The Heart of the Matter – The Indispensable 3

One of my mentors, Coach Martin Rooney of Training for Warriors, talked about a challenge that so many of us have.

He calls it “The TFW Expendable 3”.

The Expendable 3 are the three things, that when we get “busy”, we tend to leave out, or make expendable.

Here they are:

• Sleep
• Diet (good food choices)
• Exercise

I see it, I hear it all the time, and in fact if I don’t prioritize, I can even be susceptible to it.

“I’m busy, I don’t have time to exercise.”

“It’s so hard with my work schedule to eat right, I’m just too busy to prepare.”

“I can sleep when I die, I’m just too busy.”

“I’m busy, busy, busy.”

So sleep, diet and exercise become…expendable.

Facebook? That’s not expendable.

Game of Thrones? That’s not expendable.

Hmmm.

The simple truth is that we are a product of our priorities. We just need to own that, and understand what our expendables are. I mean it’s not like you are not eating at all, right?  It’s not like you only have 160 hours in the week and the rest of us have 168. It’s not like you don’t want to go to bed because your mattress is stuffed with porcupine quills, is it? 🙂

Look, this isn’t a value judgement or a morality play.

You are not a bad person if you have donuts and coffee for breakfast every day. And you are not a good person if you eat free range eggs with organic tea.

You like to unwind in front of the television? I get it.

Don’t feel like going to the gym? Been there.

The point is not to eat bread and water, sleep on a stone tablet, and have a cot in the corner of the gym.

I just want you to think.

Do I really want to lose fat, get lean, and look and feel great?

Or would all those things be nice if they just “happened”?

Take a few minutes to really think about the difference between those two. Here’s the thing. One of those is going to take effort, sacrifice, and growth. The other will leave you where you are at right now. Again, this is not a value judgement, just reality. I do not like seeing people drive themselves nuts chasing after the next thing (Yes, you walking into Get Fit NH might just be your “next thing”) and not being successful. I have been there. It weighs on your very soul, and just drags you down. The great news is you do not have to let it, it’s really your choice.

Instead of the “Expendable 3”, how about if you made those same three things the “Indispensable 3”?

The Get Fit NH Indispensable 3

•  7-9 hours of sleep
• Eating choices that support health
• 4 to 5 hours of exercise per week

Can you do that?

I can hear the murmuring already. Look, don’t tell me all the reasons you can’t do it. Spend that same effort on finding one small thing that you can do to make those a reality. It’s not going to happen overnight. What if it takes 3 years to achieve consistency in all those areas?

So what?

The time is going to pass anyway. You can be three years closer to your goals, or not. It’s really is up to you.

There is a new saying around here.

You Can Make A Wish or
You Can Make It Happen

One is easy, one is not.

One is a result of a fixed mindset, the other requires a growth mindset.

One leads to frustration, the other leads you to become the person you are meant to be.

Choose Wisely.

Coach Dean