The 4 Jobs framework created by Dr. Jade Teta states that we (humans) have 4 jobs, one of which is managing our health. 

“As a human, you have a job to do. You have 4 jobs actually. 1. Earn and manage money. 2. Build and maintain physical health. 3. Give and receive love. 4. Create purpose and meaning.”

– Dr. Jade Teta

Each one of these jobs requires time, energy, skills, support, and information. We can’t be the master of everything. If you’re not a health nut or working in the health industry, you likely need a little help in the health department. Don’t worry. We got you!

For a simpler way to start striving toward your health goals this year, try our 12-9-6-3 tool. Here’s how it works:

12-month goals: Thinking through the lens of your health job, where do you want to be 12 months from today? Do you want to lose weight? Add muscle? Get stronger? Improve overall health? Have more energy? Whatever your goal is, get crystal clear on that first. Most people have fuzzy goals at best.

9-minute visualization: With vivid detail, picture what that looks and feels like. How do you look? How do you feel? How are you spending your time? A quick search on “visualization for goal setting” in google scholar reveals 1,800,000 results. Even when you narrow the search criteria to include research from 2022 onwards, you still get 12,000 results. Meaning, this is evidence based stuff. It works! When you visualize something, you create a detailed mental picture of it in your mind. This can help you to better understand what you want, and it can also help to motivate you to take action towards achieving your goals. A little tip from your friendly metabolic health coach. You might need to practice this every single single day. In my experience, the more often you do this, the clearer that mental picture becomes – including the stuff that could get in your way!

6-minute actions (that can be repeated daily or regularly): Now, the fun part. What can you do in 6 minutes to contribute to that goal? This requires some creativity, but it’s not impossible. Think about daily or regular practices, tasks, or behaviours that support your 12-month goals. If it’s exercise 3x per week, what can you do/prep in 6 minutes so that you’re ready to move into action when the time comes? That’s key. The action itself may take longer than 6 minutes, so think outside the box with this one. Think about ways to make action easier, smoother or effortless. For example, lay out your workout gear the day before. Make a protein shake in advance. Book a personal training session. If you’re not sure where to start, always begin with your environment. Prime your environment for success. For example, prepare your home workout space in advance. Get your Metabolic Renewal workouts set up on your TV or preferred device so that you’re ready to press play!

3-minute weekly check-ins: This is the cornerstone of effective execution and personal accountability. It captures what went well/what didn’t, and what needs to change to keep moving forward. Monitor meaningful metrics so that you know you’re moving in the right direction. This is personal, folks. Meaningful metrics should align with your original goals. If you want to have more energy, then tracking changes in energy is an important metric. If it’s body change, then progress photos, weight and measurements are helpful. If it’s overall health and wellbeing, or hormonal balance, use our weekly tracking tool. We call it SHMEC and it stands for “sleep, hunger, mood, energy and cravings.”

You can adapt the numbers as you see fit, but don’t overthink the 6-min actions. These are meant to be quick and easy(ish) to get you into motion! Think small or easy to implement, but still effective and part of the larger end goal. 

Happy New Year’s!

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash