Things Your Future Self Will Thank You For E-Book

Mark Rowe

• Herausgeber: Gill Books
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 388

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

What small thing can you do today to change your health tomorrow? Take a sauna? Drink great coffee? Make time for awe? As a family doctor, Dr Mark Rowe has seen first-hand the impact of investing in your future self with simple, small changes to your daily routine that leverage the science of habits for lasting results. In this inspiring and practical book, Mark reveals the most important things we can do today to improve our lives tomorrow, with benefits that are so impressive you'll want to get started straightaway. Become the CEO of your own health. Your future self starts today.

Leseprobe

Thingsyourfutureself willthankyou for

Small changes, lasting results

Dr Mark Rowe

Gill Books

This book is dedicated to you, the reader,As your future unfolds one breath,one step and one day at a time,May you find purpose and peace,May you find strength and serenity,May you find wisdom in valuing your wellbeing,May you never stop learning,growing and starting.To your future.

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Introduction: Say Hello to Future You

Leverage the science of habits

Your Physical Health and Wellbeing

Become the CEO of your own health

Eat fewer ultra-processed foods

Take cold showers and hot saunas

Enjoy great coffee

Move as if your life depends on it

Be stronger to live better for longer

Sleep soundly

Let your lifestyle be your medicine

Your Emotional Wellbeing

Count your blessings

Reframe the hurt

Give back and help others

Stress less

Make time for awe

Beat burnout

Avoid ‘destination happiness’

Learn to PAUSE

Unplug with forest therapy

Your Personal Fulfilment

Make every day a learning day

Commit to making memories

Find your purpose

Start a path to financial freedom

Embrace yoga

Nurture your spiritual side

Think yourself younger

Visualise your future self

Your Relationship with Self and Others

Start (and end) your day well

Make your bed

Be your own best friend

Learn to let go

Avoid idle gossip

Have that friend you can call on, morning, noon or night

Embody the spirit of amor fati

Remember, one day you will die

Build a bridge to future you

Afterword: Choose courage

Endnotes

Acknowledgements

Copyright

About the Author

About Gill Books

Praise for The Vitality Mark by Mark Rowe

Introduction:

Say Hello toFuture You

Allow me to reintroduce you to an important idea, something I’m sure you intuitively know: you’re not the same person you were ten years ago, five years ago or even last year. You’ve changed physically, psychologically and probably personality-wise too. Your tastes and personal preferences are likely different, and you may no longer want or like the same things. And that’s OK. In fact, it’s more than OK – it’s the reality of who you are at this moment. From your metabolism and mindset to your health and happiness, the only constant in life is constant change. Everything and everyone is changing, whether you sign up for it or not.

A story from Greek mythology that illustrates this idea perfectly is the ‘paradox of the ship of Theseus’. It poses an interesting question that has puzzled even the most eminent of philosophers.

Theseus was a hero known for slaying a monster known as the Minotaur. Legend has it that when Theseus returned to Athens after slaying the Minotaur, his ship was given pride of place in the harbour there as a permanent reminder of his tremendous achievement. Each year subsequently, his brave voyage was reenacted. As the years passed, pieces of his ship, which was made entirely from wood, naturally began to weather and decay. In turn, each piece of wood that rotted was repaired and eventually replaced by a new plank, until the time came when every single original piece of wood in Theseus’ ship had been replaced. This raises the question – was it still the ship of Theseus, or was it a different ship? If it was different, then at what point in the repair process did it cease to be the original ship? Or was it still the same ship of Theseus by virtue of its function? Did the essence of the ship remain the same despite the frequent changes?

Now let’s extend this concept to your human body. Just like the ship of Theseus, your cells and body are part of a continuum of constant change.

Your body contains over 30 trillion cells with a daily turnover of around 330 billion cells, as older cells die and are replaced by newer ones. The vast majority of these are red and white blood cells, which live between several days and a few months, followed by cells that line the gut wall. Every 80–100 days, 30 trillion cells will have been replaced in your body – the equivalent of a brand-new you! There are also trillions of bacteria – collectively known as the microbiome – living in your intestines which weigh in at several hundred grams and replace themselves frequently.

Just like Theseus’ ship, you too are constantly changing. As well as the inner architecture of your cells, your thoughts and beliefs, attitudes and behaviours may well be changing every day. How you look and appear to the outside world is also changing in terms of how you are biologically ‘ageing’ – something that is influenced by a wide range of factors. Are you then still the same person if all your cells are different? Is your identity purely physical or do you have an essence that remains unchanged?

Take a moment to recognise just how much you have changed and grown in the past 10 years. What might be different about you now compared to then? How have you changed in attitude, outlook and perspective? What has enabled you to become the person you are today? What about the person you will be in 10 years’ time? What might have changed then?

In his TED Talk, ‘The Psychology of Your Future Self’1, Harvard psychologist Dr Daniel Gilbert brilliantly describes the ‘end of history illusion’ – the false belief that who you are now is who you will always be. His research has found that we greatly underestimate how much our values and personality traits are going to change in the next 10 years. This bias in terms of how you see yourself can have negative consequences for decision-making for the future, as you have difficulty imagining that, one day, you will no longer be the current version of yourself. It is so much easier for your brain to salute your life journey up to now, acknowledging the growth you have experienced and real changes you have made, than it is to imagine any future changes you might make. So, while you readily perceive that you are not the same person you were 10 years ago, you are unlikely to see the next 10 years through the same lens.

A sentiment that I have heard over the years from some of my older patients is ‘If I had known that I was going to live this long, I’d have taken much better care of myself along the way.’ That’s one of my motivations for writing this book – that you are encouraged and empowered to take action now so you don’t experience those same regrets in your future and, more importantly, so you can reap the rewards of longer-term improved health and wellbeing. Staying independent, living your best life on your own terms in your own way, pursuing your dreams, living your purpose.

My own purpose is to continue to spread the message of positive health and ‘lifestyle medicine’ interventions in three ways:

Firstly, and most importantly, to encourage and support people like you to become more active participants in your own wellbeing, and in doing so be an advocate and a positive example for others to emulate.

Secondly, to encourage physicians and healthcare professionals to see things differently and to add more of these evidence-based tools to their own toolkit of treatment options to support people to get better and stay well.

Thirdly, through an appreciation that actions speak louder than words, to continue to deepen and further develop my own understanding of wellbeing practices. It’s all about progress, a commitment to ‘never stop starting’.

Many times over the years, I have seen patients whose tentative plans of becoming healthier have been derailed by feelings of overwhelm and decision fatigue. We are generally not good at appreciating the cumulative benefits that can result from the consistent application of small, positive changes. Often this type of change is incremental, happening in seemingly imperceptible ways. Knowing this, how then to plan for the future? Simply start with the reality of who you are right now. Adding or subtracting very small things to or from your life while leveraging the benefits of time can make a real difference to your lived experience. Who you become in the future depends on your choices today.

A metaphor for change that I often use with my patients in my consultation room is the traffic light model.

Red represents something you commit to stop doing. Perhaps no longer bringing your mobile phone to bed, eating late at night or procrastinating.

Orange is a reminder of the many positive health habits in your life already. Many people take their strengths for granted and forget their existing positive lifestyle practices, whether that’s spending time with their friends, walking regularly or reading.

Green represents one very small positive change you could make to enhance your wellbeing and vitality. Perhaps starting to add more colour to your food choices, ending your morning shower with 15 seconds of cold water or listening to the birds singing as you sip your morning coffee outdoors.

This book is not another quick-fix solution to transform your life. You won’t find any fad diets or magical manifestations in its pages, nor will you be encouraged to undertake a gruelling marathon towards an impossible destination of perfection. Instead, Things Your Future Self Will Thank You For is about the reality of YOU, right here, right now, with all the messy imperfections of your past and present life circumstances. It is about accepting today’s reality as a starting point to inch forward, slowly but steadily. It is about embracing the daily commitment of consciously choosing to take good care of yourself and the people that matter to you.

The Butterfly Effect is the idea that a tiny change in one part of a system can have a huge impact elsewhere – how a metaphorical butterfly beating its wings in Brazil could cause a tornado in Texas. In the same way, one small positive change you bring into your life today could make an enormous difference to your future vitality. Everything is interconnected.

At the start of the book you will find a chapter on the science of habit formation and solid strategies to successfully build and maintain positive changes. The rest of the book is then divided into four separate sections: things for physical health and wellbeing; things for emotional well-being; things that foster personal fulfilment; and things that strengthen relationships.

In these four sections you will find a menu of ideas and sustainable self-care strategies to enhance the well-being of your current and future self, such as embracing exercise as medicine, minimising ultra-processed food, unplugging in nature, building a sense of purpose, practising self-compassion and many more small, positive shifts you can undertake. Simply try one of the suggestions for a period of time, observe what happens and then decide whether or not to continue with the experiment or embark on a new one. Using both the scientific evidence (the why) and the support strategies (the how), you can build the bridge to lasting positive change. By understanding future you more clearly in terms of your goals, dreams and aspirations you can work towards a healthier tomorrow while reducing the negative impact of life’s stressors today.

The American speaker and author Earl Nightingale once said to ‘never give up on your dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.’ Of course, none of us can turn back the clock and start again, but starting today can create a brand-new ending. To paraphrase the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard, life can only be understood looking back, but it must be lived and experienced by looking forward. As you look forward to your future, let your choices and decisions be guided by those things that you will thank yourself for. This can lead towards a better relationship with future you; not perfect, but perhaps 1 per cent wiser, stronger, healthier, happier and more hopeful. Your future self starts today.

Small Steps To Future You

Let me live by the art of small steps.

Finding the courage to face my fears.

Knowing that action speaks louder than words.

Valuing the difference between empty promises and everyday efforts.

Staying curious, open in heart, spirit and mind.

Listening carefully when wise voices proffer truth and good advice.

Being patient, knowing that many problems solve themselves.

Being persistent, appreciating the value of progress.

Being present to each unfolding experience, allowing future me to emerge.

Recognising that life’s challenges and setbacks are simply signposts along the way, supporting me to become wiser, stronger and better.

Enabling me to never stop learning, growing and starting.

Inching forward:

One day

One step

One breath at a time

Living by the art of small steps

Becoming my best future self.

Leverage the science of habits

Building new habits can take a lot longer than the quick-fix formulas often advertised. Research from University College London shows that it takes between 18 and 236 days – 66 days on average – to reach a stage where it becomes easier to keep going with your new habit than to let go of it.1 That’s 66 days of committing to exercise even when you feel you’re too tired or too busy or it’s wet and windy outside.

Habits are hardwired, automatic and ritualised behaviours that shape your health and life overall. You make your habits and then your habits make you. Over time, the meals you order, the exercise you take and the work habits you cultivate all add up to influence the person you become. As a creature of habit, you tend to keep thinking, feeling and doing what you have always thought, felt and done. In fact, research has found that more than 40 per cent of the actions people performed each day weren’t actually conscious decisions, but habitual behaviours carried out while the participants were thinking of something else.2

As a doctor, I can appreciate just how difficult positive change can be, even when we understand the benefits of making the change in question. Many people know what they should do in terms of their health, but they stay chained to their existing habits. I call this the intention gap, the very real gap between who you are today as you read this and future you with new habits firmly ingrained.

The basal ganglia are very old brain structures located deep in the brain tissue near the skull base. They play a key role in in the coordination of complex movement patterns such as grasping, walking and eating, and along with the executive lobe, they help the brain prioritise the rapid deployment of a particular pattern of movement. Speed of response was vital in a world where potential danger lurked beyond every bush. This automation is also key to forming habits. Being able to automate a behaviour pattern through the basal ganglia also means you do not have to use your willpower muscle to consciously choose and carry out an action. This consumes valuable brain energy – something that is always in relatively short supply! Instead, you can simply ‘replay’ the desired behaviour – for example, brushing your teeth or locking your front door – without giving it much thought.

At the beginning of a habitual activity such as brushing your teeth, some nerve cells or neurons in the basal ganglia activate and ‘fire’, then remain quiet during the activity itself before firing again at the end. This conserves brain energy and also allows you the freedom to think about something else throughout the automated task.3

You may have believed that creating a new habit is all about willpower, but in fact this isn’t the case. This is because willpower is essentially a muscle in the brain that becomes depleted with usage. The more actions you are able to automate by turning them into a habit, the more energy you will have to devote to other tasks at work or at home. Building a new habit in essence is all about building new pathways in your brain and reinforcing those new brain connections repeatedly; over time, these thread-like connections are strengthened, turning into metaphorical steel cables of a hardwired habit. This is why successful behaviour change and habit formation is less about willpower and much more about the ‘skill power’ of habit automation.

Successfully building a new habit into your life can be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. You are more likely to succeed if you follow some or all of these guiding principles:

Start on the inside

All sustainable change happens twice: firstly on the inside, then again later when it shows up in your outer life. The challenge is to join the dots, connecting how you think and feel with what you do and how you behave. Ask yourself, why is it important for you to build this new habit? What’s motivating you to build this new habit? How confident are you of succeeding? What value will this new habit bring to your life?

Values are part of who you are and are powerful levers to support positive change. They provide the ‘why’ – compelling reasons to take action. For example, the habit of volunteering connects with the value of kindness, exercise connects with the value of health, keeping a written journal connects with the value of personal growth and so on. And as they say, if you know your why, the how gets easier.

Connect your habit with future you

Think of a change or habit you’d benefit from making right now, something your future self would thank you for. Imagine the benefits of bringing this new habit into your life and how something might change for the better as a result; for example, volunteering may bring new friendships and social connections, while reading and self-development could expand your world view.

Now visualise a future version of yourself who has adopted these habits and create a contrast in your mind between this future you and your current lived reality. Awareness of this gap can support you to take action to begin to close it, starting today. Similarly, visualising yourself in old age looking back at today allows you the opportunity to thank your current self for the choices you are making and think about how proud and satisfied you will one day be because of them.

Recognise the reward

One of the key drivers for both positive and negative habits is the reinforcement provided by reward. At a biochemical level, reward releases dopamine, one of the brain’s favourite feel-good chemicals. Dopamine is released in the brain’s limbic system, which connects with the basal ganglia. Because of this, habits executed through the basal ganglia can become reinforced with positive feelings and emotions, making these habits more memorable.

This is why it is helpful to focus on the rewards you will reap from building a new habit. In the case of taking exercise, this would mean focusing not only on the longer-term objective benefits of improved health, but more immediately the feel-good factor of more energy, relief from stress and an uplift in mood.

Recognise the trigger

It’s important to understand what the trigger of a given behaviour is, particularly in the case of a habit you wish to break. Let’s say, for example, that you comfort eat late at night while watching Netflix because you feel bored or stressed. Doing this gives you the reward of distraction or temporary stress relief. Avoiding the trigger for a while (in this case, watching Netflix) and choosing to read instead may prevent the negative behaviour (comfort eating).

Design a ‘Ulysses Contract’

One of the major challenges in building a bridge to future you is transcending the powerful gravitational pull of the present – what’s happening today, right now. The architecture of the human brain is designed for fear detection and survival, which too often makes the future a prisoner of the present moment. When faced with the competing choice of something good now or something potentially better in the future, your brain’s decision-making is skewed towards the now. This is one reason why it can be so easy to make choices that feel good in the present moment, but that have negative consequences later on. This is where designing a ‘Ulysses Contract’ can help.

Thousands of years ago, having been a triumphant leader in the Trojan war, Ulysses was embarking on his long voyage home by sea. While plotting his course, he realised that his ship would pass an island where many beautiful Sirens lived – women who were famous for singing melodious songs that so completely enchanted sailors, they would run aground on the rocks trying to get closer to them.

While Ulysses was curious to hear the songs for himself, he didn’t want to endanger his crew. His problem wasn’t the present, rational Ulysses but instead the future, illogical Ulysses – the person he knew he would become when the Sirens came within earshot. So he hatched a plan. Ulysses ordered his men to tie him securely to the mast of the ship, to fill their ears with beeswax and ignore any of his pleas to release him. This way, he was able to return home safely without being fatally derailed.

So many things impact the choices we make every day, from our immediate context to the influence of others. Most of us are very poor at anticipating in moments of cool deliberation how differently we may feel in a given situation in the future. Designing your present environment so that future you doesn’t deviate inadvertently from your ‘plan’ can protect your willpower and help you better navigate any unexpected events that may influence your decisions. For instance, filling your fridge and cupboard with healthy foods makes it so much easier to eat well when you are feeling tired or stressed and may be tempted to order a takeaway. Taking social media apps off your phone can prevent mindless scrolling when boredom hits. Arranging a strength-training session early on a Saturday morning with friends is a good way to get you to bed early the night before.

A Ulysses Contract is a win-win deal that makes room at the inn for future you, despite competing and often conflicting choices. Without compromising your values or exhausting your willpower, it enables you to behave in closer alignment to the person you want to become.

Change one habit at a time

Many people overestimate what they can achieve in one year but underestimate what they can achieve in five!

It’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to change too much, too quickly, and to overestimate the role that will-power plays in habit formation. Changing a habit isn’t easy and consumes a lot of mental energy. Focus on one habit at a time, and once that new behaviour pattern has become habitualised and established, then you will have the mental energy to work on another. Willpower is always in limited supply, and it’s weakened throughout the day by the myriad everyday choices and temptations we face, as well as being further depleted by emotional stress, poor quality nutrition and suboptimal sleep. Willpower is strongest in the early part of the day, which is why it is often most effective to schedule new habit changes in that window. If you want to strengthen your willpower, then exercise, mindful meditation and high-quality brain nutrition (like nuts, seeds, oily fish, berries, dark greens, etc.) can help.

Try habit stacking

Consider stacking positive change onto something else you are already doing. For example, if you want to do more exercise, consider doing some squats while brushing your teeth or engaging in social activities that involve more movement, such as hiking or dancing.

Practise affirmation

Writing a regular positive affirmation is another way to support future you. Expressing your affirmations in the present tense brings the future into the present moment. I believe you are far more likely to persist with a habit that you frame positively and specifically, like eating a rainbow of colour or walking 10,000 steps a day, than one you frame negatively, like eating fewer unhealthy snacks or feeling less stressed. If you believe that you are running away from something, then you will always feel like something is chasing you!

SOME IDEAS FOR POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS

• I am living my values

• I am grateful for all my blessings

• I am always learning

• I value the gift of my life

• I cherish my relationships

• I follow my dreams

• I breathe consciously and clearly

• I let my actions speak louder than my words

• I never stop starting

• I am, I can and I will!

Find your tribe of support

Who can support, strengthen and encourage you? Who can become an accountability partner for your habit change? Conversely, who are the energy vampires that you might need to avoid? The people you spend time with have a big influence on your habits, for better and for worse. The ‘mirror neurons’ in your brain mean you tend to adopt the habits, attitudes and mannerisms of the people you spend the most time with right throughout your life – not just when you are a teenager!

If you spend time with people who eat healthily and exercise regularly, you’re more likely to eat healthily and exercise regularly as well. If you spend a lot of time with people with less-than-healthy lifestyle habits, chances are that you’re going to adopt those unhealthy habits too.

Start small

You’ve heard the old adage that an elephant is eaten one bite at a time. Effective change takes time and continuous effort. It is so easy to become frustrated, disillusioned and dejected at your apparent lack of progress, not to mind the off days and inevitable slip-ups. Which is why there is so much upside potential in starting small – really small. While committing to completely overhauling your diet may leave you feeling overwhelmed, adding a single serving of nuts or seeds to your breakfast every morning could feel much more achievable while also moving you towards your ultimate goal.

Small shifts in the mind, body, heart or spirit can produce profound healing over time. A great question to ask yourself is ‘What’s the smallest change that can provide you with evidence that you’re moving in the direction of the person you want to become?’

Aim for progress, not perfection

Many attempts at positive change tend to fail after an initial ‘honeymoon period’ of a week or two when you revert to type. A written journal can be invaluable here, to track days and times when things went well and, perhaps more usefully, those days and times when your intentions didn’t go as planned. It is so important to get back on track again as soon as you can after the inevitable blip or speed bump. Reflecting on your lived experiences each week is a great opportunity to learn and grow, and it may help you gain some insight into how you can stop self-sabotaging. What excuses will you no longer accept? What can become better and how can you achieve that? What gets measured gets improved!

Celebrate your wins

It is crucial to reward yourself for small ‘micro-wins’ along the way, to celebrate your success, reinforce your efforts and recognise forward momentum gained. Reward yourself often – you deserve it!

Who will you be in five years’ time if you keep doing what you’re doing right now? Apply this question to your health, your relationships, your career, your goals and your personal development. What habits could you build or break, starting today, that could open up new possibilities in your life? Answering this question is the key to unlocking the potential of future you.

Your PhysicalHealth andWellbeing

Become the CEO of your own health

When did you last have a medical check-up? How much do you understand about your family medical history? Do you know the key numbers when it comes to your blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and so on? What’s one small step you can take today to improve your ‘health IQ’?

As a GP, I’m well aware that many people have a blind spot when it comes to their basic health data – things like family history, blood pressure and cholesterol. There are several important numbers when it comes to your long-term health. Knowing your body and knowing these numbers means that you will notice changes and get new symptoms checked out as they arise. I call this ‘being the CEO of your own health’.

Ask the CEO of any organisation about their roles and responsibilities and they will likely describe leadership, strategic planning, decision-making, governance and operational oversight in many areas. These include establishing the organisation’s vision and goals and ensuring accountability by monitoring key performance indicators while taking appropriate action to ensure that the agreed strategies are implemented. They will identify risks and threats to this success and have contingency plans in place that balance short-term performance with longer-term, sustainable growth.

No matter what your profession or primary role is right now, you can appoint yourself today as the CEO of your own health.

When you become the CEO of your own health, you take charge of your most priceless asset and deepen your understanding of all its facets. You become crystal clear on your values and vision for your current and future health plans, making informed decisions about your everyday health choices and investing in sustainable habits that align with your personalised plan. You seek expert advice as needed and invest wisely in appropriate resources – from appointing an expert mentor or coach to availing of a gym membership to learning new skills, like strength training or how to cook healthy meals. You schedule timely health check-ups and screenings, mindful of your personal and family history. You know the key performance indicators that keep you on track. As any CEO will tell you, the numbers matter – what gets measured gets done! All this knowledge becomes power, enabling you to take your head out of the sand and take action – just like Joe did.

I’ll never forget the day Joe first walked into my consulting room. His wife Mary had booked the appointment to discuss her own health issues, and asked if he could attend the consultation with her. I had never met Joe before and, like many 45-year-old men, he rarely attended the doctor (later, I learned that Joe had only ever been in the practice once, more than 20 years earlier, when a nasty dog bite to his leg had necessitated a tetanus injection and some stitches).

After a while it became clear that there were issues between Joe and Mary, and things became quite heated. One minute, Mary was talking about her sleep issues and the next she digressed into how uncommunicative Joe had become at home and how she felt he wasn’t coping with the stress he was under. His workplace was closing and, having worked there for close to 25 years, Joe would soon be unemployed for the first time in his life. At first Joe denied this vehemently, but Mary persisted and Joe became visibly angry. His voice became agitated as he spoke about how no one understood the pressure he was under. All of a sudden, Joe’s speech was slightly slurred and he became less coherent.

‘My arm and face feel funny,’ he managed to say.

A quick examination revealed his blood pressure to be very high at 180/100 with a fast, thready pulse. Neurologically he had altered sensation and slight weakness in his left facial muscles and left arm. My strong index of suspicion was an early evolving stroke, so we arranged for Joe’s immediate transfer to hospital by ambulance for urgent further evaluation.

The next time I saw Joe was just after he was discharged from hospital a week later. He had been lucky. He had suffered a mini-stroke (also known as a TIA, or ‘transient ischaemic attack’) and had made a full recovery. The source of his troubles lay hidden away under the bonnet, undetected for many years. Tests revealed that Joe had high blood pressure, raised ‘Non-HDL’ cholesterol and blood fat, and borderline blood sugar (HbA1C). Combined with a waist circumference of 44 inches, a sedentary lifestyle and stress levels that were through the roof, Joe was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

That was more than two years ago.

Since then, Joe has turned his life around, becoming an active participant in his own health journey. He now has regular blood tests and full check-ups. As part of our preventative care programme, he gets a 24-hour blood pressure monitor at least once a year to ensure optimal blood pressure control. His father and uncle had both developed bowel cancer in their 50s, so Joe opted to undergo a screening colonoscopy which picked up polyps on his bowel wall. These are potentially harmful if left undetected as they can eventually become cancerous, but their early discovery meant they could be removed before that happened. He has been prescribed several medications to optimise cholesterol and blood pressure and to thin the blood, all of which he is taking fastidiously. As a result of other positive health changes, the doses of some of these have already been significantly reduced.

Joe has now developed a great health IQ, a term I use to describe having the right knowledge, awareness and attitude to make informed choices that support your long-term health and wellbeing. Here are the main ingredients in improving your own health IQ:

First, know yourself. This may sound facile but believe me, many people (especially, but not only, men) can stick their heads in the sand and ignore important symptoms for months or even years before taking appropriate action. Appreciate what’s normal for you (think bowels, waterworks, energy, sleep, mood and mental health) and get things checked out if you notice a change from your usual pattern. Get to grips with your family medical history and avail of a regular preventative check-up with your doctor.

Having a good family doctor is important too. Modern healthcare can be lifesaving, but it’s extremely siloed with many different ‘ologists’: the skin doctor (dermatologist), eye doctor (ophthalmologist), heart doctor (cardiologist) and so on. None of these doctors looks at the overall person the way the family doctor does, seeing you in the context of your family and community, translating and putting together all the different parts of the puzzle. We are all unique in our own way and having someone who can support you in your healthcare journey can be invaluable.

Of course, the numbers and health IQ are just one part of it. Here are some of the other things Joe did to become the CEO of his own health.

Over a period of several months, Joe went from being sedentary to embracing the ‘exercise as medicine’ prescription. He incorporated 30 minutes of brisk walking each day as well as strength training in a supervised class twice a week. Regarding his food choices, he pivoted from being an ultra-processed food junkie to eating lots of ‘real food’. While he still allows himself a treat, much more of his food intake now comprises vegetables, fruit, pulses, whole grains, nuts and seeds. He keeps his penchant for red wine now to a glass or two at weekends. No radical changes, just a gradual evolution in awareness allied to positive action.

Not only did Joe begin living a healthier lifestyle in terms of nutrition and exercise, but he has also learned to manage stress. He learned the importance of resting and recharging, reducing his work commitments and saying no when needed. He committed to a wind-down every night and began to really value his sleep routine. As a result, he felt that his stress levels had come down, which improved his decision-making (especially when it came to craving sugary snacks!).

He began to value his relationships too by making more time for friends. He has gone on several weekend hikes with friends as he has rediscovered the wellbeing benefits of time in nature.

Each of us is unique, so your precise prescription for health improvement is unique to you. There is no ‘one size fits all’. What was key for Joe was that he understood the interconnected nature of the many aspects to his health and wellbeing. He learned that there was no point focusing just on his dietary habits if he didn’t also address his stress levels or his sleep. He focused on feeling good, finding fulfilment and having fun. He adopted a sustainable lifestyle plan that moved him forward towards more positive health. These gradual improvements bedded in as habits over a two-year period. The benefits for Joe are not just enhanced energy and feeling much fitter in the short term, but a significantly altered trajectory of his health in the long term.

To become the CEO of your own health, my suggestion is that you start thinking about your health as an investment asset. We all know that investing in pensions, property, portfolios of stocks and plain old-fashioned saving plans will produce returns over time and can provide greater financial freedom and security.

Important as this is, the benefits of investing in your health are far, far greater. Investing today will ultimately lead to an increase in what is called your ‘healthspan’, or the number of years you stay healthy and free of disease or disability, as well as your lifespan (with the usual proviso of ‘lady luck’!). Furthermore, this increased healthspan provides a second ‘return on investment’ as you will have more time to create memories, enjoy experiences and build relationships. Of course, having some financial resources and the great health to enjoy them is a double bonus, but without health, money is meaningless.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and no one should ever believe that significant, sustainable change happens overnight. However, what can change today is your commitment to being a more active participant in your own wellbeing. While informed financial advisors can support your investment decisions and financial health, so too can an experienced health professional leverage your health IQ to help you become the CEO of your own health.

Begin to make smart, strategic decisions that support consistent health gains. It will pay rich dividends now and into your future. Start today – it only takes one small step.

Below are some of the important numbers to be aware of when it comes to your long-term health – the key components of your health IQ. Some of these can be easily checked by you at home – for example, belly circumference with a tape measure, and pulse and blood pressure with easily accessible home devices. I encourage you as the CEO of your own health to be on the front foot, as it were, and discuss the tests mentioned with your doctor. As you know, what gets measured gets managed. This is why it can be so helpful to schedule a doctor’s visit when you are well, in order to proactively plan relevant and timely tests.

Body mass index

Body mass index, or BMI, is a well-known measurement derived from weight in relation to height. BMI categories include underweight, normal weight, overweight, moderately obese and severely obese; for example, a BMI of between 25 and 30 falls in the overweight category, while obesity is determined by a BMI of over 30. There are several online calculators you can use to find your BMI measurement.

While higher BMIs are associated with adverse health outcomes, BMI does not take account of your body composition (how much of your body weight is made up of muscle versus fat) or where in your body your fat is stored. While BMI can give a helpful guide, fat stores and muscle mass are far more important, which is why your belly size measurement can be much more relevant to your health.

Belly size

The extra pounds that midlife can bring tend to accumulate around the belly area and are known as visceral fat. Visceral fat is belly fat that is found deep inside the abdomen, in the spaces between the abdominal organs and in tissue called the omentum. Visceral fat is different to subcutaneous fat (fat found just beneath the skin) and it can have significant downsides, putting you at increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and other metabolic conditions, osteoarthritis, sleep apnoea, gallstones, fatty liver and even dementia.

You can measure your belly size quite easily using a tape measure. With your belly relaxed, measure the circumference at the level of the belly button. This is not the same as your trouser size. For men, belly size should be less than 40 inches (102cm), and for women it should be less than 35 inches (89cm). Larger measurements indicate excess belly fat, and an increased risk of health problems.

Blood pressure

Your heart is like a muscular pump, and every time it contracts it generates a pressure in your blood vessels known as systolic blood pressure. In between each contraction the heart relaxes, and this pressure is known as diastolic blood pressure. Blood pressure is therefore denoted by two separate numbers, with normal blood pressure typically around 120/80mmHg (mmHg stands for ‘millimetres of mercury’, and it’s the conventional way of measuring blood pressure).

Without getting your blood pressure checked, there is no way of knowing whether it’s normal or not. Raised blood pressure is a silent condition and the first ‘symptom’ of it may be a life-threatening complication, like Joe’s mini-stroke. More insidiously, raised blood pressure can affect vision and kidney function and is a significant factor in memory loss from vascular dementia.

High blood pressure is very common in Ireland, with research from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) suggesting two-thirds of people aged over 50 have it.

Welsh GP Dr Julian Tudor-Hart, also known as the ‘father of high blood pressure’, famously described his ‘rule of halves’: he found that only half of all people with high blood pressure know about it, only half of those people get it treated, and only half of those have it properly controlled. In other words, the vast majority of those with raised blood pressure don’t have it optimally managed – perhaps as few as one in eight.

Target blood pressure should in general be as close to 120 systolic as possible (perhaps a little higher for older people). For every 20mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure or 10mmHg increase in diastolic blood pressure, the risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke doubles.1

The SPRINT trial was carried out on a group of adults aged 50 or older who had systolic blood pressures of at least 130 in addition to other risk factors for heart disease. It found that participants achieving a lower blood pressure of under 120 reduced their rate of cardiovascular events by 25 per cent and reduced the overall risk of death by 27 per cent. This equated to living for an estimated extra three years, evidence that knowing your numbers matters!2

Many people feel anxious when attending the doctor and this ‘white coat effect’ can cause blood pressure to temporarily rise. The best way to check your blood pressure is with a 24-hour blood pressure monitor, which is the gold standard. Failing that, you can learn to check it yourself regularly at home and bring the readings to your doctor.

Blood sugar

A haemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) test is a blood test that measures what your average blood sugar (glucose) level was over the previous 90 days.

HbA1C can be an excellent way to identify insulin resistance and diagnose type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes in the absence of typical symptoms (such as fatigue, thirst, etc.). Normal levels of HbA1C are under 42, while levels of between 42 and 48 are considered pre-diabetes and over 48 indicates diabetes. There has been an explosion in the number of people with type 2 diabetes in recent years and knowing your HbA1C levels enables you to take positive lifestyle changes to prevent, reverse or better manage type 2 diabetes.

Blood lipids

Elevated cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease in both men and women. Traditional measurements included total cholesterol (normally under 5), LDL (under 3), HDL (over 1) and triglycerides (under 2). Lower levels may be recommended depending on your personal medical and family history. More recently, ‘non-HDL’ is considered the best measure of cholesterol. A normal level of non-HDL cholesterol is under 3.8. A 40-year-old male with a non-HDL cholesterol of 5 and without any other risk factors for heart disease has a 23 per cent chance of a major cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack, by age 75. This can be reduced to less than 4 per cent by lowering non-HDL cholesterol by 50 per cent. Just another example of why numbers matter!3

ApoB is an important protein found in LDL cholesterol that helps to clear cholesterol from the blood. With a normal range of under 100, it provides a direct measure of atherogenic particles, with higher levels associated with heart disease and stroke. Positive lifestyle changes can help reduce it.

Lipoprotein (a), also known as Lp(a) for short, is much more ‘sticky’ than LDL cholesterol. High levels of Lp(a) can clog up your artery walls, leading to heart disease or stroke at an earlier age. It is a significant inherited risk for heart disease and is also thought to increase the development of blood clots. You should consider getting this checked at least once in your lifetime, especially if you have a family history of heart disease or stroke.

Pulse

An irregular pulse – also known as atrial fibrillation – is a major cause of stroke, particularly in older people. Knowing how to check your pulse rate and rhythm is an important part of self-care. With your hand extended and wrist slightly bent, use the second and third fingers of your other hand to feel your pulse at the level of the wrist, behind the base of your thumb. Calculate the rate by counting it for 10 seconds, then multiply by six to give the pulse rate per minute. The average pulse rate is about 70 beats per minute for a healthy adult, while lower levels (up to a point!) can signify enhanced fitness. The rhythm of the pulse should be regular; if it is irregular or there are ‘skipped beats’, you should see your doctor.

Prostate