A Craftsman without a Trade

What is the secret to becoming a master of Judo?

--You practice Judo.

What is the secret to becoming a master of Taekwando?

--You practice Taekwando.

 What is the secret to becoming a master fighter?

--You practice that which proves effective, and you ignore the rest.

Goals ought to determine means. If you want master-class status for whatever pursuit tickles your fancy, then you must avoid at all costs the temptation to let irrelevant biases influence the means by which you work to achieve your goals. The only factors which one need consider when determining means are: (1) where you want to go; (2) where you are in relation to where you want to go. If your destination is New York, your starting place in relation to New York matters a great deal. Are you starting from the Midwest? or from Europe? or from Asia? The available means by which you could make your way to New York change dramatically based on your starting location.

From this analogy, yet another factor arises for us to consider: (3) at what cost are you willing to get to where you want to go? I suppose, too, that we must further add to our list of factors: (4) how fast do you need to travel? (5) how much money to you have to spend? Do you have the freedom to take your time as you travel? or must you hurry? Can you afford a cruise? or must you purchase a one-way flight?

...and where they're starting!

Many of these above factors apply to health/physique goals. If your goal is to become healthy, it makes a big difference whether you're starting out as an obese diabetic or as a psychologically scared anorexic. Moreover, the exact position at which you find yourself on the obese to anorexic spectrum effects the cost you will have to pay in order to achieve you goal.

Such concerns reveal why blanket recommendations for how to best live a healthy life come painfully short of optimal. There are no blanket recommendations. There are, however, blanket factors which we must consider:

1. What is your goal?
2. Where are you in relation to your goal?
3. What are you willing to do to achieve your goal?
4. How fast do you need to achieve your goal?
5. What tools do you have at your disposal?

There are likely more factors to consider, but I think the above represent some of the most pertinent. I would also add, as an addendum to 5, that you should also consider what tools would prove most effective in relation to your goal.

Having Trouble?

Are you unsure about where you actually are in relation to your goals? Are you not even certain that you know what your goals should be? I'd like to be of service if I can. My goal is to help people; not to just spew thoughts from my head. Leave questions or comments below, I'd love to hear from ya!