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This week I’m fixated even more than usual on healthy habits as I prep for my upcoming interview with author James Clear on Atomic Habits and Why True Behaviour Change Is Really Identity Change.

Initially I started thinking about all the super quick yet impactful habits I rely on each day and quickly came up with:

‘5’ 5 Minute Health Habits. 

On analysis each of these habits is easily applicable to any area of life. So as we get rolling with my top ‘5’ 5 minute health habits I’m also going to share how theses each might translate to business (or anything).

One: Decide on Your “Emergency” 5 Minute Healthy Meal.

By emergency I mean you’re already: over-tired, hangry and running on mere fumes of your limited daily discipline quota.

Mine is: pre-washed kale-slaw or salad greens + coconut yoghurt + 2 supermarket black bean and beetroot burgers.

Another option is: pre-washed salad mix + hummus + (super)market bought falafel.

If you make meals on mass and have a well stocked freezer your options become limitless: hearty minestrone with red kidney beans, smokey eggplant curry with chickpeas, vegan shepherds pie with lentils.

I’ve been relying on some version of a 5 minute meal for so long now it’s automatic. Health is not the area of life in which I tend to let myself down. However what if there was an “Emergency” 5 Minute something (!) strategy for the area of life that I’d like to see better results?

You can model success both from other people and also from the areas of your life in which you’re currently enjoying great results.

As someone who recognizes the value in consistent social media posting yet sees it as a potential HUGE TIME SUCK I’d certainly benefit from an “Emergency” 5 Minute social media posting framework.

Something like: Monday = Motivation. Tuesday = Tucker (that’s Aussie for food!). Wednesday = Weigh-in. Thursday = Training. Friday = FAQ.

Now if you’re a lovely super-long-term listener you might recognise that way back when i started The Healthification podcast this is actually the format I used for the daily shows. I will make this applicable to our 5 Minute Health Habits in habit number 2.

Two: Plan Your Day To Come The Night Before. 

Including the time and location for tomorrows exercise.

Your ideal day starts the night before. I genuinely believe that. It starts with a good nights sleep and continues with a list of tasks in order of priority with time allocated to each. This 5 minute habit will take some refining to make it most appropriate to your schedule and commitments.

For example I used to have set start times and finish times for each task. So perhaps, write for podcast 5am-6.30am. I then learnt I’m more effective in 45 minute blocks. I also learnt my schedule changes due to circumstances beyond my control as I’m sure your does too. Interviews booked at 4.30am. Clients asking to change times and days. So ‘2’ 45 minute blocks of my number one priority (writing for the podcast) now slots into my first free time of the day. I can be relatively flexible with the exact time of this task as I don’t struggle to prioritise it.

However, if you struggle to be consistent with daily exercise then I strongly recommend not only putting it on your daily list the night before, also setting the time and location that can be non-negotiable. Time and location are the most common cues for habits so with good habits you want to lock and load them to your advantage. This might be an appointment with yourself at your local gym at 6am before any of the days potential disrupters jump in your way!

So just to close the loop on my as yet illusive social media posting and the “Emergency” 5 Minute framework from habit 1, I also need to lock in a time and location that can be non-negotiable.

Three: Decide on 3 Identity Beliefs That Support Your Ideal Health.

Awareness is the first step. Yes, actually adhering to these beliefs and making the habits a part of your lifestyle takes more than 5 minutes however you can decide in 5. For example:

“I am a person who lifts weights 5 days a week.”

“I am a person who prioritises meal prep.”

“I am a person who never starts making excuses in relation to exercise and eating because once I start – where do I stop?”

Right now I’m working on 3 Identity Beliefs that support my ideal business. You can imagine it’s often a simple switch to make your current identity beliefs about an area of your life in which you’re currently excelling applicable to another area of your life. So perhaps:

“I am a person who creates high value content 5 days a week.”

“I am a person who prioritises weekly live videos.”

“I am a person who never starts making excuses in relation to content creation and sharing because once I start – where do I stop?”

Of course there’s more depth / thought behind each of those “I am” statements however I just wanted to share some basic examples to help get the ball rolling so far as your own identity beliefs.

Four: Identify The Decisive Moments In Your Day That Have Previously Led To A Downward Spiral.

Decide on your alternate course of positive action. For example:

“One drink with colleagues after work” means skipping gym after work and eating a less than ideal dinner out and getting less sleep than you’d like and grabbing breakfast at the cafe near work rather than making something at home…. etc

“Working through lunch” means getting over hungry and demolishing something refined and rubbish from the vending machine / corner store and that feeds your craving for sweet-fatty-salty foods and then you get an energy dip / brain fog and then you try to pull yourself through with more sugar or caffeine and now you’re fixated on how to “survive” rather than how to “thrive” by treating your body with respect.

“Buying a big bag of roasted cashews because they’re on special and bringing them home” means either demolishing way too many of them or wasting your (MY!) limited daily discipline quota by thinking about them all the time and then feeling guilty / undisciplined and like “what’s the point I always let myself down?”

Of course decisive moments that lead to a downward spiral as just as prevalent in business as in health.

It might be the first thing you open as you sit down at your desk each morning. Or after lunch. Or after a meeting. Do you go straight to that next most important task as clarified by your list of tasks in order of priority with time allocated to each OR does social media, email or something else less important grab your attention instead? 

Five: Find A Playlist You Love To Help You Through Your Workout. 

Or a podcast you love to help you through your meal prep / walks to work.

As someone who generally loves exercise I still rely on a playlist to get me started often. My current fav is a YouTube one titled: EMINEM | Best Remixes of Popular Songs 2017.

So far as podcasts, I find I like different ones dependant on whether I’m walking, meal prepping or whatever’ing!

The Rich Roll Podcast is my long term all time fav for a super diverse range of guests. “Ultra-athlete, wellness evangelist and bestselling author Rich Roll delves deep with the world’s brightest and most thought provoking thought leaders to educate, inspire and empower you to unleash your best, most authentic self.”

My favourite animal rights activist Earthling Ed has a new show called The Disclosure Podcast.

I also really love The Jordan Harbinger Show. It was selected by Apple as a Best of 2018. To quote their own site: “We get deep into the untapped wisdom of the world’s top performers – from intelligence operatives to legendary musicians, iconoclastic writers to visionary change-makers. We deconstruct the play-books of the most successful people on earth – and learn new strategies, perspectives and insights you can’t find anywhere else.”

The main thing is to take 5 minutes before you need the playlist / podcast to get them sorted so you’re ready to go when it’s time to get your workout (or meal prep) on, rather than risking getting stuck down an online rabbit hole instead.

This translates to business by finding that playlist you work well to. I tend to only use it when I’m in a distracting environment or if I’m really struggling to focus for whatever reason however something like a YouTube Classical Music for Studying and Concentration | Mozart Music Study, Relaxation, Reading playlist can be super helpful (I have to have mine really low though!).

To get actionable today does one of these ‘5′ 5 Minute Health Habits To Stop Fighting You sound like something worth implementing?

To recap:

One: Decide on Your “Emergency” 5 Minute Healthy Meal.

Two: Plan Your Day To Come The Night Before. Including the time and location for tomorrows exercise.

Three: Decide on 3 Identity Beliefs That Support Your Ideal Health.

Four: Identify The Decisive Moments In Your Day That Have Previously Led To A Downward Spiral.

Five: Find A Playlist You Love To Help You Through Your Workout.

It’s 1.15pm here in Sydney-town and I’ve used all 5 so far today. If you’re like me and have previously wasted way to much time, energy, money and discipline fighting YOU then please give the health habit that most resonates with you a try.

That’s it for today in Healthifcation however I’ll be back in a couple of days with E592: Atomic Habits and Why True Behaviour Change Is Really Identity Change with James Clear. Yes, it’s happened! A couple of days have gone by since I started planning todays show and my chat with James was awesome. Like the James, part of it. I was potentially a tad star stuck. Sort of kidding…. anyway, the show is absolutely 100% well worth checking out… there’s so much I’m personally implementing after the chat.

If you’ve enjoyed this show and gotten value out of it would you consider sharing it with someone close to you? A recommendation from you to someone who you think would find value in the show would truly be most fab!

The Healthification podcast is proudly bought to you by my FREE ‘Easy Vegan’ plan. It took me 25 years to transition from a meat eater to a happy, healthy Vegan! You can do it in just 3 days with  my simplified ‘easy vegan’ plan!  Get the fit, strong, and healthy plant based body you deserve… while avoiding ALL the mistakes I made along the way!

Till next time, remember Creating a body and life you love is Freedom. (If this ex-carb queen, non genetically gifted, naturally uncoordinated vegan chick can do it – so can YOU!!!)

If you liked “‘5′ 5 Minute Health Habits To Stop Fighting You!” you’ll also like: Friday FAQ, Smart Simple Fat Loss: Align Your Goal.

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.