Schedule it and you are dramatically more likely to actually do it!
You lead a busy life. Everything feels like a priority. Sometimes it is your priority, sometimes it’s someone else’s. The stress feels the same. There is too much on the agenda every day. It’s overwhelming.
The result.
You get so caught up in the urgent, seemingly important things, that you just plain forget about the not so urgent but truly important things, like your health or you might consciously bump them from your busy day.
Unfortunately, until you break the pattern of keeping yourself and your health well down the priority list by not acting, your thriving health will suffer and your risk of the very health concerns you want to avoid will remain and probably increase.
Before working with me a client of mine, Kevin, automatically defaulted to work when any free time arose. It trumped most other things in his life and clients and colleagues have come to depend on his wide ranging availability and always saying yes. In the early stages of my support he found it challenging to maintain his plan for regular exercise and time to shop for and prepare healthy meals. The old patterns of a busy work life won out time and time again.
Introducing the concept of baby steps with strategic abandonment was a good step in the right direction then, when we introduced scheduling, change started to happen AND BECOME SUSTAINED!
Kevin committed to key steps that were manageable in his world at that time and took the step to schedule them in his calendar. This started with weekday exercise as well as bi-weekly grocery shopping and gradually grew from there.
They went into his calendar and were firmly cemented in. Were there broken agreements and missed appointments? Yes, at the start. Were there times of renegotiating times or days? Yes. Was there a process in re-creating boundaries with himself as well as with clients and colleagues? Yes.
Did it lead to a sustainable change in lifestyle over time? Yes, it absolutely did! Very important for Kevin was that he did not beat himself up over slips and did allow the time and flexibility for the pattern to take hold.
Scheduling it was a big contributor to Kevin’s sustained success. It’s a simple process that can lead to big change for you too.
What do you need to schedule to overcome your old patterns and the time influences of others in your life?
Begin to schedule it, use alarms as reminders, re-create boundaries, and get agreement for support.
What could you schedule?
- exercise
- recreation
- general physical activity
- sport
- grocery shopping
- time to prepare meals (to eat at home or take to work)
- time to eat in a non-distracted and non-rushed manner
- time to transition to sleep
- adequate sleep
- short renewal breaks during your day (every 90 minutes)
- what else?
If you are not already consistently doing it, and you know you want or need to do it to achieve Thriving Health, you need to schedule it until it becomes a pattern that automatically happens in your life!
Remember…
“Life is meant to be embraced, enjoyed and fully lived, not merely endured!”
To your health,
Brent
Be an advocate of Thriving Health. Forward this to anyone you feel would appreciate receiving this message. Thanks for your support. I appreciate it.
Beginning with a degree in exercise science and kinesiology, Brent Haydey has evolved over thirty years as an entrepreneur; building four businesses, and as a health, executive, and life coach.