Taking the long view to a healthy life
Paul Levitin is a health, happiness, and mindset coach. He has a podcast called the Healthy, Happy Human where he gives information and encouragement for developing a mindset for fitness, health, and happiness.
Paul is passionate about fitness and health. He was a personal trainer and nutrition coach, strength and conditioning coach, and instructed clients in corrective exercise. Then he realized this wasn’t enough for most people. He saw that the thing his clients needed most was to change their mindset. People come to Paul for the physical factor, wanting to lose 20 or 30 pounds, but there is also the happiness factor and the longevity factor. It’s not just training to look good in the summer. He helps them get their life in order so that 20 years from now they will still be healthy and happy.
Paul says that the first part of encouraging people to achieve what they want is to understand who that person is, because we are all motivated by something different. A single mom with three kids has to approach health and happiness much differently from a single guy with no kids.
He uses this analogy, ”You can’t sprint in a marathon.” Most of us always want everything fast. We make New Year’s resolutions and by the end of January they have faded away.
Practicing what you preach
His work with clients came from his personal interest in fitness and health. He studied fitness and nutrition and read blogs and listened to podcasts. He says, “When you train hundreds of clients over the course of a decade, you start to see what works and what doesn’t.”
Psychology and human behavior was his next focus of study. He studied to apply what he learned about motivation and behavior to his own life as well as helping his clients develop the tools to succeed.
For Paul health and happiness are two sides of the same coin. He believes that happiness is about being in control of your own life, being able to do what you want to do. Health is part of this because you don’t want to be limited because your body is out of shape. For him, the greatest expression of life is being able to use your body to do something other than just sit and have a drink, watch Netflix or scroll through your phone. Use your body to do things so that health and happiness go hand in hand.
Honest conversations are an important first step. He talks about the realities of his client’s situation, because nothing comes without cost. You can’t say I want the result if you’re not willing to put in the work. You can’t say I want to lose 30 pounds if you’re not willing to do what it takes to lose 30 pounds. Most people tend to make excuses and it’s always some variation of It’s not my fault! But when you say I didn’t do it because I chose to watch TV instead of going to the gym, eventually you have a moment where you have to be honest with yourself. You can’t blame anybody but yourself.
The power of self-talk
Paul coaches his clients on the power of stories and self-talk. The way you talk to yourself and the stories you tell can stop you from doing the work. These are the things that make you eat Oreos late at night. These are the things that make you quit your business plan. These are the things that make you quit your podcast after 6 months. Of course, when you know how to use stories and self-talk, you get success rather than failure.
You can’t rely on motivation. Motivation is just a feeling, and you don’t control it any more than you control happiness, sadness or anger. Rather than count on motivation, make a plan and commit to it. Arrange life so your goals are based on structure, planning, time management, and setting small goals, because there is no hidden pill or switch for discipline or motivation.
Planning and structure is what Paul practices for his own health and happiness. He writes down his top priorities for each day, whether he is going to exercise, whether he should go to the grocery store, and he takes it upon himself to accomplish the list of his priorities every day.
Doing the work is the key to success. It’s a paradox. We don’t want to work hard and yet everything we want just comes on the other side of hard work. And the harder we work, the more we value our success. What comes easy doesn’t have the same emotional value as something we have to work hard for.
Mindset comes first
Health and happiness begin with mindset. This is why Paul is quick to say he is also a mindset coach. Everything that is created, first existed in the mind. The Wright brothers had the vision in their minds before they built an airplane. They thought about it, they drew it, they created it, and it was impossible at the time. Steve Jobs thought of the iPhone, it existed first as an idea in his mind.
So it is with health and happiness. It starts as a shift in the mindset, a change in the stories and self-talk you use each day.
He has a new program starting January 2022 called The 3 B Solution: Brain, Body, Being. It’s a 12-week program diving deeper into the topics discussed in this episode. Connect with Paul to find out more.
Connect with Paul:
Facebook: @paullivitin
Instagram: @paullevitin
Podcast: The Healthy, Happy Human
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