For 2013 It’s Not An Option

I was reminded by birthday girl Muriel Hall (60 is the new 40 – woohoo!) of something that was in the book “Younger Next Year” that we reviewed a few weeks ago.

Training is your new job. (You need to read the book to get the total context, so get a copy, it’s well worth it.)

Now I know the word “job” doesn’t always bring up the most pleasant images to all of our minds, but in this case it is completely apropos.

Because you need to take your training every bit as seriously as you take your vocation, if not more so.

Most of us hold more than one job in our lifetime. Some of us work for different companies or even change our profession once or more over the course of our careers.

But while you can do many things in and with your life, you only get one life to do them in.

And your quality of life is almost totally dependent on how you choose to live it.

You see most people do not die of old age. They die of disease, and in most cases largely preventable disease.

Heart disease, diabetes, many cancers – in the vast majority of people these are entirely preventable. There are reams of evidence that support this in this book and hundreds of other sources.

And it doesn’t take a 40 or 50 hour work week to gain the tremendous health benefits that exercise offers.

A 4-hour workweek (thanks Tim Ferris) will go a long way to keeping disease at bay and your quality of life high.

But you can’t expect payback if you don’t do the work.

I mean you can’t saunter in the office 2 out of 5 days a week, go through the motions without getting any real work done, and then expect a full paycheck.

Most of us spend much time, effort and money to get good at our jobs. We invest in an education so we can be good at what we do. We invest time to study, we give up sleep so we can make the grade.

And there is nothing wrong with that, it is an honorable thing to work hard and derive satisfaction from your work.

If you want to live a healthy life, you have to work just as hard.

A new year is upon us.

And while I am not a big fan of resolutions, I am a fan of getting honest.

What do you really want for yourself in 2013?

I have thought long and hard about this over the last week or so, and I need to make some changes in my own life.

Because I don’t always live my life in congruity with what I say I want.

My priorities are not always where they should be, and that’s not who I want to be.

So I’ll work on getting better.

I’ll work on making what I say my priorities are and my actions be one and the same.

What about you?

What does 2013 have in store for you?

If 2012 was not all you wanted it to be, do something about it.

If you want change, you have to be the change.

It’s not enough to say it.

You have to live it.

Think about it – Life IS your full-time job.

Be the best at it that you possibly can.

In 2013 Don’t Make Excuses, Make It Happen!