There are alot if people who will tell you they don’t have the time to workout. They are too busy to invest in themselves or their own happiness. These are the same people who will sit down in front of the TV for hours at a time day after day, idle and zoned out. The same people who bury their faces in the phone absorbed in a virtual life.
Don’t get me wrong, I spend most of the day online, and a Netflix binge is as good for me as the next fella, but I have no illusions that there is not enough time for me to train. The reality is that training is hard, or at least people think it is hard, and watching TV is easy. The reward for doing nothing is now. The reward for working out is later.
I won’t try to be the motivational speaker here. I have spent far too long attempting to convince my friends to go for a ride or run with me. That is why I have two groups of friends, the fit group and the work-a-holic group. My suspicion is that this is pretty normal, and most people can relate to this. I personally fall somewhere in between both groups. Enough that each one is impressed with my results in the other. Such as my worker friends are amazed I am still out there doing Ironman races, while my triathlon friends don’t know how I find the time with kids and running a business. Which brings me to my point, you find the time by making it a priority to find the time.
Recently I have started an experiment for myself. Nothing cutting edge or revolutionary, but I decided to write down and structure out my day. Here is a taste of what it looks like:
- 5:30 Wake up
- 6:00 Stretching, rollers, light weight body exercise, meditation
- 6:15 Read or write something useful
- 6:30 Shower
- 7:00 Check email and breakfast
- 7:45 Watch the news
- 8:15 Start working
- 5:00 Stop working
- 6:00 Dinner and family time
- 7:30 Workout
- 9:00 Have some tea
- 9:45 Read
- 10:30 Lights out
This is not perfect, and I will of course make exceptions and allowances along the way. However, it gives me a chance to see that there is time to fit in everything that is important to me. Learning, spending time with my family, training, and running a good business. It does not leave alot of idle time in there to veg out, and that is on purpose. Fitting in 2-3 hours of bumping around the channels will cost me somewhere else. Maybe it is sleep, maybe it is a work deadline, but if this is a full day for me, something has to be traded. If we are honest and ask ourselves which is more important, watching a show we are not even paying attention to, snooping on social media, or getting in a killer brick session, the answer tells us all we need to know.
So there you have it. There is time to train. There is time to work. There is time to spend with your family. We just have to pay attention to our day, focus on the important things, and really give each one our mind share while we can. When that happens there are few things we can’t accomplish despite a busy and often stressful schedule. Remember, training and racing is a reward and blessing. Think of it as the dessert of the day. Something to look forward to, and a time when you really get to focus on you. Don’t neglect the other parts of your day though, and attack them with the same determination you have with a session.
Be the best version of yourself on all levels, and really work on ending each day better than when you started it.
Float. Spin. Walk. 