An old wise doctor once told me. The quality of the questions you ask yourself day to day determines the quality of your life. I have some great examples of these questions at the end of this blog.
One question I have asked myself about my health is, what choice do I make everyday that can influence my health the most? I have found the answer. The most influential choice I can make for my health occurs in the grocery store. Once I put something in my cart, good or bad, it is likely to end up in my stomach. Even if you feel remorse in the grocery store, when you get home, your will power stands little chance. Number one, you paid for it and it’s only a few steps away from your mouth once it is in the house.
Any time I visit the grocery store, I try to stay out of the middle of the store because that is where most of the dangerous foods are that can sabotage my health. They are usually filled with unhealthy and addictive foods. If I don’t see soda pop and chips there is no way they will end up in my cart. So I learned by NOT walking down the junk food aisles and precommitting to not putting that stuff into my cart is a very wise idea. If it is out of sight it is out of mind.
I do try to stick to the perimeter of the grocery store because that is where the healthy foods tend to be. I spend most of my time in the fresh produce and seafood sections. A wise elder once told me that fish can make you smarter. I believed them when I was a child and now science confirms this. Fresh fish is healthy for your brain and heart.
So please don’t test yourself at home, make up your mind and have will power before and while in the grocery store.
Another question I have asked myself is how do I get more of my patients to be more active? After all we only have one body to live in our entire life and without health there is no wealth. Exercise will bring us health, lower our blood pressure, release brain derived neurotropic factor (a fertilizer for memory formation), and decrease the chance of being diagnosed with diabetes or a cardiovascular disease.
So I quickly went to do my research and found that in medicine there is a common theme. What gets measured gets better. The more the doctor and YOU measure your blood pressure, check up on YOUR blood sugars the more we tend to get better results with what we are measuring. There are some famous medical clinics around the world known for their patient outcomes, they live longer and healthier lives. The one reason they do better then other medical clinics is because they are measuring everything they do with their patients and constantly trying to make things better.
In one simple study I found in my research, they wanted to know how people could increase their activity. So they gave them something to measure their activity by, a pedometer. When people are assigned to wear a pedometer as a part of a randomized control trial, they walked at least one extra mile per day on average. In summary overall activity levels go up by 27%. Body mass Index (BMI) decreases, and blood pressure goes down!
Answer: Simply having a pedometer results in people walking an EXTRA MILE every day! (Just Awesome.)
At the beginning of this blog I shared with you that the quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions you ask yourself everyday.
After much reading and reading from people like Tony Robbins. Here are some examples of questions I like to ask my self at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day.
- The Morning Questions
Answer the following questions every morning to set yourself up for a positive day.
- What am I most happy about in my life right now?
- What about that makes me happy?
- What am I most excited about in my life right now?
- What am I most proud of in my life right now?
- What am I most grateful for in my life right now?
- What am I enjoying most in my life right now?
- What am I most committed to in my life right now?
- Who do I love? Who loves me?
- The Evening Questions
Ask yourself these questions at the end of each day before sleep.
- What have I given today?
- What did I learn today?
- How has today added to my life?
- How can I use today as an investment in my future?
- What did I do today towards reaching my goals?
Have a blessed week and I hope some of these questions help in making your life happier and filled with satisfaction. #Love my life #Aboriginalteensuicideprevention
Love my Life and yours,
Dr. Peter Eppinga M.D.