Isaac Newton’s laws of motion, according to physicists are the basic laws of classical mechanics that describe the relationship between the motion of an object and the forces acting on it.

In the first law of motion, an object will not change its motion unless a force acts on it. The first law, sometimes referred to as the law of inertia describes the influence of a balance of forces upon the subsequent movement of an object. In a simple analysis of this law of motion, it means that, until a body moves from its state of rest, acceleration or velocity is of no relevance. This principle of motion is still applicable to our everyday life. It suggests that movement from our state of comfort is necessary for a mega burst. That is what a progressive life is all about. Until you move, there will be no advancement in life.

No one makes a progressive move in their pursuit without resetting their mindset for a positive change. In fact, no one makes a huge U-turn for excellence without realigning or readjusting their thoughts towards positivity. This is what this article, Reset, Renew and Rerun focuses on – making quick changes to embrace a good life.

Most of the issues confronting man are in the thought pattern. Our thinking determines how far we can go in life. You are what you think. And you are the product of your thinking. In other words, your present state is a result of the years of accumulating imageries formed in your mind. If the images formed are hale and hearty, the actions taken do not only help a person but society in general. On the contrary, if the actions taken are wrong, they are a result of the wrong thoughts formed in one’s mind. This philosophy is also enshrined in the conundrum of king Solomon, the ancient wise king of Israel who ever lived. He said, ‘As a man thinks in his heart so is he (Proverbs 23:7a).’

The question is, what are the attitudes that retract a person’s life and what are the strategies to put in place to cause the momentum or the desired quick drive? There are several of these negative attitudes but for want of space, we discuss two of them; unnecessary complaints and life without a vision.  Let’s get started: 

1. Avoid Unnecessary Complaints

 People who are going somewhere, have no time for superfluous or needless grumbling. Great minds discuss great ideas for accomplishments. They don’t sit with a group of worrywarts or cynics to talk about other people, all the time. In my personal engagements with people from different persuasions, I have come to know that, people who waste all their time in disproportionate complaints or moans do not make any headway in life. Their lives are static. Life ‘beats them up’ to ground zero as their minds are filled with glumness and destructive comments. Does it mean that issues in your family, office, institution or your community should not be addressed? That is not my point.

Constructive criticisms are hale and hearty as they are needed in the development of every society. However, where your inputs are not highly appreciated, it is better to keep your focus on your dream. Do you know that most skilled complainers age quickly? The reason is the success of others is their worry. They talk about people’s achievement(s) not to honour them but bring them down. They gossip about people’s marriages, cars, and academic success, to the extent of talking about people’s costumes. They are never satisfied with every good idea that brings about a quantum leap in their organisation. They wish everything falls apart so nothing good exists for others to enjoy. Most lives are torn apart for the reason that, there is no sense of direction in their choices. If you waste your time with complainers, you become like them. Remember the adage, ‘birds of a feather, flock together.’

When I move with people, I check the condition of their hearts. Where their emotions are full of hostility, I reshift my attention to optimism. If you have people who always talk about others all the time, you better wise up. It is healthier to move with open-minded people than those who have specialized in disparaging others to their advantage.

At a certain stage in life, complaints MUST CEASE. In my opinion, when a system is lethargic or lacklustre, and everything ceases to function brusquely or abruptly, regardless of your good thoughts, realigning your thoughts on purpose, serves as a better option. It is better to join an optimist company to share ideas of greater relevance than waste your energy on pointless discussions. Your life is precious. In this year, 2023, progress must be achieved instead of a retrogressive lifestyle. The process of changing a car's gear is a clear way of moving from a static lifestyle to a moveable routine.

Have you ever learnt how to move a car before? If you have, then you would understand the dynamics of a manual transmission car with its stick gears. Apart from several features which cause the movement of a car, the functionality of the lower and the higher gears should not be taken too lightly or undervalued. When climbing a hill, for example, the lower gears are applied whilst the higher gears are spontaneously used on a free progression, especially on a speed lane.

Many years ago, whilst learning how to drive a manual transmission car, I didn’t understand why the car couldn’t move faster, nor could I explain why it was constantly in jerky mode. Eventually, I learnt that you don’t always have to step on the gas to get the car into motion. Rather, depending on the speed at which the engine idles, just releasing the clutch a bit will cause the car to gain more speed. However, to move at a higher speed on a highway, you need to upshift into higher gears. Thus, to enjoy a cruise at a comfortable pace, simply shifting into higher gears is all that is required.

So, higher gears either 4th or 5th depending on the speed rate and the engine capacity of the car sets your vehicle into a speed mode with less friction. But the foundation for its recent speed has been the lower gears (1st and 2nd) on which the higher gears depend to elevate to its current speed. As an analogy, this discussion offers a graphic representation of a consistent progressive lifestyle devoid of unnecessary complaints, grumblings, chin-wag and any unwarranted attitude. The year 2023 is for great achievers with a sense of purpose. It is not for time-wasters who Are visionless and clueless about their life’s pursuits.

• Life Without Any Vision

Life is meaningless without a specific focus. Many people lead a life without any sense of direction. It is a tragedy to wake up from bed and walk around without any reason. If you are between the ages of 18 and 50, and you seem to waste your time around the unfruitful venture, you better become serious with your life. Do you know that life without a vision is like walking around without eyes?  Of course, you either grope in darkness or fall without any support. It is time you carved an exclusive vision for your life. What is a vision?

Despite the numerous portrayals given separately by diverse authorities in several ways, the fundamental principle of creating something new but built on the foundation of the past and the present, emerging with reality is what vision is all about. Let’s examine the following definitions:

In his book, Strategic Church: A Life-Changing Church in An Ever-Changing Culture, Damazio (2014) defines vision as the art of seeing the invisible. To him, vision is the ability to see something becoming a reality as if it were already there. Damazio continues to accentuate that vision connotes a gaze, a mental perception, and a contemplation with the pleasure of things in the future. 

Conceptually, vision is a clear mental picture portrait of a preferred future, communicated by God to His chosen servant-leaders, based upon an accurate understanding of God, self and circumstances. To Barna (1997), a vision clearly suggests that the leader who possesses it knows exactly what he wants to achieve and what the end product will look like. This clarity permits a leader to be confident and decisive. The vision is a mental picture, according to him (Barna), which indicates that the picture exists in the person’s mind’s eye. In 2023, I would like you to build your vision around these four areas aside from what you have already put down. They are health, family life, financial investment and personal development. Today, we shall examine our health and subsequently, look at others in our next publication.

1. Health

Success does not only have to do with the acquisition of material possessions or the recalling of your divine assignment, but also with learning to stay healthy. It is known that a great mind stays in a healthy body. Your health is of great importance for it aids in lengthening your life span so that you can energetically be of great help to countless people. In other words, your health is your wealth. Once you lose it, it takes years to recover. So, why don’t you pay particular attention to your health now? It is your gain. The other simple reason for this statement is that a person’s health is the physical foundation for his subsistence. You cannot perform better in your sphere of life if you do away with prioritizing your health needs. Here are three important areas you must of necessity focus your attention on:

1. Rest

2. Exercise

3. Proper Eating Habits     

1. Rest

Ask any effective person in any field of endeavour about the secret of his success and you shall be happy to hear them say that after each achievable event, they reward themselves with enough rest in order to rejuvenate their minds. It suggests that if you do not take enough rest, you can easily break down. The power to reset, renew and rerun is all about making time for yourself, irrespective of your close-fitting schedules.

If you are overly anxious to get more money at the expense of relaxing intermittently within the year, then the accumulated fatigue can seriously have a negative toll on your health. It is important to take a rest after a heavy and energy-sapping assignment. Do you even know that after God created everything He rested? Yes, He did! Fleetingly, He paused from His creative works. Examine this text:

“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made” (Genesis 2:2).

If God rested(paused) after a heavy assignment (creation), it is a suitable principle to follow. There are several forms of rest. It involves having time to sleep, visiting attractive and educative places, having fun with your family, sightseeing, swimming, and all the fun you can think of. Of course, the good fun and not the type that leaves you with a heavy weight of guilt! It is advisable to sleep on a planned routine to help adjust your body so that you would not be sleeping anyhow.

Sleep gives your body a chance to heal and regenerate; having a stable sleep routine will help keep your body under check. The other significant feature of rest is how it reduces the causes of stress and depression in your life. Learn to manage or cope with stress by trying different relaxation techniques. Take deep breaths during most of your stressful moments and learn to free your heart from fear and uncertainties. Remember this: healing comes from God but man has a responsibility to stay strong and healthy.

• Exercise

Most people lead busy lives because of the nature of the global economic system but the benefits of exercise usually tone the body to enable it to shoulder the burdens and ruggedness of life. The gradual introduction of exercise leads to longer patterns of fitness as against adopting a harsh workout period, especially at the beginning of each New Year in a gym which does next to nothing for your body.

A simple way to start, according to most health experts, is to walk. Walking programmes can be adapted to suit any age or fitness level, and fortunately, it is less likely to cause injury or wear and tear on the joints. Walking can also seem far less intimidating to the aged than embarking on a strenuous exercise pattern. Brisk walking is the perfect choice for weight loss as its aerobic demands are similar to those of a running programme and yet it is much ‘kinder’ on your body with almost 50 per cent less impact of wear and tear on your joints.

Brisk walking also provides you with a challenging cardiovascular workout that will quickly improve muscle tone in your entire lower body - bottom, thighs, hips, and abdominals - as well as your upper back and shoulders. If you want to live a long and independent life, then it is very important to stay fit and agile. Regular walking has many health benefits and will increase your chances of staying healthy.

 Research suggests that it can cut your chances of a heart attack by as much as 50%, reduce the risk of a stroke by up to 40% and make you twice as likely to survive a diagnosis of breast cancer. Walking also helps to maintain the condition of your joints and bones by reducing the risk of crippling conditions such as osteoporosis and arthritis.  Studies have shown that walking two miles a day cuts the risk of death! Thirty (30) minutes of walk each day also works because it helps your body sustain a healthy weight due to intense exercise.

• Proper eating habit

Most of us grow up without knowing how to eat healthily. But you need to make a difference. You do not have to consume any amount of food without knowing the number of calories, fat or carbohydrates in the food that will be relevant to the body. Working on this particular section of this article, ‘Proper eating habits’, I consulted a lot of health experts and biological scientists whose health tips, having put them into practice, have immensely helped me. In the year 2020, I made a quick change in my eating habit. Today, I’m glad the decision I made to lose weight has helped to improve upon my health. In this year, 2023, you too can follow the following health benefit and make changes in your eating habit. Let us have a look at them:

1.        Decide on the amount of calories your body needs on a daily basis

The amount may vary greatly, depending on your metabolism and how physically active you are. If you are the kind of person who puts on 10 pounds or five kilos just smelling a slice of pizza, then your daily caloric intake, according to research, should stay around 2000 calories for men and 1500 calories for women. Your body mass also plays a part in this: More calories are suitable for naturally bigger-sized people and lesser calories for smaller-sized people. If you are the kind of person who can eat without putting on a pound, or you are physically active, you may want to increase your daily caloric intake by 1000 - 2000 calories, a little less for women. Also, consider that the more muscular you are, the more calories you need to function.

The bad fats are saturated and Trans-fat. Someone on a 2000-calorie diet should consume less than 20 grams of saturated fat a day, and Trans-fat should also be avoided altogether. The good fats are plain fat, which you should eat about 30% of your calories from poly- and mono-unsaturated fats.

2.        Do not fear fatty foods

You need to consume fat from foods for your body to function correctly. However, it is important to choose the right kind of fat. Most animal fats and some vegetable oils are high in fat which raises your cholesterol level; the bad cholesterol. Contrary to popular belief, eating cholesterol does not necessarily raise the amount of cholesterol in your body. If you give your body the right tools, it will flush excess cholesterol from your body. Those tools are monounsaturated fatty acids, which you should try to consume regularly. These are good fats, and they help lower the bad cholesterol in your body by raising the good cholesterol.

Foods that are high in monounsaturated fatty acids are olive oil, nuts, fish oil and various seed oils. Adding these “good” fats to your weekly diet can lower your level of cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease. Consider sautéing vegetables in small amounts of olive oil and grabbing a hand full of mixed nuts for a snack instead of a regular intake of a bar of chocolate or sweets. There are also various supplements that contain these good fats that you can take daily.

3. Carbohydrates are important

You need to eat foods high in carbohydrates since they are your body’s main source of energy. The trick is to choose the right carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates like sugar and processed flour are quickly absorbed by the body’s digestive system. This causes a kind of carbohydrate overload, and your body releases huge amounts of insulin to combat the overload. Not only is the excess insulin bad for your heart, but it encourages weight gain. Insulin is the main hormone in your body responsible for fat storage. Eat plenty of carbohydrates, but eat carbohydrates that are slowly digested by the body like whole grain flour, healthy vegetables, oats, and unprocessed grains like brown rice. This kind of food does not only contain complex carbohydrates that are slowly digested by the body but are usually high in vitamins and other nutrients that are beneficial to the body and they are high in fibre which keeps your digestive system running effortlessly.

4. Eat heavier meals early in the day

Your metabolism slows down towards the end of the evening and it is less efficient at digesting foods. That means more of the energy stored in the food will be stored as fat and your body won’t absorb as many nutrients from the meal. Most families tend to have their big meal at dinnertime. The problem with this is that your day is basically over, and your body’s need for energy is not as great as it is early in the day. This large meal (examples are; fufu with palm nut soup or banku with groundnut soup), late in the night, can also make you feel tired, and, who wants to feel extremely exhausted now that the workday is over? Try eating a medium-sized meal for breakfast, a large meal for lunch, and a small meal for dinner. Better yet, try eating 4-5 small meals over the course of your day. That keeps your body fuelled for the whole day without dumping a large amount of food into your stomach, which your body might have a hard time digesting.

5. Do not skip breakfast!

Many people skip breakfast because they do not feel they need to eat it, or they just do not feel hungry in the morning. Unless you are waiting on the Lord through prayer and fasting for a period of time, it is important to have breakfast before leaving for the office. Research shows that people who skip breakfast are usually fatter than those who eat a well-balanced breakfast. Although you might not feel hungry in the morning, if you skip breakfast, you will feel extra hungry when it’s lunchtime, making you prone to over-eating during your afternoon meal.

In addition, skipping breakfast makes you think that you are starving. After all, by lunchtime maybe at 1 pm., you may not have eaten in almost thirteen hours (that is from 12 midnight to 1300 GMT). For the rest of the day after you skip breakfast, your body will store up most of the energy you get from food, instead of allowing you to burn it, in anticipation of food scarcity. Not only will this cause you to be tired during the day when your body is not using the food that you ate, but the extra energy stored up will result in weight gain. In planning for a great mealtime, consider cereals which are great for breakfast. Combine the following:

• banana
• sesame or chia seeds
• carrot
• apple
• 1/2 cup of skim milk, soya milk or almond milk (you can get any of them to purchase at any nearby supermarket or any shopping mall within your city).

For protein, try substituting beans for higher calorie foods like boneless skinless chicken breasts, or tuna. Not only will you be getting additional photo chemicals from the plant-based protein, but also, it will not have the harmful saturated fat content. Remember that even an orange has more than 5% of its calories from protein!

Non-fat yoghurt can make a great snack, and its healthy bacteria can help with various stomach disorders.

Carry water with you at all times. Try to drink water in place of soft drinks and other flavoured beverages. A good rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in ounces per day.

Consider eating organic. Organic food isn’t made with the use of a lot of harmful chemicals, or other harmful processes. Not only is organic food good for you, but it is sustainable and good for the environment too! 

Read the labels on everything you eat. Do not just buy something because it is marketed as being “healthy.” Lots of companies are actually trying to sell off their food as healthy when in reality; such foods are full of high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, Trans fats, and hidden sugars. I have come to know that reading labels is the best way to learn about a product. It gives you almost all the information about that product you’ll ever need. If you’re trying to lose weight, try to choose foods with low calories. If you want to gain weight for a particular reason, you then choose food with lots of calories. However, too many calories, without enough exercise, and eating too much at one time, can make you fat.

Avoid processed foods. They are unnatural foods and it makes it very difficult for your body to break it down which means they will lie in your gut making you feel bloated and lethargic or lazy. Eat things which are in their unprocessed state such as raw fruits, vegetables, brown rice, whole wheat and so on.

6.  Buy non-fat or reduced-fat foods

This is done not to avoid getting fat because eating fat will not make you fat. And it is not about eating fewer calories. You can stay in shape when you know how to control the kind and amount of fat that goes into your body. For instance, olive oil has many health benefits, so buy non-fat or reduced-fat salad dressing and add a tablespoon of olive oil to the jar. You’ll have a salad dressing that tastes great and is also better for your health. So, buy non-fat foods so you can replace the missing fat with “good” fats. Remember, you do need to eat a moderate amount of fat each day. Fat can be very deceiving. For example, if you are trying to lose weight, you have to look for food with low-fat content. However, there are some foods that have good fats; these fats are monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat.

These fats add calories from fat, and so do Trans-fat and saturated fat. It is likely these fats can combine, which can be confusing. It then becomes important to look out for meals that contain saturated and Trans-fat. If you see on a label 20 calories of fat, but no gramme of Trans fat and saturated fat, that means that there is polyunsaturated fat and or monounsaturated fat. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are good for you. They protect your heart and increase ‘good’ cholesterol.

7. Avoid alcohol

You know that heavy drinking is bad for your body, as well as your willpower. In fact, a heavy dose of alcohol has the power of weakening your memory. Again, a heavy night of drinking could send you to the fridge pigging out on all the wrong foods. Do not drink to gain appetite because it has hidden calories. You can have appetizers or prepare the food in a mouth watery way so there would be no need for alcohol.

Conclusion

Sitting down to make a new year resolution without any commitment towards its achievement is a waste of time. Until you are committed to making your life better, the year 2023 will also end without any tangible results. I, therefore, encourage you to realign your mind towards relevant this information of a higher concern to make you enjoy this year with a broad-minded mindset of excellence. As much as possible, do away with unnecessary complaints and craft a vision for your health and other related areas to make you enjoy your life to its fullest.

Happy New Year to you!

References

1.        Owusu, P. (2016), The Leading Edge, Kumasi: Streams Publishing House, pp. 277-317.

2.        Owusu, P. (2021), Yes, You Can Make It!, Kumasi: Streams Publishing House, p.22.

A portion of this article is an extract from the writer’s book, Yes You Can Make It! Get copies of the writer’s numerous books from the Kingdom Bookshop, KNUST, Kumasi and in Accra.

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The writer is an Academic, Visiting Lecturer, Leadership Consultant and a Reverend Minister with the WordSprings City Church, Kumasi-Ghana.