Five Essentials for a Winning New Year

by Jim Citrin

This week, over 100 million Americans will make a New Year's resolution. Most such resolutions never take hold because they're established at the last minute and are ill-conceived or poorly planned.

But thanks to Chris Carmichael, the world's most famous cycling coach, and his partner, Jim Rutberg, you only have to make one resolution this year to make a concrete positive change in your life: Read their new book, 5 Essentials for a Winning Life: The Nutrition, Fitness, and Life Plan for Discovering the Champion Within.

Forty and Feeling It

Chris is founder and chief executive of Carmichael Training Systems, Inc. (CTS), and personal coach to Lance Armstrong (whom you probably don't need to be reminded successfully survived cancer and won the Tour de France a record seven times).

Named the U.S. Olympic Committee's Coach of the Year in 1999, Chris formed CTS in 2000 after spending more than two decades as a cyclist. A member of both the 1984 Olympic team and the first American team to compete in the Tour de France in 1986, Chris now leads an organization that works with professional athletes across multiple sports and business leaders across multiple industries on personal fitness, nutrition, and life coaching.

Chris described the spark of inspiration behind his new book in an interview for this column. "When Lance won the Tour for the second time in 2000, he sent me a yellow jersey with the inscription, ‘Damn, you're getting old ... and you look it.'

"I had just turned 40 and started the company. It didn't really sink in right when I got it, but when I looked at it hanging in my office I wondered, ‘What's happened to me? Everything I've stood for, leading a high-performance life, has disappeared.' I was 20 pounds overweight, disconnected from my family, and taking calls on my cell at the dinner table. I decided that this is not the way I wanted to live my life."

A Holistic Approach

Carmichael pointed out that this same phenomenon could happen to anyone, especially someone in business in the peak of their career. So he resolved to take control of his life and get back the winning ways that he had worked so hard to figure out for others. Developing the book was his action plan.

"When Lance was coming back from cancer," Chris explained, "I changed how I coached athletes, taking a holistic approach rather than just focusing on conditioning work. I wanted to make sure that this was the model I was following myself and with this book."

That's also what CTS does with the elite athletes with whom it works. Carmichael discovered that the holistic approach is not only effective for elite athletes, but for everyone. And the need is more important than ever.

Thirty percent of Americans are obese and the number is growing. As more and more people become out of shape and overweight, there are more and more diet and fitness books out each year. "We know it doesn't work," Chris says, "so we needed to do something differently."

Elite Results for All

One of the things Carmichael and Rutberg did in researching the book was to select 25 people at random and lead them through the program to prove its efficacy.

"I had a great deal of confidence that what we do works at the elite level of the Tour de France, playing for the Stanley Cup, competing in the Hawaii Ironman, or racing in Nascar events," Chris says. "We needed to determine that it also worked for regular people."

How did this work out? "Not only did they lose weight and achieve better conditioning, they became markedly more energetic, and reported being more engaged with their kids and spouses.

"Those are the things that create fundamental behavioral change versus just losing weight."

Work and the Other Essentials

In order of importance, Carmichael's five essentials are fitness, nutrition, career, relationships, and health. "You have to be strong in all five dimensions to really make a transformation and live a winning life," he says. "They allow you to achieve balance in your life."

How exactly are careers supported by the other four essentials?

"It's pretty clear that performance in the workplace relates to being healthy, fit, and well conditioned," Chris says. "In today's highly charged and competitive workplace, you need to be able to handle the rigors of demanding work, high stress levels, and frequent business travel.

"You have to arrive sharp, and be on your ‘A' game and ready to go. You also need to find a respite where you can clear your mind on the one hand and also drill into complex problems on the other hand. Exercise and nutrition help you to do both."

Carmichael also believes that people who are fit earn more respect at work and are more likely to be selected for the most important positions or assignments. "Consciously or not, hiring managers ask themselves if a person they are considering can handle the rigors of the job," he says. "When it comes down to two candidates with equal resumes and brains, the fit person will get the job every time."

Relationships are also essential for long-term career success. "When you're committed and engaged in your relationships, it allows you more support in the workplace," Chris says. "It's important to be able to allow your professional success to penetrate to the rest of your life. If you're disconnected and don't share the successes or the anxiety, your whole work life becomes dull."

Simple Changes to Make Today

According to Carmichael and Rutberg's book, the concrete changes you need to make today are:
Establish consistency in your fitness: Consistency is the watchword. Find 20 to 30 minutes a day to be active. Go out for a walk, take a jog, do indoor cycling. The key is doing it every day.

Cut the clutter from your diet: Eliminate things like fancy coffee drinks, and stick close to the source with whole foods. Eliminate trans fats and high fructose corn syrup (read food labels). Limit alcohol consumption and carbonated beverages (the average American drinks 40 gallons of soda a year).

Behave as a role model for others in your career: In leadership, your actions speak louder than your words.

Nurture your important relationships: Write down who your most important relationships are with and what's most valuable about them. Read these notes regularly.

Get the recommended health screenings: Men are especially lax in this area, and typically don't go to the doctor until a symptom is severe or they are nagged by their spouse. Early detection can increase life-threatening diseases by 50 percent. So make an appointment today to get your health screened.

Follow Chris Carmichael's essentials and you'll be assured that 2007 is the best year yet.


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