With the 2016 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix coming very soon, it’s a good time to check our own engines to see if a service or complete overhaul is required.

Do you need a performance vehicle or backyard bomb to get through life? Let’s call our body a vehicle. A car allows us to navigate through our busy world. How do you use your body? What demands do you place on it? Do you cruise around casually on a lazy Sunday morning or would you demand that it moves fast, handle the turns and hills, and keep up with your hectic, often stressful schedule?

Many of us need our body to perform. I certainly do. I need my body to allow me to give my all, when I’m with each and every client. I also need my body to help me present the best talk or workshop I’ve ever done, each and every time I deliver a corporate health program. After work, my body can’t rest either! I need to exercise, be attentive and engaged with my daughter and connect with my wife and lend a helping hand where possible.

Finally, I want and need to contribute to our early childhood music program, as more and more families want to be part of it. That does not include friends or family, or other business networking, clubs or associations I’m part of.

In other words, it means that no matter how much sleep we get, or how many things we have to do in a day, we need our bodies to be able to get out of bed and do it all over again tomorrow. We require our body to be at least operational or, even better, effective and efficient, regardless of what fuel we nourish it with, regardless of how hard we push ourselves, regardless of how much stress and strains it endures with poor posture, prolonged sitting or intensive (or lack of) exercise.

Be honest with yourself. After all, you are in the driver’s seat of your health and how you choose to live your life. I’ve not yet met someone who only wants and needs a second-hand sedan to navigate through life.

Playing video games all day requires our body to be able to sustain prolonged static sitting positions, endless concentration, repetitive thumb movements (and usually dehydration, poor eating and sleeping habits). Looking after and keeping up with kids is demanding. Having a boss means deadlines, KPIs, overtime, managing teams, and other stressors. Running your own business means being the Chief Everything Officer. Even retirees want their bodies to keep up with their lifestyles – travelling, socialising, entertaining grandkids and just being free, independent, and mobile.

^{Dr Gary with a Chiropractic Works client}

Which One Are You? Someone Who Needs To Do A Lot Of Things Or Someone Who Just Needs To Get By?

Ask yourself these three questions to see if you are using the right vehicle for your lifestyle and whether you require a service or overhaul:

1. Which type of car are you running your life with?

What state is your vehicle in? Does it feel like a Formula 1 race car, at the top of its game? Or does your body feel in need of some servicing and TLC?

2. Which vehicle do you want or need to succeed in the game of life?

Do you require a high-performance race car to match your daily schedule and ambitions? Or is a second-hand sedan all you require?

3. How you are taking care of your vehicle?

Do you treat your body like an F1 race car, going for pit stops, fine tuning and adjusting it to ensure it stays well? Are you optimising its potential to perform? Using the best tyres, best fuel, and getting the best experts to help? Or do you treat your body like a second-hand sedan? Not really bothered if it starts making strange noises, doesn’t work properly or starts to break down? And anyway, since it’s not really that bad (it hasn’t completely broken down yet), it’s not important or urgent enough to do anything about it.

Staying healthy and maintaining a level of vitality is the only way to run a high-performance race car. F1 race cars need to shave off split seconds coming out of a turn. They can’t afford a headache, or heel pain because that will hinder its performance. How well can we live, how strong is our focus and how effective can we be, if we’re suffering from a stomach upset, back pain or a sore throat. Servicing the body correctly, and addressing all of these seemingly small issues is all it takes to be at your best.

Of course, you can argue that you are doing your best to service an old second-hand sedan. You can also blame age. But there are plenty of vintage cars that have been taken care of, and still look and perform brilliantly regardless of age. Because if you really are doing everything you can to ensure that your body is well, doesn’t have any medical conditions, aches, pains, or breakdowns then you are running a high-performance vehicle.

If you need help to bring your body back up to speed, so you can feel great, have a spring in your step, and have limitless energy, get in touch with us! We love seeing our clients excel and be the best that they can be. 

Download my free guide, which includes 50 MORE ways to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and body aches while in the office.

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