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Welcome back to Thank God It’s Monday!
tl;dr Having an average shoe size or being an average height is all hunky dory. But the average health of an American is not, well, healthy. Being sedentary, overweight, and overworked is accepted as normal. But we cannot expect happiness and a good quality of life by being average. We must strive to deviate from the norm.
In Brian Johnson’s Areté, he cites a few jarring stats from “The Crazy That Passes for Normal:”
- 50% of U.S. adults are diagnosed with a chronic illness
- 68% are overweight or obese
- 70% are taking at least one prescription drug (for people over sixty, the average is FIVE)
- 80% are mentally or emotionally “not flourishing”
- 97.3% are not maintaining healthy habits (decent nutrition, adequate exercise, not smoking, body composition)
Therefore, the average American is overweight, has a chronic illness, is taking at least one prescription drug, doesn’t feel like they’re flourishing, and is not maintaining healthy habits. Are you okay with being average?
Being average comes with preventable back pain, extra pills, and unnecessary mental strain. But being average is not an accident; it is a result of a series of choices made repeatedly every day.
I harp on this topic not because every human needs to exercise like an Olympian or eat like a hunter-gatherer. I advocate for not being an average American because you can get more out of life.
Don’t squat because you need to set a world record. Squat so you can sit on the floor with your grandkids. Don’t eat vegetables because you want to be skinny. Eat vegetables so you can enjoy a sweet treat once in a while without feeling sluggish and tired all of the time (and have motility issues!). Don’t read so you can tell your friends how many books you read. Read so you can keep your brain sharp and stay autonomous as you age.
The average American treats their health like Russian roulette, gambling on whether or not their health will decline, okay with taking medications to undo the damage they inflicted. Most Americans do not take preventative action in their 20s and 30s to prevent decline in their 50s and 60s. Being average in America is not so glamorous.
The good news is you don’t need to do that much to avoid being average. Eating three servings of fruits and vegetables every day will make you above average. Taking 10,000 steps per day will make you above average. Not drinking every week will make you above average.
If you’re not the competitive type and don’t really care if you’re average, do these things so you can beat the stats of an average American. If you want to stave off chronic illness, not become dependent on (excessive) prescription medications, and if you want to improve your mental health, you should strive to be above average.
Deviating from the norm can be socially challenging at first because you’re comfortable where you are right now. But if you like the sound of not being average, and the benefits that come with it, start laughably small. Start with walking for five minutes extra at lunchtime. Start by staying off social media for one hour per day. Start with skipping drinking one day of the week. Start with anything you feel confident you can accomplish, but just start somewhere.
I promise if you take even a single step in this direction, you will reap the benefits and be happy you did so. Being average is easy, but straying from the norm is simple and has exponential payoff.
If you feel that internal tug that something deep inside you knows you don’t want to be average anymore, hit reply and let me know what step you are going to take to step away from average. How do you want to deviate from the norm?
If you found some value in this, please share it with a friend you think would enjoy it! And let me know if you’d like to be added to get TGIM.
This week, my podcast recommendation is from Michael Smoak’s The HigherUp Podcast, “How to Break Free From Suffering with Peter Crone.”
With that, let me know how you’re going to be less average.
Until next time,
Shannon
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