No Time to Workout? Really?

NO TIME TO WORKOUT? REALLY??

They still make you? You know, the old model? The one looking for sympathy. The one that says “there’s not enough time in the day”.  The one who makes excuses. They one who blames it on others. I didn’t know you still existed…

Sound mean? It’s not meant to be mean. It’s just true. If you still feel like you don’t have enough time in the day to workout, read this!

• 1.       We’re all given the same 24 hours a day and 168 hours a week.
• 2.       We all have stressful lives. There isn’t a person alive who lives stress free. Stress free doesn’t exist.
• 3.       We all have responsibilities and multiple things that require our attention. This is also part of life.
• 4.       We all have to deal with the unexpected. Things happen. Kids get sick, tires wind up flat, emergencies pop-up and cause us to react on the fly. Deal & cope.
• 5.       We are all tired. We’re all exhausted from long work days and short sleep nights. We all get asked to work over-time or are given some task that requires additional time (that we may not even be getting paid for). It happens.

I could go on and on. You get the point. The way you spend your time is a choice. YOUR CHOICE.

Here is a short “shot in the arm” list to tell it like it is. Then once the truth has set you free, you’ll be able to begin making changes for the better.

I’m going to go Matrix on you. If you want to face the truth so that you can get better, read this. If you want to continue to wallow in your pool of excuses, click off this page.

For those who “took the red pill”, let’s go!

1.      You must decide what’s important to you and then go after it! Plain & simple. The most miserable people on earth are those who can’t make choices. They want this thing today and that thing tomorrow. They can’t decide where they want to live, eat, work, who they want as friends, enemies and on and on and on. Misery (ask me how I know, lol). The great thing about truth is that it draws a line. Once the facts are laid out, then you have no choice but to make a choice. That’s what this is about. Making a choice. The 1^st thing you must decide to do is make a choice. Without a choice you can’t have a clear vision or a specific thing to shoot for. People who don’t have a destination are called wanderers. Those are people who are on life’s treadmill. Running everywhere but going nowhere. Decide what you want. You want to get fit? Good, let’s go!

2.       Have a vision. I want to lose 20lbs is a great goal. I want to lose 20lbs in the next 2 months is a better goal. I want to lose 3lbs a week for the next 8 weeks is even better. Get specific. The more specific you can get the better. It’s amazing, I get people asking me what they should eat to lose weight all the time. So I’ll say, “Well what are you eating now?” 9 times out of 10 the person has no clue. So they write down what they eat for 3 days and bring it to me. Most times before I even begin talking they can already see where they need help. Why? Because it’s not rocket science. Write down your goals. See them on paper. And then begin to move on to step 3.

3.       Measure the costs of your goal. What’s this goal going to cost you? What’s it going to cost you in time? Effort? Loss of sleep? Loss of socializing or lazy time? Maybe even temporary loss of “me” time. Whatever your goals are, you have to figure out what it’s going to cost you to get there. Once you have the facts (truth) then you can make a decision on it. Ask yourself  “am I willing to pay the cost”? Want to accomplish a certain look? Want to feel a certain way? Want to wear a certain outfit? Good. What’s it going to cost you?  There’s an old saying, “what gets measured gets managed”. Almost any goal is achievable. The choice is yours whether you’re willing to do what it takes. If you have what it takes to accomplish the goal, pay the cost. If you realized that you genuinely do not. That’s ok too. Just go back to step one and re-adjust your goals to fit what you have the ability to afford.

Quick example: I find two things of the utmost value. What I have on my feet and what I sleep on. Why? Because you’ll spend over 1/3 of your life on your feet. You’ll also spend almost another 1/3 sleeping. That’s a lot of time. So for this reason, shoes and beds hold high value to me. I must be comfortable. That said, I love sneakers. I’ll buy a pair of good sneakers in a heartbeat regardless of price. Why? Because, I find the value of the sneaker to be of bigger importance than the cost of it. So paying the cost is easy. It’s worth it to me. When something has value, the price tag is not as important.

4.       Action! Now it’s time to do. You’ve decided you want to get fit. You’ve decided how fit you want to be. You’ve measured the cost of what that goal is going to cost you. Now it’s time to act. This is where “not having enough time to work-out” comes into play. If you have done the 1^st three steps, then this part is about nothing more that your will. Many people are great planners, measurers, goal setters etc. They just have No will to do anything. If you can’t decide to work up the motivation to train alone, get a partner, hire a trainer or something. Do not just decide to do nothing. Knowledge with no action in simply information. Knowledge comes from knowing. When you know to do something and you actually do it, you have knowledge. If you’ve never lifted a weight, you have no knowledge of lifting, you simple have information. I don’t care how many books you’ve read. But if you have lifted weights, you can apply what you have read with what you have experienced and make the knowledge useful. Likewise are those who read about the negative effects of poor fitness and do nothing about it. Take action with what you’ve planned, measured and visualize. Then maybe someday you’ll be able to help someone else in the same situation.

Waking up earlier is a great start!!

5.       Last, persevere. The great thing about these steps is that they must be done EVERYDAY! To do them once is not enough. They must be done every single day. Decide in your heart you will stick to the plan despite the stress, tiredness, responsibilities, emergencies etc. Review your goals every day and make the necessary adjustments along the way.

Notice I did not give you a plan. I did not give you a workout regimen. That’s a patch job. In my experience, I have spent time writing programs for people that they’ve spent 2 days looking at and never picked up again. Instead, I want to inspire thought. The problem is not that you don’t have time to work out. You just chose to do other things with the time you had. Wake up! The old model human doesn’t exist anymore. The one who makes excuses and blames others. The one who settles. The one who used to be a victim. You’ve taken the red pill. Now get to work!

Hope this helps someone!