In order to lead well, we first must be well.

Staying well is tough in the 2020s.

Being proactive with our wellness through forecasting the next big stumbling block that may come up in life is even tougher.

When stumbling blocks make their way into our lives, the easiest thing to do is to give up or give in to the conditions around us. It is human nature as we are geared to follow the path of least resistance. Our walls cave in and we retreat.

The hardest thing to do sometimes is to accept the stumbling block for what it is and to let it happen to you, rather than TO you. Acceptance can mean we are able to then stay in the fight rather than running for the hills.

Each one of us has stumbling blocks in our days, weeks, and months that can directly take us from ‘being well’ to ‘not being well at all’. Things like injuries, a bad diagnoses, changing news around a pandemic, school cancelations, bad weather, the threat of losing a job, etc.. These are all stumbling blocks that can nudge us toward personal disaster and away from the one thing we should try to control — our wellness.

The good news with all of the stumbling blocks that exist (especially in 2020) we can and in fact should have some sort of control over these pain-producing disasters.

In reclaiming our wellness, we can gain control over some of these stumbling blocks through this one word:

Forecasting

Forecasting is referred to daily in weather circles. We hear the word and immediately think of the weather. We hear the word and we lookup.

However, the term ‘forecasting’ is not exclusive to your local weatherman or weatherwoman. It can be applied to our own lives as well. Instead of looking up or at what might be out the door, what if we looked inside instead.

Being able to forecast your life is an incredible way to gain control over the seemingly uncontrollable. Just as we find comfort in knowing (and preparing) for what the weather may be, we can do the exact same thing in our own lives each day.

Here are three ways you can start forecasting your life today, to improve your wellness tomorrow:

Plan For Challenges

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” — Alan Lakein

Planning for challenges is one of the greatest gifts you can give to your wellness.

One of the biggest reasons why resolutions fail each year is due to a lack of forecasting. A conscious decision is made to change a habit, to get healthier, or to lose 20 pounds. While these resolutions are often well-intentioned, without proper forecasting, things go awry quickly. For example, when you leave your house to go somewhere do you leave earlier than expected just in case there is a traffic jam? When you plan to attend a fitness class do you bring an extra bottle of water just in case your bottle falls and spills? When you are making a nice, healthy meal with your family, do you have another healthy meal as a backup just in case something doesn’t turn out right?

Through forecasting and looking ahead to what might go wrong, you are able to be more prepared when it comes to your wellness. You will have that extra water bottle for the day you need it. You will have that time cushion for that one day you are stuck in traffic and you will still be able to eat healthily as a second option if the first option doesn’t work out.

Move First Thing In The Morning

“Lose an hour in the morning — chase it for the rest of the day.” — a Yiddish saying, unknown

If the goal is to be well, the movement has to be a priority. In making it a priority, it should also be done first thing in the morning.

Similar to the challenges above, there are hundreds of things each day that can go wrong that can mentally throw you for a loop or physically take the time you had scheduled for your exercise for something else that has become more urgent

Think about it — when was the last time a day actually went exactly as you wanted it to? I bet it didn’t happen more than in the past month.

Even with the absolute best intentions and planning, your scheduled movement time can be taken away or shrank down due to other competing priorities or personal disasters that may be out of your control.

Getting that movement in first thing in the morning can alleviate the compounded stress of sitting on your couch at the end of the day in self-guilt. Letting daily movement getaway is like being the first customer on a hot summer day who gets told there is no more ice cream.

Get movement in early and often.

Live On The Offensive

“When the goal is merely to “get through” the day as quickly as possible, life will pass full of regrets.” — Benjamin Hardy, PhD

In creating a life that is well, one of the best forecasting techniques is to live life on the offensive. If you take the notes from above, you can begin to see what needs to be done to continue to enhance your wellness is to live on the offensive, rather than the defensive. We can’t expect our lives to magically become well. We have to intentionally plan for it to be well. We have to take personal responsibility to make it happen.

At the end of the day, forecasting is about looking ahead in order to make your life even greater than it was yesterday. Proper forecasting allows us to control what we can control and provides us the space to better adjust when things don’t go as planned.