I’m in the final week of my 6-week health reset now, and I’ve got full bloods booked for tomorrow.

Weirdly, I’ve wanted to get full bloods done for a couple of years but have always put it off. Perhaps there’s a bit of ignorance is bliss in there somewhere! But the truth is, as we get older, it’s probably better to know what’s going on sooner rather than later. Then we can actually be proactive and hopefully prevent things rather than waiting until there’s a problem.

I’ve got no reason to suspect anything is wrong. My basic blood test six weeks ago was generally good, although my HDL (the “good” cholesterol) was a little lower than optimal. It didn’t test LDL or give me a full lipid profile, which is why I wanted to get the full bloods done.

I should get the results back early next week. I’ll also do my body composition scan again on Monday and check my blood pressure, so I’ll have some final results to compare with where I started six weeks ago.

Ideally I want to see healthy blood lipids with an increase in HDL, lower body fat, lower visceral (abdominal) fat, a healthy BMI and blood pressure back in the optimal range rather than elevated.

But probably more important than any individual number will be sitting back and reflecting on the last six weeks. What actually worked? What didn’t? What have I learnt? And what am I actually going to continue doing?

Because this whole thing was really an experiment in approaching change differently.

I wanted to take what I’ve been learning about behaviour change, habit psychology and identity-based behaviour change and actually apply it to myself. Much more emphasis on systems rather than constantly chasing outcomes.

I think most of us know the other approach pretty well. “Right, I’m starting Monday.” Perfect diet, perfect exercise plan, all or nothing. Then life happens, you miss a workout, eat something you weren’t supposed to, feel like you’ve messed it up and gradually end up back where you started.

Then you try again. Rinse and repeat. And somehow years, even decades, can go by without anything really changing underneath it all.

Subjectively, I already FEEL much better. But I’ve also come out of this with a new level of confidence that there is a better way of approaching change.

I’m becoming increasingly convinced that identity-based behaviour change is a huge part of it. Rather than constantly forcing yourself to do healthy things to reach some future result, you gradually build the habits, environment and systems that support the person you want to become.

Eventually it becomes less about “being on a health kick” and more about this just being how you live.

I’m also off work for two weeks at the moment and I’ve slowed right down, which has probably come at a good time. I’m still exercising, still following the nutritional principles and getting more sleep, but I’m also just enjoying family time and having a bit more space.

I even went out and bought some canvases and paintbrushes to have a go at some art. I’ve never painted before and have absolutely no idea what I’m doing but I’ve felt drawn towards it recently, so why not?

I think I’m trying to follow those little bits of curiosity more rather than needing everything I do to have an obvious purpose or outcome.

I’ve also reconnected with some old mentors and communities around holistic health and spent quite a bit of time thinking about what I actually want. Probably being a bit more honest with myself as well.

A lot of that has been around work. How I want to work, what I want to spend my time doing and ultimately what value and purpose I feel I have moving forward. I don’t have all the answers to that yet, but slowing down has definitely created some space to think about it.

And maybe there’s a deeper lesson in all of this.

Health really is the foundation for everything else.

When that foundation starts to feel stable and you’re moving, eating well, sleeping better and feeling healthier, it creates space to look beyond that and ask bigger questions about what you actually want to do, experience and give.

Which has strangely brought me full circle back to what I studied for my Master’s...

Purpose in life.

I still believe that's fundamentally the most important thing. Knowing who you are, what you want to give, Having that compelling vision for your life you are moving forwards that gives you a sense of direction and meaning.

But the foundation is health.

Anyway, I’ll share the final numbers and what I’ve learnt from the whole six weeks next week.

Hope you have a good one.

Dan