Well here I am, recently celebrating a big birthday. One would say a cornerstone birthday that when I was younger I would have seen as the “Home stretch” versus the “Back stretch” of life. I am here to tell you that I don’t feel that way at all. In fact, turning 50 and having a better understanding of myself, my potential, my attitude and my “why” keeps me focused and driven to continue to strive towards improvement everyday. This, in my opinion, keeps you young.

Yes, I said it, I just turned 50 years old. Like many of us Gen Xer’s we think back to the 80’s and what we thought was “Old.” It’s crazy to look at actors, actresses and prominent people at that time to see how truly old they looked as early as 40! We have come such a long way in regards to medicine, diet, exercise and mental health since those days. As I continue to fight the unwinnable battle against Father Time, there are four things that I personally feel are critically important to me in maintaining a well-balanced life. Believe me these are not in any way earth shattering but have been so incredibly helpful to me personally.

1. Mental and spiritual health: I have shared countless times in my Blog posts before around the importance of having a trusted source to talk to. For me that is a therapist and has been critical to helping me through the highs and lows of life. Additionally, my faith grounds me in purpose and the relentless pursuit of gratitude. This is a discipline that has truly changed the way I look at everything in life. The ability to see good in all things with an understanding it’s working for a higher purpose is profound for me.
2. Exercise: As you advance in life this brings on new meaning! When I was young I exercised to look good, now I workout to survive! This is not about doing the right type of exercise, weights versus running or CrossFit versus OrangeTheory. This is all about moving and creating heat and adversity for your body and muscles. As I tell my boys over and over, I have never, after the fact, regretted doing a workout, but I do regret every time I pass on the opportunity when I should have exercised.
3. Sleep: I am that guy that needs 7-8 hours of sleep every night. I am also the king of the 15 min “Power nap!” My boys have loads of “Snap pics” with me taking a mid-afternoon “Siesta.”
4. Diet: This has always been a tough one for me, I have good days and bad days with my diet. My goal is to have more good days than bad days. I have always been a very structured, goal orientated person so for that reason intermittent fasting has worked well for me. If I create a personal goal, the competitor in my comes out.

I chose this title mainly because of my background in running track. The idea of the backstretch, particularly in the 400M is where you focus on your stride and prepare your mind for the final half of the race. I encourage you to identify what strategies and habits you need to adopt to enable a winning backstretch!