ENLIGHTENED ATHLETE BLOG
How to Workout When Short on Time
I hear it all the time, "I don't have time to workout!!"
I know it may feel that way, but I promise we all have time. We HAVE to do this to operate at our highest levels for our family, friends, or community. We don’t always have to do a huge 90 minute workout for it to be beneficial.
Something is better than nothing and often times we may find ourselves with little more than 15 minutes. Well, after this episode, that won’t be a problem for you any longer.
In this episode I'll tell you:
1. How to MAKE the time.
2. How to use that time effectively and not waste it on less effective exercises.
3. What type of workouts, implements, and movements to get you IN and OUT!
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What We Do At Enlightened Athlete! (Programs & Services)
I get asked a lot what it is we actually do at the gym. This will break down all of our services and programs.
I even take you through the experience of a joining in on a group class workout!
I get asked a lot what it is we actually do at the gym. This will break down all of our services and programs.
I even take you through the experience of a joining in on a group class workout!
Schedule your free trial workout here —>
6 Steps to Reach Your Goals
6 real world steps to achieve goals, and a resource for building good habits.
How do great things happen?
How did we go from cave dwelling cave people to the top of the food chain with smart phones while being one of the worst physically equipped beings vying for a top spot in the world. (Compared to wolves, bears, mountain lions, crocs etc.)
One thing: Our MIND.
Humans have collectively used it to create the internet, electric cars, and space travel. This didn’t happen by accident.
Some of the greatest minds in history had BIG goals to make these things a reality. They set goals and then broke those down into actionable steps, built good habits, and made it happen step by step. Failures included.
The same thing goes for what we want to achieve in our day to lives. Losing 30 lbs, building a successful business, competing at a national level in your sport. First you set lofty goals and then work backwards to break it into smaller, digestible chunks.
Goal Setting 101: Stop Goals From Being Wishful Thinking
I’ve had this topic come up with many clients this week, and coincidentally I received an email from Google Primer that broke down goal setting in 6 easy steps. Here they are:
Make concrete goals. Instead of “hire more help,” you might aim to “hire a cashier, a social media writer, and a delivery person by June.”
Know how reaching a goal will positively impact you.“Hiring 3 people will reduce my overtime so I can have dinner with my kids each night.”
Break your goal down into short milestones. “By March, I will have the job descriptions finished. By April, I will start interviews.”
Schedule a time and place to work on your goals, like every Friday, 2-2:30pm, in your office with the door shut.
Tell friends and family about your goal so they can support you and help you track your progress.
Celebrate small victories. “I got 4 responses to my job listing today.”
I also listened to a powerful podcast from the Art of Manliness on building positive habits and breaking bad ones for the long haul. Think of this as the framework you’re engaging in day in and day out that help you develop the lifestyle necessary to achieve big things. I’d highly recommend listening in.
Podcast #470: A Proven System for Building and Breaking Habits
Time to go out, build good habits, set lofty goals, and most important of all, MAKE IT HAPPEN.
How I Get It Together
Where do you start when there’s so much to do? We talk about a ridiculously simple strategy to begin to make positive changes in your life.
““You are, on the one hand, the most complex thing in the entire universe, and on the other, someone who can’t even set the clock on your microwave. Don’t over-estimate your self-knowledge.””
We have tough choices to make each day. What to eat, whether to workout, do I have time to meditate today?
It can feel like there’s a hundred things you could do, then you “should all over yourself.” I should do this & this & this & that.
Before you know it, it's another day gone and another long list of unaccomplished tasks. As you wind down for bed a wave of anxiety washes over you because yet again, you put off your own well being.
I struggle with this as well. So many different priorities pulling you in every direction.
Here's what I do.
Identify one thing you find to be the highest priority, ( let's say getting a healthy breakfast) and write out step by step what you can do to change that ONE thing. Go all in on changing that one aspect.
Usually you wake up late, rush out the door and pick up a breakfast sandwich at a fast food joint. Even if you do wake up in time, you don’t know what to cook or have the ingredients. FORGET ABOUT IT!
Ok, we have a breakdown in our system. We need to plan ahead and prepare so, here is a sample “plan”.
Step 1. Find breakfast recipes I like
Step 2. Buy necessary ingredients
Step 3. Wake up early enough to cook
Step 4. Cook that ish and enjoy it!
BOOM! Healthy breakfast plan achieved. Now go execute.
Once that’s done, start on the next one. This adds up to a substantial amount of change in a relatively short time.
Don't try to change your entire life in a week. You will fail. This may seem silly, but I'll leave it to Jordan Peterson to explain why you shouldn't write this simple process off.
"You are, on the one hand, the most complex thing in the entire universe, and on the other, someone who can’t even set the clock on your microwave. Don’t over-estimate your self-knowledge.” - Jordan Peterson
2 Questions & A Challenge for The New Year
If upon reflection of the last year you find yourself far off the original mental depiction you had planned, the answers to the two questions can help keep you on track through the coming one.
Here’s a couple questions I try to ask myself regularly. Maybe you do too. We can even make this a mental exercise we utilize to guide us. I’ll cover how to get truthful answers at the end of this post if you’re unsure how to answer these.
1. Why am I doing this?
2. Why am I avoiding that?
If upon reflection of the last year you find yourself far off the original mental depiction you had planned, the answers to the two questions can help keep you on track through the coming one.
With the first question I’m trying to decipher if the actions I’m taking make sense for where I’m trying to go. I try to answer honestly. Not in a justifying, make myself feel better way. Do my goals line up with what I’m doing on a daily basis? Am I truly utilizing my time, am I working on the right projects, am I REALLY working out with the effort I know I can? Or am I wasting time, taking the easy way out in the gym, or engaging in tasks that don’t move the needle?
The second question is a tough and uncomfortable one to confront. In fact it’s so uncomfortable that many humans choose to avoid it altogether. Maybe it’s your food choices, maybe it’s money habits, maybe it’s sabotaged relationships. Why are you avoiding looking into the behavior surrounding that area of life? Past trauma, fear of what feelings will come up, or maybe it just seems too damn overwhelming to change?
By no means is that always a question that can be answered the first time you ask yourself. It is a long and arduous process that can require sometimes YEARS to fully identify and work through. It may even require the assistance of therapy, meditation, or psychedelics to process. This is the WORK. The hard part you’ll immediately want to avoid. Don’t avoid it though, this is the hard shit that will help you start to remove the weight, the depression, the anxiety, the anger, or the fear.
Like I said, the problem most likely won’t go away upon looking at it once. The key here is though, that you’ve asked the question and begun the deep dive into why you’re acting that way. Some of the power has been taken away by simply examining it. We can identify the cycle, become aware. Then keep working.
If you’re not sure what bad habits you may have accumulated, read on.
Want to know a scary way to get truthful answers? Here comes the challenge. Ask other people! Let them know you’re seeking negative feedback to improve. Ask them to be honest with you, the key here is that you really trust this person.
TALK TO OTHERS ABOUT MY PROBLEMS?!
Yep! Simply state you’re looking to improve in an area of life and you trust them to answer truthfully and honestly. In the specific area of your choice, ask what they think you do best in regards to habits, and what common problem habits they regularly see.
If you’re needing some points of performance to get feedback on, for most areas, these are a good place to start:
Communication, Education, Effort, Discipline(Punctuality, organization, making excuses). Effort and discipline are similar but not the same.
Ask what you do best in these areas and where you can improve most.
COMFORT=FAILURE
Growth is never comfortable. Whether it is a physical growth spurt, an attempt at building larger muscles (the discomfort in the gym), growing your business, or personal growth. As we lead into the New Year, how uncomfortable are we willing to get in order to be closer to the ultimate expression of ourselves?
I want to make sure I’m headed in the right direction, and I hope you do too.
P.S. Drop in on our social media and let us know what you’re proudest moment of 2018 was and what strategies you used that were most helpful this year!