Last week, I read a super thought-provoking short article in the British Airways Business Life magazine about Simon Sinek’s ‘Why, How, What’ thesis, which rose to prominence in his celebrated TEDx talk. In short, it’s 3 simple questions which the best companies and politicians in history could/can compellingly answer without ever being asked. The answers unveil their raison d’aître with total honesty and validity, and I feel it’s important to try and do the same. Whilst Fitness On Toast remains my passion project, and I’m certainly no politician, I wanted to explain not just the What and How, but share my ‘Why‘… The driving force behind me putting myself outside my comfort zone almost every day. For those who want to read it (which I recognise won’t be everyone), this post is an open and genuine distillation of my drive and ethos. Click more to see it all!
The ‘What’
That’s the easy bit. Fitness On Toast is a lifestyle blog, of which there are MANY on the ‘information superhighway’ (a pang of nostalgia for anyone who remembers that early term for the Internet?!). It has an unusual spin though, as I always wanted to approach the topics from a healthy living and wellbeing perspective, with each post’s conclusion hopefully adding some practical value on that. It’s something that hasn’t changed over the 3 years it’s been up and running and I don’t think it ever will. Coincidentally, whilst that seems pretty normal now, it was a bit different and unfamiliar at the start; society has fortunately developed into something more wellness-conscious over that short space of time, which is awesome to observe and to be part of.
The ‘How’
This is a well-travelled, but also a fairly new path. It’s journalism, just for the neo-millennial era. My credentials are as a Personal Trainer for >10 years and having studied nutrition at University in London; I am not a journalist. But I have had to learn the communicative and practical skills of a media franchise through this website and its connected channels. WordPress, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Bloglovin… Just a few of the companies I knew little-to-nothing of 4 years ago, but all of who’s software has found a place in my digital heart. They each literally evoke a distinct emotional flavour when I think about opening them, as they help me know and communicate different types of messages and feelings. They’re the how!
The ‘Why’ is the most important component. I think we are all continually developing our understanding of our own why, our own purpose. Why did I start this blog at a time when nobody I knew took blogging to be a serious venture? There are 5 answers to that;
- I care for human happiness. A massive motivator for me is the desire to see others feeling happy, and I worry about the idea of them growing ill from self-neglect. This counts as much for my family as it does for total strangers. My decade of actively researching the development of a healthy sustainable life can help that process for others who’ve not had the opportunity to put the thinking in, or to have done the practical studies with their personal training clients.
- I love creativity. For most of my childhood, I would doodle away my science lessons, and paint away my art lessons alike. Forming an image from a blank canvas has always appealed to me and I think it’s an extremely satisfying human aim. Every blog post is a new sheet, each Instagram an undeveloped exposure, each tweet an unwritten fortune cookie
. Making something and then adding it to what you made before is like a real-life version of The Sims (yes, I’m carbon dating myself there!), or a mini civilisation in a bottle. - I wanted to develop myself. Nothing quite takes you out of your comfort zone like originating a professional blog. Every day that I do this, I face another challenge I never thought I’d have to face. To some people, they’d seem like small and insignificant tests, but to others, that same trinket is a planet-sized stumbling block. I’m in the latter camp, you may be surprised to read, but after I face and tackle it, I always get a super rewarded feeling. It is never easy. That simultaneous sensation of nervous gratification is what I think of as ‘development in motion’!
- I thought I needed to engage with others in my quest for getting better. I’m by no means a fully rounded human being; there are untidy parts and habits I dislike, much as everyone else. This blog remains an outlet for me to self-actualise, to strive towards achieving my potential and become the person I want to be. We all want to do it, so I thought I’d share my version of it with complete strangers in as far-flung locations such as Azerbaijan and New Zealand (where I have some fabulous readers
) - I have a crystal clear image of a healthy ideal in my mind! It’s taken over a decade of working in the fitness industry to define it. I haven’t purposely designed this image, it’s just come to pass as I’ve sponged up truths, and discarded fallacies along the way. I think there are many who share that image and countless more who have only just started to form it. I wanted to reach out to those like-minded people, and I couldn’t find any better platform than my own blog!
I very much hope that makes sense and apologies for the ramble! From someone who has worked in fitness for much of my professional life, I do want to say that there is nothing that can replace hard work. You can buy any gadget out there, try any diet or ‘detox’ package, but nothing can replace getting up in the morning with determination and a plan, to attack the day, sweat hard, and smash it! Good luck defining your own ‘Why‘ – it’ll help you achieve your goals so much more than anyone else’s What!
Faya x