Making Time, Being Consistent, and Having a Plan

Making Time, Being Consistent, and Having a Plan

Trying to stay on a program is sometimes hard. Day-to-day activities get in the way, unexpected things come up, and somehow training and making healthy choices stray to the wayside. Then before you know it you are making poor food choices, not training, and going about your day without a plan. It is easy to get lost in this cycle. The day ends up running you, you feel like you’re not in control, and there is “not enough time.”

How do we get out of this downward spiral?

Have a plan and be consistent! This concept applies to training the same way it applies to going to work or class, or any other high-priority activity. Making training/exercising a higher priority on the list is the best way to combat the aforementioned problem. If you have a hard time justifying this, and you put menial tasks in front of training/exercising, I’ll explain how I put this into perspective for myself. 

Taking the time out of your day, no matter how busy it gets, to train is one of the best investments you can make in yourself. It gives you a chance to focus on the task at hand, take your mind off the clutter, and most importantly, improves your performance and health. Choosing to make this a higher priority than everything else going on reinforces the fact that nothing else I could be doing at that time is more important than my health. If I decide to skip training in favor of other tasks, I am essentially creating the mindset that the other task I’m choosing to perform is more important than my wellbeing. There are most definitely some rare instances where this holds true, but before you ever decide to make that trade ask yourself, “Is this thing that I am about to go do instead of train really more important than my health and longevity?” Sure it may pay off in the short run and you might get that extra hour to study, run errands, go out with friends to get some drinks, or procrastinate and binge-watch Netflix. But at that point you are inadvertently telling yourself that those things are more important than your long-term health. As far as what I think, I’d rather take care of myself and “be a little selfish” now to get that training session in. Saying “I don’t have time to exercise/train” is the equivalent of saying “Grades and errands and Netflix are more important than me.” I’m not saying that training should be priority number one, but it should be up there.

So that’s great and everything and I should “be selfish” to take the time out of my day to train, but how do I do that?

Plan out your days/weeks. Have a routine that makes training just a natural part of the daily or weekly schedule. Trust me, you’ll find time for everything else you need to do. Sit your ass down, write out each day, make a list of what needs to get done, and put training/exercising in there before all the busy work tasks that seem more important than they really are. This is an example of what my schedule looks like, with all my most pertinent tasks, before I start to fill it in with other things:

After all the more important things are in there, I add smaller, less urgent things into my schedule.

Taking that time out of the day to train/exercise is one of the best long term investments you can make in yourself. It pays off much further down the line in 10, 20, or 50 years, when you are still fit and healthy instead of out of shape and overweight. Getting in the mindset to take care of yourself for longevity makes a huge difference. Once that mentality is established, have a plan, and be consistent with it. This does not happen in a day, and everyone falls off track sometimes, but having a plan and being consistent helps to keep us on the right path. Whether you’re trying to become an elite-level athlete or simply a healthier person, you have to stay on course and keep progressing forward. So to recap: 

       1. Value your health

       2. Be consistent

       3. Have a plan

Ryan Goodell, CSCS