Think in Decades, Not Days (and Definitely Not Minutes): The Power of Compounding Interest in Health
Welcome back to MoveMed! Today, I want to focus on one of the most important lessons for long-term health: thinking in decades, not days—and definitely not minutes. If you want to see real, sustainable progress, you need to play the long game. Just like financial investments, the small, consistent habits you build today will yield compounding returns in your future health.
The Long Game: Small Habits, Big Results
Health, much like compounding interest, is all about consistency. The small, positive habits you repeat daily don’t just add up—they multiply over time. Whether it’s stretching for five minutes, taking the stairs instead of the lift, or drinking an extra glass of water, these seemingly small actions compound into big, lasting changes when done consistently over the years.
I often see patients wanting quick fixes. They expect major results in a week or two, but the truth is that real health improvements take time. By committing to the long game, you’ll see the true benefits of your efforts. A study found that small, incremental lifestyle changes are significantly more effective in creating long-term health behaviour changes than short, intense bursts of effort.
LENDS: The Blueprint for Consistency
At MoveMed, I often speak about the LENDS principles: Love, Exercise, Newness and Discomfort, Diet, and Sleep. If you work consistently on each of these pillars, you’ll see health improvements that compound over time:
Love: Fostering healthy relationships and a positive mindset is foundational for your overall well-being.
Exercise: Moving your body regularly is crucial for maintaining mobility, strength, and flexibility.
Newness and Discomfort: Challenging yourself with new movements and embracing discomfort allows your body and brain to grow stronger and more adaptable.
Diet: Fuel your body with balanced, nutritious foods. Small dietary changes, like cutting down on sugar or adding more vegetables, have significant long-term impacts.
Sleep: Prioritising rest and recovery helps your body repair itself and function optimally.
Each of these areas doesn’t need drastic changes overnight. Small, consistent efforts in love, exercise, newness, discomfort, diet, and sleep will accumulate over time, making you stronger, healthier, and more resilient. In a recent study, participants who made gradual lifestyle changes saw a significant reduction in disease risk and improved longevity.
Don’t Worry About the Bad Days
A common challenge I see is patients feeling discouraged after missing a few days of rehab exercises or falling into unhealthy habits. But here’s the thing: consistency is more important than perfection. You don’t need to hit every mark every day; you just need to keep going. It’s the long-term effort that counts, not the occasional slip-ups.
It takes around three weeks to decondition a habit or movement pattern, so don’t worry about a few bad days here and there. If you miss a week, just pick it up again the next day. It’s far more important to continually restart than to give up altogether.
Restart, and Keep Restarting: The Power of Neural Re-Education (NRE)
One of the most powerful concepts we work with at MoveMed is Neural Re-Education (NRE). Every time you restart after a setback, you’re not just working on your muscles or your fitness—you’re retraining your brain to form new, healthy habits. NRE is about teaching the brain to learn and relearn movement patterns, allowing you to build a foundation of good habits over time.
When you miss a few days of your rehab or fall off track with your health routines, it’s important to remember that your brain is incredibly adaptive. Just like a muscle, your brain responds to repetition. Each time you perform a movement or practice a habit, you reinforce that pattern in your neural circuitry. Even if you have a setback, restarting sends the signal to your brain that these patterns are still important.
Research in neuroplasticity—our brain's ability to adapt and reorganise—shows that consistency in movement and behaviour rewires the brain to make new habits automatic. It may take a few weeks to rebuild momentum after a break, but the long-term benefits of NRE are immense. By continually restarting, you’re teaching your brain to hold onto these positive patterns for longer and longer stretches.
This is why consistency is more important than perfection. You don't lose all your progress after a week off. Instead, each time you restart, you're strengthening your brain’s ability to learn and retain those movements. As one study pointed out, even after periods of inactivity, the brain's motor memory allows for rapid re-learning when habits are resumed, proving that persistence pays off.
The key is to keep going and to remember that every restart is another opportunity to solidify these new neural pathways. The more you engage in NRE, the more ingrained these healthy movement patterns and habits will become. And eventually, what once felt difficult will become second nature.
The Power of Compounding Interest in Health
Just like with financial investments, the longer you commit to small health habits, the greater your returns will be. The effects of practising love, exercise, newness and discomfort, diet, and sleep daily compound over the years, resulting in improved mobility, strength, mental clarity, and overall well-being.
Don’t fall into the trap of expecting immediate results. Play the long game, focus on the bigger picture, and know that each small step brings you closer to lifelong health. It’s not about how fast you get there—it’s about the journey and how consistent you can be along the way.
So, don’t worry about the occasional bad day. Just keep going. Think in decades, not days.
Ready to start building the habits that will transform your health for life? Book your appointment with MoveMed today, and let’s begin your long-term health journey.
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