Maintaining discipline when life becomes busy requires intentional commitments about the time needed to reach your goals with consistent daily action.
Joshua Parris, PhD, NSCA-CPT
Victoria Parris, Pre & Postnatal Fitness Specialist
Over the course of the next few weeks, we are digging into six tangible actions that keep us disciplined when motivation fails. These actions have helped us take ownership of our lives, and while they are given in the context of fitness, these six actions will benefit you if applied to other areas of your life as well:
- CONNECTING WITH YOUR “WHY”
- CLAIMING YOUR CLOCK
- FINDING YOUR LOCATION
- ESTABLISHING YOUR STRUCTURE
- LEVELING UP YOUR FOLLOW THROUGH
- DRIVING THE WORK FORWARD
In each article of this series, we will go into each action in more detail and provide you with a “challenge” to apply the action we discuss in a more practical manner. Now that you’ve considered your “why,” let’s review the next action needed to make consistent progress towards your goals – Claiming your clock.
It’s been said that time is the true currency of life – we spend time without knowing how much we have left, and regardless of how we spend our time, we don’t get a refund. As the currency of life, time has immense value and should be used thoughtfully. Have you ever conducted a time audit? If not, we highly recommend doing that today to see where you can reclaim some precious minutes (or even hours). You may be surprised at just how much time you can “put back” in your day by reducing seemingly “small things” like your length of engagement with social media, video games, web browsing, TV or other forms of leisurely entertainment.
Thoughtful consideration of your time should include three elements: (1) Length of time, (2) Amount of time and (3) Time of day. We’ll do a brief review of these elements and provide examples of how we have been thoughtful with our approach to using our time wisely to make progress towards our goals.
Length of Time to Achieve Your Goal
If you’ve read other documents on goal setting before, you’ve likely come across the SMART framework. The “T” in SMART stands for “Time-Bound”. Setting a clear deadline for when you’d like to see a goal accomplished adds an element of urgency that typically leads to action. It’s critical that your deadline is realistic so that your goal feels both attainable and urgent enough that you can build and maintain momentum. If you have ever spoken with a financial advisor about investing your money, you have likely been asked about your “time horizon,” or the fixed point in the future at which you’d like to realize or “cash in” on your financial goal. Like financial goal planning, articulating your time horizon helps determine the level of investment needed (among other factors such as risk tolerance, etc.). If you want to have one million dollars by the time you retire, your monthly investment contribution will look dramatically different if you were to start saving in your 20s vs. 50s (assuming you retire between 65-70). The same is true for fitness! Your level of investment, or effort required to achieve your goal, will vary based on how quickly you desire to reach your goal. Using weight loss as an example, a 10% weight reduction in six months is generally considered a realistic and sustainable target, which may translate to a caloric deficit of approximately 500 – 1000 calories per day, or one to two pounds of body weight loss per week. In this case, both the goal (i.e., 10% weight reduction) and time horizon (i.e., in six months) provide enough space to adjust daily rhythms without making seismic shifts in lifestyle or habits. It would likely not be healthy to try and achieve the same target within two weeks. To build and sustain momentum, our goals must be created with a time horizon that creates a sense of urgency, without inducing panic, overwhelm and stress.
*NOTE: Some of you reading this may be inspired to set big goals that push yourself to your limits! While we bite at the opportunity to challenge ourselves and test our capabilities, we’ve noticed that the most achievable goals promote sustainable action. Sure, there are times when you need to jump into the deep-end and just “go for it.” However, don’t let your desire for immediate success result in overwork, burnout or looking for a “quick fix.” Meaningful change that leads to the formation of sustainable lifestyle change is a more optimal pathway.
“Never give up what you want most, for what you want right now.”
Amount of Time Needed for Execution
Once your goal’s time horizon is defined, you must next determine the amount of time needed for meaningful execution and follow-through. Just like defining your time horizon, it’s critical that the amount of time you set aside for focused effort is realistic, sustainable and aligns with your intended outcome. When planned appropriately, this should not lead you to neglect your daily responsibilities nor the important relationships in your life. However, adding this time into your schedule likely means you may need to either decline or remove other things from your current rhythms of life – some reprioritization. Spending three-to-four hours at the gym every day is unlikely to lead to long-term success if you’re starting from zero and have other responsibilities and commitments (e.g., family, work, etc.). If you want to begin working out consistently, start with as little as 10-15 minutes every day with focused, intentional effort. This will lead to sustained follow-through and eventually lead to compounding returns! If you want to get active, but don’t currently have 30 minutes straight for exercise, see if you can make the time for 10-minute walks 3x per day! With this approach, you’ve hit the same 30-minute target in a way that adapts to your current time constraints. In the beginning, it is better to be faithful with a little bit of time and look for ways to carve out more time once you’ve been able to sustain these healthy habits for a period. Breaking your goal down into manageable and executable steps is important to sustaining consistent execution!
Time of Day for Focused Effort
Now that you’ve considered the time needed for daily effort, aligned to your intended outcome and time horizon, you must next determine exactly when you will set aside this time for uninterrupted focus each day. Again, keep in mind that this needs to be consistent, considerate of your daily responsibilities, and reevaluated during any major life changes. One of the biggest obstacles to achieving goals is a lack of consistency. In most cases, we lack consistency because we fail to plan and therefore allow external circumstances to dictate our ability to act and execute. If you want to make lasting changes in your life, you must take ownership of your schedule. When can you make time for uninterrupted focus? You may need to make some tough decisions if your calendar is maxed out. If you fall into this category, remember “why” the change you are making is necessary. What are you willing to exchange or sacrifice to make time for yourself? Is what you are trying to achieve worth this exchange of time? If not, then your “why” is not strong enough and you may need to reconsider your “why.”
The truth is, all of us can find more time in our day for a strong enough “why.” Instead of checking your phone between work meetings and assignments, instead of checking social media for the nth time today, instead of trying to inefficiently multitask your way through the day, focus on being fully present with whatever you are doing and manage your time more effectively. Do this for the next week or two and see how much time it starts to add back into your day.
Personal Example: A few years ago, I (Josh) was displeased with how I was living. Multiple events in my life really knocked me off course both physically and mentally, and I knew that this current way of life was not enabling me to lead my family well. In February of 2023, I was at a crossroads…I knew I was either going to keep making excuses or make a change. As a young father with two toddlers at the time, I knew that I needed to get back into training and consistent scripture reading, but I didn’t want this need for personal time to add more burden on my wife to manage the kids. I’d always been an early morning person, but poor sleep and lack of exercise over the course of two years left me feeling drained most mornings. As tough as it was going to be, I was convinced that the only way to consistently incorporate training and scripture reading was to wake up at 4:30AM so I could read, pray and workout prior to the kids waking up before work. Three years later, I continue this morning routine, even when late nights of work pop up. Understanding my “why” (i.e., the need to show up well for my family and others who depend on me by centering my day on God and doing physical activity first) allows me to get out of bed despite the fleeting discomfort this causes each morning.
CHALLENGE: Based on the fitness and/or health goal(s) you have identified when considering your “why,” reflect upon, determine and write down:
- The length of time in which you would like to achieve this goal
- How much time you have each day to achieve this goal
- The time of day you will block for uninterrupted focused effort towards making progress
When this is done, complete the following exercise in a journal or notebook. Review it often:
In the next _______________________________ (length of time) I would like to _____________________ (insert goal). Achieving ________________________________ (insert goal) is important to me because ____________________________________ (insert why). To accomplish this goal, I will spend ____________________________ (amount of time) each day putting forth the effort required to achieve this goal. Given my responsibilities of _________________________________________ (insert general daily responsibilities), I plan to make ____________________________________(time of day) my time for uninterrupted focused effort. (If applicable) I have discussed this with ___________________________ (insert name) and will work together to make the necessary changes to ensure this time is respected.
