🎥 MATT’S BLUE ZONE VLOG
Join Matt as we rev up the motorbike, determined to make it around the entire Blue Zone peninsula (and meet unexpected trail angels)!
👁 TODAY’S INTENTION
Today, let’s take massive, determined action toward what we intuitively know must happen for healthier well-being.
When we fully decide to take action, we unlock the strength and resilience within to follow through, no matter what challenges arise. This determination fuels our journey, helping us to replace unhealthy habits with healthier ones. Our commitment to consistent action, guided by patience and trust in the process, brings us closer to greater vitality and wellness.
Ready to channel your inner strength and take a bold step towards health?
🌎 BLUE ZONE INSPIRATION
Blue Zone communities show us the power of determination in achieving longevity and well-being. In these regions, people are determined to stay active, eat healthily, and maintain strong social connections, all of which contribute to their remarkable health and longevity.
Their commitment to a balanced lifestyle, fueled by intrinsic motivation and community support, offers a powerful blueprint for us to follow. By aligning our actions with our deepest values and connecting with others who share our goals, we can create lasting positive change in our lives.
88-year-old Zen-ei Nakamura immerses himself in his work—often skin diving to scare fish into his nets.
💬 QUOTE
“The path to success is to take massive, determined action.”
– Tony Robbins, a renowned life coach and motivational speaker, known for his self-help books and seminars. His teachings emphasize the importance of taking decisive action to achieve personal and professional goals.
🧬 SCIENCE
Align your motivations with your intrinsic values for the highest chance of success.
Research inspired by self-determination theory highlights that goals are most successfully achieved when they are based on intrinsic motivation and supported by empathic, rather than directive, others. Key characteristics of self-determined actions include autonomy, self-regulation, and psychologically empowered responses to events.
🧘 HEALTHY HABIT
Today, determine one way you can take a big leap towards your health goal:
- Recall your Purpose-Driven reason to be healthier from Day 1—your WHY.
- Recall your healthy S.M.A.R.T. Goal from Day 2—your WHAT.
- Decide on one massive action you can do today—your HOW.
This isn’t about establishing a daily routine just yet, but rather experiencing the power of purposeful progress. By stretching your comfort zone, you gain valuable insights and build confidence in your abilities.
⚕️ MEDICINAL MOTTO
What you least want to do is likely what you most need to do.
Often, the tasks we resist the most are the ones that hold the greatest potential for our growth and well-being. Embracing these challenges head-on allows us to break through barriers and achieve our deepest goals. Repeat this motto to remind yourself that stepping out of your comfort zone is where true transformation happens.
✍🏼 JOURNAL PROMPTS
Bring to mind a challenging endeavor you did not want to do at first but are glad you ended up doing it.
- What was it that motivated you to move forward despite your apprehension?
- How did the experience change your perception of your abilities?
📣 AFFIRMATION
I am determined to achieve my health goals.
🙌 KUDOS
Bravo on embracing your determination! You’ve taken a powerful step towards your health goals. Keep this momentum going by nurturing your intrinsic motivations and celebrating every small victory. You are building a healthier, more vibrant you—one determined action at a time.
💬 COMMUNITY CONVERSATION
What is one massive action you’ve taken towards a health goal that made a significant impact?
Share your experience in the comments and inspire others to take bold steps towards their health!
12 years ago I was determined to lose weight and within 6 months I lost over 20 pounds. I was apprehensive at first but I was able to do it because I had strong motivation. Sadly over the last 9 years I have gained back all the weight that I lost in 2006. I need to find that motivation again in order to lose the weight and do it this time for good!
I took a yoga teacher training with a friend who wanted to teach. I just did it to help her and learn more about yoga. Two weeks before the class started I broke my elbow and two ribs. I was determined to go through the training despite not being able to practice or at least try the first weekend. I made it all the way through though it was hard not be able to fully participate. At the end I wasn’t sure that I didn’t want to try teaching. I taught a few donation classes to a just a few people and decided it wasn’t for me. A few years later I took a training course to teach women with breast cancer one-on-one (it’s an 8 week commitment and totally free for the women equipment and all). My first attempt was not successful (she didn’t like yoga) but I have since worked with 2 women who have now become friends. It is through their struggles with cancer that motivated me to continue doing this. I tell them I get just as much if not more out of our relationship than they do.
Lion Faith – music – Laughing with passion
Nine years ago, I was diagnosed with ‘metabolic disorder,’ a condition in which someone’s test results indicate at least 3 of 5 active areas of health-risk. My main risks had to do with my heart-health and with pre-diabetes. Feeling lousy and depressed, I did NOT want to have to work at becoming more fit, but I sure did not want heart probs or diabetes without trying to prevent them first! So I enrolled in a gov’t funded health-fitness program for a year, graduated with flying colours, and persisted for another three years on my own. On moving to a new city, I slipped back, till now: READY to Move Forward with Determined ACTION again, and am taking daily ‘baby steps’ to create a foundation. The same motivation: a desire to be healthier as a matter of routine in order to be resilient re any ill-health of body, mind, and spirit.
I need a dose of what you are on! You’re an inspiration!
My life right now feels like I am constantly being pushed out of comfort zone. I’ve previously called London my gas station, but right now it feels like my stretch and grow station.
What motivates me to push forward is encouragement/silent support/love from others as well as connection to and belief in something greater than me. When I get out of my own head and connected to all, I realise that nothing is impossible.
The challenging endeavor was becoming a teacher. It seemed impossible. I finished my first two years of schooling taking a bus into the local community college. I took classes in the daytime while my four daughters were in school and wrote papers/did homework after I put them to bed for the night. I worked as a staff assistant for ten years in a special ed. Behavior program. I didn’t even apply for the first job…I got a call at home. There was a turn-over of four different teachers in the same program when administration encouraged me to finish my degree. At the same time, a brand-new fast track program opened up that would allow me to get a BA in education with a special education certification in a couple of years. Applying was difficult. I was interviewed by a panel of 11 people. Two hundred fifty people had applied and only 25 got in. I was fortunate to be one of them.
My motivation was encouragement from others. My first experience in the classroom was when my youngest daughter was in first grade. I rode on the school bus (doubt if that would be allowed now) to her school three days a week and volunteered in her classroom. Her teacher pointed out that I was teaching two reading groups and so was she, but she was getting paid.
Becoming a teacher was a challenge and teaching was a challenge as well. I started out in high school learning support but was able to move to the behavior program which is why I got my degree. Since my background was mental health, I tended to get the kids in the district with multiple mental health issues. My last year of teaching, four of my students were schizophrenic with active visual and auditory delusions. I was on overload most of the year…other kids were bi-polar, autistic, clinically depressed or oppositional defiant. I was pretty passionate about my job and it was a hard choice to retire. Grateful for those people that passed my path that encouraged me to become a teacher.
Anyone who becomes a teacher is a hero in my book! The way you did it–even more so!
I was very shy, I would watch people get in front of a crowd and wow them, or just talk, read, or sing (not that I will sing). I would watch and say, I can do that, and I would practice at home in front of the mirror. When I began college I decided it was time to shed that “fear” and get up and stand tall. I began taking some classes, and using what I learned in my job. At first, I would not put in my contacts or wear my glasses when I was in front of a crowd (can’t fear what I couldn’t see). Now it seems silly and I am good although I get healthy butterflies. I wish I used that skill set a bit more today. I remember when I took my last communications class and I was going to take my final. My husband would say to me, don’t be so sure of yourself, you never know. This from someone who never had to open a book to study. I always struggled. I got to class and my professor met me at the door. I was not allowed to take the final as my average was already higher than the students and would only mess them up more. The look on my husbands face was priceless when I got back home within the hour. I have not felt that good in a very long time.