Strive

Picture this: you're standing at the crossroads of another failed attempt at changing your life. Maybe it's the gym membership you've ignored for three months, the healthy eating plan that lasted exactly five days, or the meditation app collecting digital dust on your phone. Sound familiar? You're not alone. Research shows that 92% of people abandon their wellness goals within the first three months, not because they lack willpower, but because they're making it harder than it needs to be.

Here's what I've discovered through decades of professional athletics and navigating life with an autoimmune condition: living your best life isn't about perfection or extreme measures. It's about creating a sustainable approach that honors one simple promise to yourself: make it easy, make it enjoyable, and most importantly, make it exciting. When you embrace this philosophy, everything changes. You stop fighting against yourself and start working with your natural rhythms, desires, and capabilities to build a life that truly thrives.

The foundation of any meaningful change begins with honest observation. Think of it as becoming a detective in your own life, gathering evidence about your patterns, habits, and choices without judgment or immediate action. This isn't about criticism; it's about clarity.

Consider the story of a tennis player who thought she was performing terribly during a quarterfinal match at the US Open. She was so focused on her perceived failures that she couldn't see she was actually winning 6-2, 3-1. Only years later did she realize how her inability to observe her situation accurately cost her the match. This taught her a crucial lesson: until you fully understand what you're dealing with, how can you make the right decisions about what's best for you?

True observation requires three key elements. First, write things down as they happen rather than relying on memory. Whether you text yourself notes or jot them on paper, capture your choices in real time. Second, observe your four critical life areas: your diet, your daily activities, who and what surrounds you, and yourself. Finally, pay attention to patterns without trying to fix them immediately. Notice when you eat and why, how you feel after different activities, which people energize or drain you, and how your thoughts affect your actions throughout the day.

When you develop this skill of mindful observation, you create the foundation for all other positive changes. You can't improve what you don't acknowledge, and you can't change what you refuse to see clearly. Observation is your compass, pointing you toward your best life possible.

Balance isn't about perfection or maintaining equal attention to everything simultaneously. It's about creating moments of equilibrium within the beautiful chaos of real life. Your life will always be unbalanced because you're striving, growing, and living fully. The key is learning to find small pockets of balance that keep you centered and moving forward.

Take the example of someone who discovered she was a chronic late-night eater. Instead of fighting this pattern or feeling guilty about it, she used it as information. She started planning healthier late-night options and adjusting her eating schedule throughout the day to accommodate this tendency. By working with her natural rhythm rather than against it, she found a sustainable approach that actually worked.

Start by focusing on balancing when you eat, aiming for something every two to three hours to keep your blood sugar stable and prevent binge eating. Ensure each meal contains lean protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. For activities, commit to resistance training two to three times per week and aim for 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise weekly. Balance your relationships by spending more time with positive influences and less with energy drains. Most importantly, balance your daily schedule by removing two overwhelming commitments and adding two fulfilling ones.

Remember that balance is dynamic, not static. Some days you'll excel in one area while struggling in another, and that's perfectly normal. The goal is progress, not perfection, and finding your unique rhythm that allows you to thrive long-term rather than burning out from unrealistic expectations.

Your body and mind need regular restoration to perform at their best. Soothing isn't weakness; it's strategic recovery that prevents burnout and accelerates progress. When you learn to pause and restore yourself proactively, you stay in a constant state of healing rather than constantly trying to recover from damage.

The revelation came during a three-week wellness program that introduced the concept of how everything we put into and onto our bodies determines how difficult it is for disease to exist within us. This wasn't just about food; it was about understanding that every system in your body is interconnected. When one part struggles, it affects the whole chain, just like in tennis where physical, mental, and emotional strength must work together.

Begin each day with sixteen ounces of water before anything else, and continue hydrating throughout the day. Incorporate foods that reduce inflammation and stress: magnesium-rich dark chocolate, bananas, and spinach; vitamin C-packed berries and citrus fruits; and omega-3 fatty acids from nuts, seeds, and fatty fish. Practice static stretching for major muscle groups, holding each stretch for 30-60 seconds to release tension and improve flexibility. Most importantly, carve out time for meditation, even just ten minutes of focusing on your breath while letting thoughts float away without judgment.

Soothing is about believing in the process even when you can't see immediate results. Every moment you spend nurturing yourself creates compound benefits that show up in increased energy, better mood, improved focus, and greater resilience. Trust that these small acts of self-care are building the foundation for your best life possible.

Inspiration isn't something you wait for; it's something you actively seek and create. The most successful people understand that motivation has an expiration date, which is why they constantly refresh their sources of inspiration and use their own journey to lift others along the way.

Before every major championship, there was always something new that provided inspiration, something completely different from the last time. This wasn't coincidence; it was by design. Your mind is incredibly smart, and it will quickly become bored with the same motivational sources. When you don't change up your inspiration regularly, your brain starts saying, "I already know about that, so what else do you have to keep me moving forward?"

Look for inspiration in seasonal changes by choosing fruits and vegetables at their peak freshness. Document your meals with photos, then challenge yourself to create even healthier options the next day. Change your exercise environment regularly, trying different locations, times, or activities to keep your brain engaged. Thank five people each day, celebrating others' victories as if they were your own, and share your talents with those who could benefit from your knowledge and experience.

The most powerful inspiration comes from making your journey bigger than yourself. When you help others achieve their best life possible, you simultaneously achieve your own. This creates a rising tide effect where your success lifts others, and their success motivates you to reach even higher. Remember, inspiration always has a shelf life, so keep seeking new sources while using your own transformation to light the way for others.

The beauty of this approach lies in its flexibility and personalization. You have three ways to implement these eight daily actions: observe, appreciate, balance, enrich, soothe, believe, inspire, and strive. Choose the intensity that matches your current capacity and circumstances.

Short STRIVING means completing all eight actions across any combination of your four life areas each day. You might observe and balance your diet, appreciate and enrich your activities, soothe and inspire your relationships, then believe in and strive toward personal growth. Mix and match as needed while ensuring you complete all eight actions daily.

Strict STRIVING focuses all eight actions on just one life area per day. If you choose activities, you'll observe, appreciate, balance, enrich, soothe, believe in, inspire, and strive with your physical movement and exercise for that entire day. This creates deep focus and intensive improvement in one specific area.

Serious STRIVING tackles all thirty-two combinations, applying each of the eight actions to all four life areas in a single day. This is challenging but incredibly transformative for those ready to accelerate their progress rapidly.

The key is choosing an approach that feels challenging yet sustainable, exciting rather than overwhelming. Start where you are, use what works, and adjust as you grow stronger and more confident. Your best life possible isn't a destination; it's a journey of continuous growth and joyful discovery.

Living your best life possible isn't about perfection, extreme measures, or complicated systems. It's about embracing a simple philosophy that makes positive change feel natural and sustainable. As the journey proves, "Better—not best—because best is just a moment." The goal is continuous growth and improvement rather than achieving some impossible standard of perfection.

When you commit to observing, appreciating, balancing, enriching, soothing, believing, inspiring, and striving every single day, you create momentum that builds upon itself. Each small action compounds into larger transformations, and each day becomes an opportunity to win by simply showing up for yourself. Start today by choosing just one action and applying it to one area of your life, then build from there. Your best life possible is waiting, and every moment you delay is a moment you could be thriving instead of merely surviving.