My son Kaden is three weeks old.
He's doing great, and it's been fun to watch him grow so fast.
The most common unsolicited piece of advice we get is "it goes by fast, make sure you enjoy it."
I've been really trying to take that to heart and soaking in as much as I can.
With that said, I'm weird as heck and found three lessons so far that tie to the journey that we're all on of getting better and improving our health and fitness.
1. Parkinson's Law is still true
For those who don't know me well, I'm a productivity nerd. I love studying why some people get so much done during the day, and others seem to just go through the motions, look and feel busy, but never actually get anything done.
There's a lot of behavioral and psychosocial stuff that goes into it, but one of the simplest rules of productivity is Parkinson's Law.
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
Basically, if you have 30 minutes to do something it will take you 30 minutes.
If you have 90 minutes to do that same task, it will take you 90 minutes.
I may now answer emails at 1:00 am, write blogs at 4:00 am and do my staff training in between his naps, but I told the team this in our last meeting...
I think I'm more productive now than before Kaden was born.
I know in about 10 minutes I'm going to have a crying baby next to me, so I better hustle to get whatever I'm working on done.
The time sensitivity and urgency forces you to be productive with your time.
So, how do you apply this to you?
As always, that's my goal...
Set timers for all your work.
Do a time audit of what is most important.
You can watch Game of Thrones for an hour, yet you don't have time for a quick workout or meal prep?
Sneak it in when you can.
If you have 10 minutes to workout, do it.
If you have 15 minutes to prep for the week, do it.
It all matters.
It all counts.
2. Nutrition still matters more than we all think it does.
You know that term "dad bod?"
Yeah, that's me right now.
This post will go out as scheduled at noon time.
At that time I'm telling you I will get a workout in.
It's on my calendar, Megan's parents are up for the day helping out, so I have no excuse.
My goal is 1-2 workouts at the gym (which are always better), and 1-2 workouts at home in the garage that I can do at odd hours and/or while he's napping.
As much as that will make a difference, my biggest area of opportunity right now is nutrition.
I sleep odd hours, eat at odd hours, throw together quick meals, and live off of way too much coffee.
And I feel it...
Tired, no energy, headaches, you know what I'm talking about.
Why am I telling you this?
All of the above comes back to getting my nutrition dialed in.
Not only for my body composition but for energy levels and the ability to be at my best for others around me each day.
There are some things I'm crushing right now, nutrition is not one of them.
Telling you this will give me some social accountability, but it's also me telling you, this matters more than all of us know.
3. You need help.
We all do.
No one is special, there are no outliers, it continues to be crystal clear, the benefits of group and social support when you're going through things matters so much.
Whether it's Megan helping me out and watching Kaden while I get stuff done, or her parents coming up for the day and giving us a break.
It's a team effort.
Fitness and nutrition is the same.
We all, for the most part, know the basics we need to do.
Eat better and move more.
But what's the difference?
Accountability and Community.
I schedule my workouts on my appointment calendar at the gym.
That way the entire team knows when I'm supposed to work out, and if I miss a day (like I did last week), there's always someone asking me why I didn't work out (Coach Trent), or what happened.
This stuff is too hard to do by yourself.
Find a buddy, hire a team of experts, and find someone that's going to hold you accountable, lift you up, and keep you going.
It's non-negotiable if you want to have success.
So, as always, there are lessons in everything.
It's been fun so far, I'm excited to see how each day evolves, and I'm sure they'll be more lessons to come.
1% Better.
Dedicated to Your Success,
Doug Spurling
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