Take Control Before It’s Too Late

If you’re in your 40s, 50s, or beyond and coasting with your health, it’s time for a wake-up call. Most of the health issues we face later in life—chronic pain, disease, low energy—are preventable. But only if you stop outsourcing your health and start acting like the CEO of your life.

In this short, no-nonsense episode, Aaron Shaw, OTR/L, CHT, CSCS, cuts through the noise with two powerful concepts and four real-world action items you can start today to extend your healthspan. This is your personal pep talk to stop playing defense and start building a body and life that lasts.

You’ll learn:

• Why most chronic conditions respond better to behavior than pills
• The real cost of waiting for symptoms to act
• How to do a quick health audit (and what to schedule this week)
• The “Minimum Daily Dose” method for building unstoppable habits
• How to identify your top 3 health habits and get real accountability

No fluff. No fads. Just action. Play offense—your future self is depending on it.

🎯 Start with one thing today. Then message Aaron your goal at healthspanpillars.com

📩 Want support? He’ll personally reply—no sales pitch, just real support.

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Transcript

If you're in your forties, fifties or older, and you're just kind of coasting along with your health and wellbeing, you better listen up. It's not too late, but you're definitely on the clock. And so what I want to talk about today is helping us take charge of our health now today. So we're not being reactive with our health down the road. We know that most of the healthcare expenses, most of the aches and pains and suffering that we go through are actually.

preventable conditions. There are things that we don't even have to be dealing with if people took charge of their health sooner. And I want to tell you how to do that exact thing today. My name is Aaron Shaw. am 30 years into a career as an occupational therapist and strength and conditioning specialist, focusing on healthspan. Healthspan is the length of time within our lifespan that we are healthy, active, vibrant, and free from disease and disabilities. And typically

As I said, so many of us are dealing with diseases and conditions that are entirely preventable by making certain decisions or not making certain decisions. And we can really take charge of this. The main pillars of HealthSpan are exercise, nutrition, sleep, emotional wellbeing, and preventative care. And my clients are typically middle age, 50s, 40s, 50s, 60s and older, and are really working.

hard with some guidance to maximize their health, maximize their vibrancy and really owning life, really kind of taking charge of their health, taking charge of their life and doing it in a precise science-backed conscious way.

And that's what I'm here to do. I'm help. can help guide people through this process. So today in this episode, I'm going to cover two concepts. I'm going to give you four action items, really kind of four action items to choose from. You're going to be able to pick one thing to start today to extend your healthspan. In this episode, I will say is going to be kind of short and punchy, but I really want to make sure that there's an absolute action item that you can start today.

that will really impact your life. But let's start talking about some concepts to start with. The first core concept that we need to remember is that we should stop this idea of outsourcing our health. So physicians, personal trainers, wearable devices, coaches like myself, look at us as consultants. We are just here to assist, consult. You are the CEO. ⁓

chief executive officer of your own life. And you were the one making the calls and the sooner you can feel comfortable and empowered to make some decisions, to be proactive with decisions on your health, the better you're going to be. And us in the consultant bucket, you know, those of us that are coaches and again, doctors and the medical system, we're here, we're here to support you, but you are driving. And so

there's any advice I can give anybody, would be to, for some it's going to be changing the mindset and feeling again, comfortable being the boss. You are the boss of you and you are trying to build and grow a company in your mind. Imagine that. And you need to have some gusto with doing this. And there's some decision making that has to happen, but you are the boss. You are the CEO. We know that most chronic conditions, blood pressure,

problems, pre-diabetes, even back pain. These things respond better to behavior than they do pills. this behavior, control of this behavior is, you know, it's kind of top down. It comes from the chief executive officer, comes from you. It doesn't so much come from those of us that are in the consulting space. It doesn't come from the medical system, it comes from you. So we need to remember that your results will never...

outperform your daily decisions. So it's of utmost importance that you take charge of your health, of your daily decisions, of your moment to moment decisions, because that is hands down going to be the most powerful thing for your healthspan and how long you live. Literally, how long you will be alive is dependent upon you deciding to be the CEO of your life and act accordingly.

Core concept number two, a bit of a sports analogy here, but offense beats defense. So if you're just waiting for symptoms, waiting for something to pop up, you're playing defense. So if you're waiting for your blood pressure to get out of control, if you're waiting for your maybe uncontrolled weight gain, or if you're waiting for your eating habits or your activity or inactivity to finally catch up to you, to give you some sort of heart disease or

diabetes or some sort of problem, you're playing defense, you're playing waiting. And we need to think that healthspan, this time when we are healthy, active and vibrant, it's just, it's not about just not being sick. It's about having energy, having strength, having, you know, clarity of being and being confident. And that is not a passive situation to be in. It's really proactive. So you can either build capacity now,

today, like literally today as you're listening to this, you have the decision, you have the opportunity to be stronger, more fortified today by decisions you make and actions you take today, or you end up losing function later. There is no neutral, there is no in between, there's no waiting. You're either getting stronger, more durable, more resilient, you're either boosting your immune system, improving your bone density, improving your

strength and balance and stamina and cardiovascular capacity, or you're losing it. That's it. It's one or the other. There is no in between. So this concept is about being proactive. So it's offense beats defense. But let's think about four specific real action items that you can take to help our healthspan.

first action item you can take. is what you want. These are all these things you can do today. This first action item is do a health audit. Take a moment and think what is overdue.

with your health overall. It could be an annual physical. It could be blood work. It could be a colonoscopy. Why did I say that? Well, two days ago I had a colonoscopy. Was it fun? No, of course not. But it was due. I was due for it. It was part of my personal health audit. And the week before that I would sell the dentist for a cleaning. Annoying, uncomfortable. know, it crimps my style. I got a lot of other things I'd rather be doing, but...

more than anything, I want to be alive and I want to live long and I want to have, you know, this extended healthspan. want to be resilient and tough and well, and that takes some reflection. So doing this health audit is worth a few minutes of time. Schedule something this week. If you need to have an appointment scheduled, pick up the phone, reach out to your providers, make the appointment, at least make the appointment and don't wait for a wake up call. Don't wait to be.

to wake up with a symptom that is scary or spooks you a little bit and then start taking action. So the action item number one is to do a health audit and be brutally honest with yourself. If you need something, if you need some help, get help. Action item number two, start a minimum daily dose routine. Minimum daily dose. So pick a few things that you're gonna consider the minimum of what you're gonna do every single day.

This could be at minimum, you're gonna drink three glasses of water at minimum. At minimum, you're gonna walk for 15 minutes outside in the fresh air at minimum every single day, no matter what. It could be 10 minutes of body weight exercises. It could be doing air squats and planks before you go to bed or after you wake up in the morning.

Every single day, day in, day out, it doesn't matter whether you're traveling, whether you're working, whether it's the weekend, it doesn't matter if you have other exercises or other plans for that day, it doesn't matter. It is the minimum daily dose of something. It could be hydration, it could be a protein target, but take the time to identify very specific, explicit, measurable things that are your minimum daily dose. So for me, I have minimum daily doses of hydration that I consume.

every single day. have minimum doses of exercise that I do every single week. And again, there are a million variables getting away with these things. But for me, it is the bare minimum. And once you create that habit, I realize I do these things no matter what it becomes who you are. And maybe if you're just starting off setting some of these things, it can feel you got to kind of navigate the

nuances of integrating some of these minimums into your daily routine, perhaps, which is what I help my clients do. But eventually it just, it becomes easier over time because you, your life and your physiology literally will change to accommodate this. And the benefit is more resilience and more durability.

Action item number three, own your top three habits. Take the time to write down three habits that you know you need and then choose one. So commit to doing something for seven days straight. It could be putting your phone away and TV, know, shutting off the TV an hour before bed. So getting your face away from the screen for an hour before you go to bed. That could be a habit that is worth starting.

commit to something that you know will absolutely improve your health. But write these down. And this is key. think that we all get busy and we're all kind of running around and it's easy to maybe forget things or especially if you're not accustomed to doing something in a routine basis. But if you write this down, get a post-it note, old school post-it note. I know you've heard this before. Write down the habit that you want to create. Put it on your mirror right where you brush your teeth because

pretty sure you probably have the habit of brushing your teeth every day, probably a couple of times a day. And look at that. You can even kind of correlate that concept of brushing your teeth, that habit of brushing your teeth with any other habit you want to add into that. So it's something that you do day in day out. Doesn't take a whole lot of brain power. You just do it. You probably do it on autopilot. And there may even be moments or days where you may have, if you're like me at least, like there are times when I

sort of forgotten like, did I brush my teeth already or not? Because it's so automatic. You want some other healthy habits to be stacked on top of that or around that. We're gonna separate from that, but just create the habit. Pick something and I would say you can always, I'm sure you can come up with two or three habits that you know you need. Again, hydration, protein intake, eating whole foods, going to bed at a certain time, waking up at a certain time every single day of the week. Pick a couple of these things that you know would

improve your health, write them down, work towards those. Action number four, create accountability. And I'm going to help you with this one, but what's key is that it can be a really powerful tip is to tell someone your goal. Have a health specific goal.

Think it through what sounds ambitious but doable. It could be weight loss, it could be strength gain, it could be the capacity to hike a certain distance. It could be maybe blood pressure. It could be any number of things, but have a health specific goal and then tell someone. Tell your loved one, tell a close friend, tell me. I'll respond to you. If you message me what your goal is,

I will reply to you. will acknowledge your goal. I will be your fan. I'm not going to sell you anything or make it awkward. if you really have a big audacious goal and it's scary to put it out there in the world and tell people, fine, reply to this. You can message me from whether it's on YouTube or from my website, healthspanpillars.com, from the podcast platform. like, hey, Aaron, this feels weird to say, but I want to be able to do…

⁓ I want to be able to do 10 pushups. I'm going to lose 25 pounds this year, whatever it is. Sweet. Message me. I will reply to you. Give you the thumbs up. I'm going to be your biggest fan. Just put it out there. Put it out there in the world. Put it on a calendar, write it down, put it on a post-it note, get it visual, but create some sort of accountability system so people can check in. People can kind of support you through your process and track how well it's going.

You you want to have like a visual tracking system, ideally. So whether that's on a smartphone app or a calendar or something where you're kind of tracking days, you've accomplished certain things or days, weeks and months, you've accomplished certain things. It makes a big difference.

So what we need to think about in closing here is that no one should care as much about your future health than you. And you need to act like it. You need to lead like it. You need to train like it. And I find that many people, especially in the second half of life, kind of let things go.

And if you're like me, you are in the second half of your life. I'm in the second half of my life, unless I live to be a hundred and some of something years old, but consider playing it like a pro be proactive. This is the one go around that we get and we don't want to be a passive participant. want to be the CEO. We want to be driving. We want to be calling the shots. We want to be choosing habits. We want to be playing.

offense and not defense. don't want to be dreading the next time you go to see the, your primary care doctor and thinking, man, what am going to have to get a new pill now or new something new has come up because you may be anticipating some bad news from ultimately from past decisions that you've made. That's not the way to go. And if that's the space that you're in right now, that's okay. Flip the switch today, flip the switch, own your health.

own your emotional wellbeing, your physical wellbeing, your stamina, your strength, be around for your family, be around for the people that love you and make decisions that will extend your healthspan. It's not just about living, not just about being alive, but it's about being proactive and not just not sick, but feeling really damn good and really powerful and strong and confident. But all of this has to come down to you taking charge. If you need help with this,

I'm here for you. Shoot me a message. Send me your goal. Start with one specific thing you can do today. And maybe that is doing a health audit for yourself. Where are you today? what appointments should you be making today that are overdue? That's a great place to start. Do you have your annual physical on, on the calendar? Do you have blood work that needs to get done?

colonoscopy, cancer screenings, any number of things, dentist appointments. If there is anything, do an audit on yourself today and then pick up the phone or get online. You can make appointments online probably and get it on the books. That is one proactive step forward that will not only help you live longer, but help you live better. Be the CEO. I'm here to support you. And that's the end of this pep talk.

Listen to other episodes if you want details on exercise and nutrition or whatnot. But I think every once in a while we need like a little reality check on it's great to listen to these things. And I'm can talk about all the details of exercise and sleep and nutrition, all this stuff all day long. But unless you are literally taking action, it's meaningless. And that is the challenge when we're bombarded by this podcast and things that I talk about and I post online and there's a million of us out here that are

Again, the consultants of health, if you will, it is all meaningless until you, the CEO of you makes a decision, calls the shots. So get after it. I'm here for you. Here's your healthspan