the choices you make. Even big decisions become much easier to navigate, eventually becoming more consistent with the plan you have for your life overall. Time still passes, of course, but you won’t suddenly wonder where it all went.
Of course, you have to have flexibility and be prepared to adjust your plan from time to time. Things change along the path of any journey, and we all have to re-route when we run up against roadblocks (or speed bumps, as I prefer to think of them). But even course-correction is much easier to deal with
DISCOVER YOUR PERSONAL WHY
CHAPTER 2
I plan to be fit to play at any age.
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Dai Manuel’s Whole Life Fitness Manifesto
when we’re in line with our purpose, passion, or beliefs, and when we have a clear sense of our direction.
In the end, it’s about being intentional about what you want to get out of your life. What are the experiences you’re creating for yourself right now that will become the stories you’ll tell later? Will they be stories you’re proud of? If your life experiences are ones that you’re truly happy to shout about, and can look back on with pride and satisfaction, they add up to a life well lived.
My Why
My personal why is all about connecting with people, whether it is my family, my friends, or my tribe. This drive for connection to others underscores my very being. It’s a vital, addictive source of enjoyment in my life. I get a huge kick out of being able to help others become healthier and happier; this gives me my joie de vivre that makes me jump out of bed every morning. The more people I reach, the greater the impact on my online community, as other leaders invariably emerge to carry forward this fitness movement, like ripples on a pond.
For the past several years, my whole family has come to the gym with me bright and early on Sunday mornings to teach an awesome group of people keen to learn the Whole Life Fitness Manifesto way of being. Hundreds of people have attended these Sunday Funday events, helping me to realize my goal of improving the lives of as many people as possible. These weekly events are like little beacons of light that remind me of my purpose.
My personal why can be boiled down to: I’m here to help people live happy, healthier, more active lifestyles while developing richer, deeper and more meaningful personal rela-tionships with themselves, and their friends, families, and communities.
How It All Started
My own personal why is deeply rooted in my past as a morbidly obese teenager.
When I was nine, my parents announced they were divorc-ing and it rocked my world. Until that moment, I had thought I had the perfect life, so I struggled hard with this traumatic event. Suddenly, all I wanted was to be wanted. At that time, only one other child at my school had separated parents, which added extra social stigma to my experience.
Leading our Sunday Funday tribe is a big part of fulfilling my personal why.
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discover your personal why
I withdrew from friends, family, social outings—life expe-riences—and tried to fill the void I felt within, which mainly involved eating. Our family dinners were well-rounded, but outside of mealtimes, I was a junk-food junkie. Food was my crutch. Very quickly, I developed a bad habit of reaching for more snacks than I should, choosing burgers, fries and other garbage that barely landed in my stomach before I wanted more. In hindsight, I can see that I was making choices without really understanding why I made them. I was on autopilot, just acting on an impulse to soothe my turbulent emotions.
I certainly didn’t offload those extra calories with anything even approaching an active lifestyle. Blame it on too much time playing video games, too much lounging in front of the tv, combined with a lack of education around where my sedentary lifestyle was heading.
By the time I reached puberty, my frame—then 167 cm (5 ft 6 in) in height—weighed in at about 90 kg (200 lbs), with a 96-cm (38-in) waist.
The usual emotional and physical upheavals of adolescence made the situation even worse. As anyone who is or has been overweight knows, there’s a stigma that comes with being large. People can be cruel, but teenagers downright vicious in their ridicule. My peers found it hard to even look me in the eye and I was well aware of their snickering—behind my back, and even right in my face. I understood; I avoided looking at my own body when I stepped out of the shower. I wore baggy clothing in an attempt to camouflage my protruding belly. And shorts? I never wore them, no matter how hot the weather might be.
I said no to everything. Attend a pool party where I would have to wear a bathing suit? No way! Participate in gym class? Out of the question. Go to a school dance? No thanks. I’d simply avoid anything physical, leveraging my asthma as an excuse to opt out.
Through these lifestyle choices, I soon became freighted with low self-esteem. I approached rock bottom, feeling depressed and isolated. I can admit now that I even had suicidal thoughts.
And then one Sunday morning, I decided to do something that I usually avoided: I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Up to that point, I was able to pretend that things weren’t as bad as they were, because I wasn’t looking the problem in the eye. Deny, deny, deny. Facing up, however, I broke down in tears. I had never felt so low
How Active Are Our Kids?
Physical inactivity is now identified as the 4th leading risk factor for global