👂What you need to hear

Good morning and happy Hump Day! 🐫 

Did y’all see Barbenheimmer like you were supposed to?? If not, conjure up five hours right now and go watch them. Come back to the newsletter when you’re finished 🎀💥

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Have you ever received advice you didn’t need?

Have you ever been mansplained something that you already knew?

Personally, I don’t need to hear that lifting weights is the greatest thing in the world and that I should be doing it all the time. Why? Because I already believe it’s fantastic and do quite a bit of it.

I do need to hear that stretching and yoga and vegetables and consistent wake up times are great for you. Why? Because I’m not always the best at those and could use some encouragement in that direction.

There’s advice all around us. Some of it we incorporated into our lives long ago. Hearing what we already know and practice can be encouraging and bolster confidence, but it may not be what we need to hear.

For the recent college grad who is spending every penny they earn of a shiny new salary, they probably don’t need to hear “treat yo’self!” Maybe they need to hear advice about saving, moderation, generosity, and investing for the future.

To the person pursuing financial independence and early retirement, saving 65% of what they make and eating ramen every night, maybe they do need to hear “treat yo’self!” They probably don’t need more advice or encouragement to save even more.

There’s probably more “advice” on health, nutrition, and fitness than on maybe any other topics in the world. But we don’t all need to hear it all, all the time.

What we need to hear can vary.

In my opinion, if it resonates with you, feels right in your head, heart, and gut, sparks curiosity, invites growth, and seems a bit challenging but doable, that lands in the sweet spot of what we need to hear.

A word of advice that’s meaningless to you could be life-changing for me, or vice versa. A suggestion, recommendation, or tip could fall on my ears and get a “yeah, I know” or fall on your ears and get an “oh my gosh, you’re so right. I really needed to hear that.”

In one season of life, I may need to hear Y. I have already incorporated X into how I live, so that’ll just kind of roll off or gently affirm me if I hear X again. If I hear Z, it may seem like too much or too far or just not applicable to me. But the moment I hear Y, a light bulb goes off in my head. That was what I needed to hear next. I’m ready to grow, ready to act, ready to change.

To the cardio bunny, you don’t need to hear “RUNNING IS THE GOLDEN TICKET TO HEALTH!” You probably already practice that. Maybe you need to hear that you should be weightlifting to improve strength and muscle mass and prevent injuries.

To the gym bro who’s lifting six days a week, you probably don’t need to hear that strength and power are great predictors for longevity. Sure, it may be encouragement to keep it up. But you probably also need to hear that aerobic fitness is also a key factor in health and longevity, and you should probably do some more cardio.

To the person who indulges in four desserts a day and has no guilt splurging, you probably don’t need to hear “eat the cake!” Maybe you need to hear a lesson on moderation, balance, or nutritional content of certain foods.

To the person who suffers from extremely restricted disordered eating, you probably don’t need to hear “Sugar will kill you!” Maybe “eat the cake” is exactly what you need to hear.

The right advice at the right time

The examples roll on. The point is, there are lots of “right” things out there! It’s hard to take them all in at once. Just because something may be “right” doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s what you need to hear in this moment.

If we spend a while focusing on one or two things, we may find down the road that we’ve been neglecting a couple others and need to sway back in their direction. We can only handle so much change and action at once.

Sometimes we need to hear something for a season, take what’s good from it, incorporate it into our lives, and move on to what lies ahead. It may no longer serve us at face value in the future, but we can look back on how we’ve changed and who we’ve become and be both grateful and graceful for how it served us back then.

Sometimes we hear advice we’re not yet ready for. It skipped a few steps for us, and we couldn’t make the leap. But give it time and baby steps, and with an open heart and mind, maybe we’ll grow over the course of a few years and be ready to accept this position that we previously couldn’t handle.

This got a bit more philosophical than I originally intended, but I think that’s kind of the point. Maybe you needed to hear this today. Maybe not. If not, forward this email to yourself, but schedule it to send a couple years from now. Come back and read it then, and maybe it’ll be just what you needed to hear. 😉

✅ Take Action

Every newsletter's Take Action section will invite you to take small steps to improve your health. Recognizing that we all have different capabilities, I'll offer three different levels of action you can choose to take.

Level 1: Pause and consider what advice you’ve been hearing lately. What feels right, and what falls flat? Why?

Level 2: Take note of things you needed to hear in the past to become the person you are today. What was so revelatory at the time that today, you’d hear it and say, “Duh!”?

Level 3: What do you need to hear next? Is there something that’s come up that seems to be inviting you to grow? What’s tugging at you, and why? Embrace it, and see where it leads you.

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✍️ Drew's Picks:

• Watch: Dr. Peter Attia recorded videos of seven exercises to go with his book on longevity, Outlive, which I’m currently in the middle of. If you incorporate these simple but effective moves into your life, your body will feel so much better! I’m trying to make a morning routine of them.

• Read: “Proof you can do hard things.” I always love articles like this, and this one did not disappoint. Self-confidence and competence come from our repeated proof to ourselves that we can do hard things. Go challenge yourself this week!

If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, click the button below and share it with a friend, won’t ya? And here’s another little call-to-action. Let’s connect on LinkedIn! I’ll be posting this article on there today and would love some shares and support. 🤝 

Keep moving,

Drew

The content in Move to Improve is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. It is always a good idea to consult with a trusted health professional before making any major lifestyle changes that could have a significant impact on your health. This is not a medical resource, and any opinions and articles are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional. Please think critically and take what I say with a grain of salt (aka don’t sue me).