It is no secret that daily habits play a huge role in the direction of our future. It’s the small but consistent things we do daily that can guide our lives into a life of success or disappointment. Little by little, a little can turn into a lot. This principle can be applied to literally every aspect of our lives, including finances, relationships, business and health. This principle is also visually represented by the following comparative equations. In the sports performance world, it is known as the “aggregate of marginal gains.”

(1.00)³⁶⁵ = 1.00

(1.01)³⁶⁵ = 37.7

As we approach the closing of 2019 and gear up for 2020 in just 62 short days (as of Nov. 1), I challenge you to get ahead of your 2020 New Year goals and start developing healthy habits today to ensure that you are ahead of the game come Jan. 1. In an effort to improve the health and wellness of the Lake Nona community, here are some daily habits you may like to implement today!

1. Drink more water. Drinking adequate amounts of water has huge health benefits, including improving joint, heart and brain health, improving skin moisture and elasticity as well as suppressing hunger and thus reducing the risk of weight gain through overeating. As a general guide, you should drink a minimum of half your body weight (in lbs.) in fluid ounces. This means that if you are 150 pounds, then you should aim to drink a minimum of 75 fluid ounces of water each day. 
2. Move your body for 30 minutes every day. I seriously cannot stress enough how important it is for your health to be intentional with these 30 minutes. The only way to physically improve your movement and function is to move with intention. Our bodies were designed to squat, lunge, push, pull, bend, extend, and walk and run. If we are not moving in this way, then we will eventually lose our ability to move freely in these movement patterns. 
3. Feed your mind with positive and useful information. Nowadays, we have so much information at our fingertips, some good and some not so useful. You just have to scroll through your social media feed to see how much useless information is put out into the world. Self-development, growth and lifelong learning is something that I am constantly working on in order to ensure that I keep my thoughts positive, my mind sharp, and opinions well-informed. Dedicate at least 30 minutes a day for personal development and growth; this may be through tangible books, audio books, reputable podcasts, YouTube, meditation or prayer.
4. Eat more home-cooked meals. Research has shown that those that eat in are more likely to have improved health outcomes than those that eat out often. Furthermore, those that eat out more regularly are more likely to be deficient in essential vitamins, minerals and macronutrients. Planning your meals ahead is very important when trying to improve your body composition and overall health. Aim to prepare more healthy, home-cooked meals with a good balance of carbohydrates, protein, fats and lots of colorful vegetables. 
5. Be grateful daily. When people ask us what we are grateful for, we seem to always go for the big-ticket items: your spouse, children, house, etc. While these are excellent and worthy things to be grateful for, our list will soon run out. I encourage you to seek out the small things in life to be grateful for as the more things you seek out, the more things you will notice. Take note and be grateful for the person that held the door open, the passerby that smiled, or the simple fact that you have clean water to drink. If you look for the small things, you will never run out of things to be grateful for. 

For the last months of 2019, I challenge you to be intentional and disciplined with your time and daily habits in order to set your life up for success. Being disciplined means that you do things you don’t necessarily want to do at the time, knowing that being consistent will lead to great outcomes. Imagine what you can achieve in 2020 if you used the rest of this year to develop habits that will help you be widely successful in the new year. Don’t wait until the new year, start now so that 2020 is your best year yet!