Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.  A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

~Lao Tzu

These wise words from an ancient philosopher always felt true to me when thinking about “fitness”.  Depending on where you are currently in your life, the journey to becoming healthy and fit may seem like a thousand miles away.  The origins of this quote comes from a great philosopher of ancient china and the author of the Tao Te Ching (a classic Chinese text written around 6th century BC), Lao Tzu.   The text, The Tao Te Ching (translation “The Classic of the Virtuous Way”) is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism.

A Quick look at a little Philosophy & Taoism

For our purposes, we will define Philosophy as a set of ideas about how to do something, how to live or the most basic beliefs and concepts of a person.  Though there are many philosophers and philosophical beliefs, the one I believe aligns best with personal health and fitness is Taoism.

A rough translation of Taoism:

“Tao” – the way
“-ism” = suffix meaning the act, practice or process of doing something

Although we can form a rough/literal translation of the word, the teaching of Taoism starts by saying “The Tao” is indefinable, but then follows up with each person con discover the Tao in their own terms.  WHAT?!?!  The confusing part is it’s very definition, however the path to understanding Taoism is to simply accept yourself and discover who you are, live to your heart and flow with life.

A path in life is just a path, not all are necessarily the same; but different paths can lead to the same place.  If you landed here on MPTrainingSystems.com, the place we are all trying to reach is optimal physical and mental health; however, since we are all different and unique, our personal path to achieving that goal may be vary.  To discover our own personal path and philosophy, we pose four key questions as derived from Jon Mertz at “Thin Difference.com” (he suggests six):

1. What do you get up each and every morning wanting to do? Refer back to this blog post about goals.
2. What directs your actions and decisions?
3. What gives you a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day? This should relate to your personal mission statement.
4. Why are your beliefs important to you?

Take a moment to reflect on your answer to these four questions.  On a piece of paper, or in an electronic document, take note of your personal philosophy.  Use these to guide you through the journey of optimizing your mental and physical health.  The path best suited for you is the one that best reflects your ideals and beliefs.  If you believe in the process, you’re most likely to stick with it all the way through and see the results in which you are looking.

*Resources for this article and to read more about Taoism, check out Personal Tao by Casey, Jewelie & Mina