The physical and mental health of ambitious professionals and entrepreneurs is declining. Many are overweight, have low energy, lack focus, are stressed-out, and have physical complaints. People striving for success, often trade their health in the process. The question rises:

Can you truly be successful without your health?

Not if you want to perform at your best, be a strong leader, and live a long and healthy life.

The problem I observe is the way people live— how they've constructed their life. The modern world is fast-paced and heavily technology-dependent. The goal of all these technologies is to make our lives easier and more convenient.

But does this convenience genuinely make our lives easier in the long run? No, it does not.

What it does is program our minds to think that everything in life should come easy. With a push of a button or a click, you can get almost anything you want. Machines have taken over most of our physical tasks. And now, even AI automations are beginning to take over our mental tasks as well. As we're increasingly relieved of all tasks, we grow progressively lazier, until we find ourselves fat, sick, and tired.

In my experience, this type of lifestyle often leads to depression, burn-out, chronic illness, and injury. That's not even mentioning the relational problems, financial stress, or even bankruptcy. There's no amount of money that can buy you out of this mess.

In all honesty, this shouldn't be you if you genuinely want to succeed in life and business. Your health is your greatest asset if you aim to achieve true success. To perform at your absolute best, you need a lean, strong body and a resilient mind. If you're able to develop that, you'll be ahead of 90% of people. This isn't an unrealistic goal reserved for a select few. Anyone can attain this. I'm going to share one of my most potent strategies that I use with my clients to build strong bodies and resilient minds.

Entrepreneurs' Struggles: The Big 3

In the last 9 years I have coached many entrepreneurs. During my intake interviews there are three main topics that 90% of them struggle with. I call them The Big 3. Here they are:

1. Feeling better
2. Have more energy
3. Lose weight (be lean)

Why do I mention these three topics you might think? Because they're all interconnected. People are often blind to how daily choices affect their health and wellbeing.

Energy leaks, not feeling optimal and weight gain, is absolutely unnecessary if you can view your behavior objectively. Most cannot.

My strategy with every new client is identifying what their most neglected areas are, that lead to their unwanted reality. When I pinpoint the issues, I make a list of their personal 'Daily Essentials'. Daily essentials are the most valuable exercises or practices someone can do on a daily basis, for quick but lasting results.

Daily exercises you might think? Do I have to exercise everyday?

Dan John, a decorated strength coach once said:

If it's important, do it everyday. If it's not important, why do it at all?

If you truly value your energy levels, wellbeing and health, why wouldn't you consider giving it attention everyday?

The problem what I see is that people think they can neglect their health for 176 hours a week, and make up for it with two one hour sessions for example. This way of thinking is the fundamental problem if you ask me. You can't treat your health, wellbeing and performance as you treat the rest of your life. You can't buy more energy, focus, productivity or health online. You have to work for it.

Doing that everyday promotes lasting behavior change. Only when behavior changes, results change.

Now, let's dive into the concept of Daily Essentials.

Identifying Your Daily Essentials

My job as a health & performance coach is to help my clients become healthy and improve their day-to-day performance. 90% of my clients owns a business and their highest priority is to be successful. We just identified the 3 most common goals I encountered:

• Have more energy
• Feel better
• Lose weight

Lets start with the goal of being more energetic.

It's all interconnected

There can be multiple reasons someone experiences a lack of energy. I can't address every possibility, but I can give you the most common ones. Here they are:

1. Extended sitting and prolonged inactivity.
2. Carrying excess bodyweight.
3. Being in poor physical condition.
4. Feeling stressed all the time.

When you look at this list, is there something you observe?

Can you see the link between a lack of energy and inactivity, overweight, poor fitness and chronic stress?

Feeling tired al the time, not feeling well and being overweight are symptoms. The source of the problem are lifestyle related factors like prolonged sitting, inactivity, overeating and mental frailness.

Like I mentioned, it's all interconnected.

Daily essentials don't target symptoms, they target the causes. I don't design daily essentials for 'feeling better' or 'have more energy', I design daily essentials to achieve a specific outcome, like:

• Daily Essentials for Sustainably Being Lean
• Daily Essentials for Strong Posture
• Daily Essentials for Strength & Fitness
• Daily Essentials for Stress-Resilience

Unlike most people, I don't waste the time of my clients addressing symptoms, we invest time in achieving a specific outcome.

Most people (unknowingly) try to combat symptoms, by drinking coffee, use medications or 'eat bad feelings away'. Those are the typical ineffective strategies used by the masses, but that's a topic for another day.

Now that we have identified the root causes of the Big 3, let me give you some examples of some powerful daily essentials.

Daily Essentials for Strong Posture

Sitting all day leads to numerous problems. It affects the joints, muscles, overall fitness, and even mental stability. The most prevalent issue arising from extensive sitting and inactivity is the weakening of some muscles and the tightening of others, coupled with a lack of cardiovascular stimulus. This often results in postural challenges, including back, neck, and shoulder complaints, as well as weak conditioning.

Daily essentials for Strong Posture should involve strength exercises, stretches and any form of activity like walking.

Here are some common Daily Essentials that I like to prescribe:

1. Glute Bridge: 1-2 sets of 10-15 reps (squeeze at the top)
2. Stick Half Kneeling Big Shoulder Circles: 1-2 sets of 10-15 reps/side
3. Prone W to I: 1-2 sets of 8-12 reps
4. Bird-dog: 1-2 sets of 6-10 reps/side + 3-6 sec hold
5. Activity during the day: Stand-up and walk every hour. Use the stairs instead of the elevator. The bike over the car, etc.
6. Walk or bike everyday: Walk or ride the bike (to work) for 30-60 minutes a day.

Do the strength/flexibility exercises at least two times a day in the morning (when you wake-up) and evening (before bed).

If you make a habit of these daily essentials, how simple and easy they might be, you will absolutely increase your energy levels and feel way better.

Let's do another one for Sustainably Being Lean.

Daily Essentials for Sustainably Being Lean

You might have heard the saying about being overweight: it's 80% nutrition and 20% training. But I have a different perspective; it's 100% behavior. Yes, monitoring your caloric intake is essential, and regular exercise is vital, not just for losing weight but for maintaining a lean physique throughout your life. In my online course 'Lasting Lean Life', I guide people on staying lean for life. For now, here are some effective daily essentials to help you to become lean.

I'll provide two options: one for those with gym access and another for those without.

Option 1 - Gym:

• Choose 4 strength exercises in the categories Hinge, Squat, Push & Pull. Great examples are Kettlebell Swing, Goblet Squat, Kettlebell Press and Gorilla Row. You only need a pair of kettlebells for this program.
• Do 2 sets of 5 reps (15 reps for swings) at a weight you can perfectly control. Don't go too heavy, you're doing this everyday. If a weight starts to feel light somewhere down the line, add more weight.
• After you've completed the 8 sets, grap a pair of Kettlebells of a moderate load and Farmer Walk with them for as long as possible.
• When you're done, go for a walk for 30-60 minutes. If you want to do this on a treadmill, that's perfectly fine. Outside is better, in nature is perfect.
• About nutrition: Track what you eat everyday. Weigh yourself everyday in the morning. At the end of the week: calculate the average weight. If you lost at least 0.5-1 pound, then your intake is on point. If you didn't loose or gained weight, lower the daily intake with 250-500 kcal a day. You can use an app like MyFitnessPal.

Option 2 - No gym:

• Do a circuit of these 4 bodyweight exercises: Air Squat, Beast Crawl, Crab Crawl and Glute Bridge. Do 3 rounds with an interval of 30:30 seconds work-rest ratio. When the circuit starts feeling easy, increase the sets or work time. For instance do 4 rounds instead of 3 rounds or work for 40 seconds instead of 30 seconds.
• Walk everyday for 30-60 minutes. In nature is the best option in my opinion. It's great for clearing your mind. There's some added value (see why things are interconnected).
• About nutrition: Track what you eat everyday. Weigh yourself everyday in the morning. At the end of the week: calculate the average weight. If you lost at least 0.5-1 pound, then your intake is on point. If you didn't loose or gained weight, lower the daily intake with 250-500 kcal a day.

These are just two examples of very simple but highly-effective Daily Essentials that offer you a great ROI.

Daily essentials shift the way you work on your health. It shifts the focus from 'compensating for unhealthy behavior' to 'building healthy behavior'.

Building healthy behavior is one of the most powerful investments in your business.