What drives your passion for wellness?
It can be so hard to balance everything. Sometimes just getting to the end of the week can feel like an uphill struggle. But I really believe that making time for yourself is worth it and will improve your mental and physical wellbeing. The biggest and most impactful lesson I have learned from all my years as a health and fitness coach is the importance of time. Time is short, time is precious, and time is everything when it comes to living a happy, healthy life. ‘I don’t have time to cook.’ ‘I haven’t got enough time to fit in exercise.’ ‘I wish I had more time to look after myself.’ These are the most common things I hear people say, but I always try to help them believe that they can find time, even if it is just a little. It is essential to reconnect with yourself and your own mental and physical health, as well as to hopefully reconnect with friends and family too, in a way that brings everyone a little bit more joy.
Do you ever struggle to form and keep good habits? What do you do to motivate yourself?
I am just like everyone else and have days where I struggle to motivate myself, especially when it is cold and dark outside. But I know how important it is to just give yourself that little bit of time and prioritise your health. I live by a principle I like to call ‘small daily wins’ and it has helped me in so many ways. It is achievable. Small daily wins mean finding a short window of time every day to do one or a few positive things to make you feel good. This could be anything from cooking a quick, healthy recipe to moving your body for 15 minutes or simply getting to bed earlier. Fifteen minutes is not a long time and in isolation it will not transform your mind or body, but all the small daily wins start to add up and compound over weeks, months and eventually years. Small actions can create big changes in your life. I really do believe that, and I’ve seen the impact this mindset can have on people, especially those who lead busy, stressful lives.
If you are really struggling with your motivation, the first thing to do is set yourself a good morning routine. This is vital when it comes to setting the tone for your day ahead. If you are someone who wakes up feeling stressed and tired after hitting the snooze button a few times and then ends up rushing to get to work, the best thing you can do is to make changes that will allow you to wake up feeling good and looking forward to the day ahead of you. My audiobook includes lots of tips that will help you create a better routine.
This audiobook features interviews with other top experts in their fields including Dr Megan Rossi, James Davies, Dr Matt Walker, Dr Julie Smith and Fearne Cotton. Was it easy to persuade the experts to tailor their advice to fit within a 15-minute timeframe?
I really didn’t need to persuade them! The experts were so brilliantly collaborative and keen to share their knowledge, and we all agreed on how just taking 15 minutes a day to make one better decision in our lives, in whatever area we are able, can really help to build change and transform your life in the long run. I learnt so much talking to each of the experts and know you will too. You might not manage to exercise every day or sleep better every day, but you can make some form of small daily win each day that will make you feel happier and healthier now. We need to recognise that even though we might not be perfect each and every day, we are doing our best, and by making simple feel good decisions we can begin to feel mentally and physically stronger. This then helps us to feel proud of ourselves. There are always going to be challenges that slow you down, but with the right mindset you can find 15 minutes each day to take on life’s challenges – and win.
Why would you encourage people to invest in their health?
You need to think about your mind and body holistically and think about your future self. Everything is connected. Rather than waiting for your body to break down, or your mind to become stressed and burnt out, and only then remedying them, think about prevention. And if you are already struggling, making small changes that allow you to reconnect with yourself and others will help you to feel better, fitter and happier. I have lots of simple but effective ways in the audiobook of boosting your mood or helping you feel that little bit calmer. There is something so rewarding about completing a little task, like when you tick off items on a to-do list. With every tick you build this sense of achievement, and it feels really motivating. Lots of the ideas and techniques can be done with really low effort and input, so are great for those days when you just don’t have the energy or mental capacity to do anything challenging. Remember there is no pressure to do all or any of these things every day, but I truly believe every single time you manage to do any one of them you will feel that bit better afterwards and you will be spurred on to try something else small the next day. You really can transform your life for the better.
What’s on your playlist that makes exercise fun?
Music is transformative and can be used in so many situations to affect your mood – not just when exercising! It has the power to make you laugh or cry or feel a sense of calm, and it is another wonderful tool to use when feeling stressed or anxious. I personally use music a lot to help me get through the day and put me in a certain mood. I use it to hype myself up for a workout or to wind down after a busy day. I listen to Eminem and Arctic Monkeys when I work out to get pumped and focused; I listen to Ludovico Einaudi and Max Richter when I’m feeling stressed and want to feel calm; and I listen to Bob Marley and the Wailers when I want to boost my mood.
What can our members achieve in 15 minutes?
This audiobook will help to set you up for success – the more you think about the small decisions you are making, the better. Take the opportunity to make tiny changes in your day-to-day life which will quickly and easily help you feel good and make your health and happiness a priority. It includes 15-minute wins for food, movement, sleep, your mind, lifestyle and exercise. And with 15-minutes tips from experts including Dr Megan Rossi, James Davies, Dr Matt Walker, Dr Julie Smith and Fearne Cotton, there are plenty of useful tips for you to pick and choose from. Find the changes that will work for you. Good luck!
About Joe Wicks
12 MILLION SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS
350 MILLION YOUTUBE VIEWS
GUINNESS WORLD RECORD FOR LARGEST YOUTUBE LIVESTREAM AUDIENCE
11 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING BOOKS
OVER 3.6 MILLION COPIES IN THE UK (TCM)
Known to millions of fans as The Body Coach, Joe Wicks MBE is the best-selling author of 11 books and the founder of Lean in 15 and The Body Coach app. Joe’s passion for health and fitness led to him pursuing a degree in Sports Science before becoming a personal trainer. In March 2020, he delivered online PE lessons to over 100 million people globally during the coronavirus pandemic.
