I have good news and bad news, Dads.
First the bad news: you can’t do it all.
That long to-do list you have staring at you? Working harder, longer and more frantically will not help you get all your boxes checked. The reason is because more tasks, more responsibilities, and more activities keep piling on. But the harder you try to do everything, the more frustrated you become.
The hard truth is that there simply isn’t enough time to do everything there is to do. Of course we know this intuitively, but for some reason we keep on trying to do it all—probably because we don’t really know what else to do.
And if you are like most men, one of the first things to go is your own fitness and health. Who has time to go to the gym when you are buried under 6 weeks of backlogged to-do’s?
Now for the good news: there is a way out.
You see, when you try to do everything, the most important tasks get mixed up with the least important tasks. The result is that you end up spending precious time on things that do not move you toward your goals. If you are doing things that do not move you toward your goals, you are, in fact, moving away from your goals.
You only have so much energy, and you only have so much time. The key is to make sure that you are focusing on the most important tasks.
Set goals
The only way to sort through your to-do list and decide which tasks are the most important is to know where you are headed.
What are your goals? What things do you want to change? Where do you want to be in 6 months, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years? What is your goal in relation to your kids, your wife, your job? How is your health? How fit and healthy do you really want to be?
We’re looking at your top goals right now: the big ones. This doesn’t mean that you do not have other goals, but these are the ones that get priority no matter what else is going on.
Stop doing some things
Once you know what your goals are, you can take a critical look at how you spend your day.
Each day, you do a lot of things and you expend a lot of energy. Where are you focusing most of your best energy and concentration? Every task can be assigned a value—it is either a high value task or it is a low value task. High value tasks are those tasks that move you in the direction of your established goals. Low value tasks are those tasks that do not move you in the direction of your goals. It’s that simple.
So in order to reach your goals, you must open up more time for those high value tasks that propel you forward. And the only way to do this is to stop doing some of your low value tasks.
Of course, this is easier said than done. Some of those low value tasks may be important, just less important than others. This is where you will have to get creative.
- If you can eliminate it, just toss it out. For example, if your goal is to decrease your diabetes medication by exercising more, get rid of the low value hour you spend daily checking facebook and watching the nightly news.
- Think efficiency: can you systematize it? Checking email may be important, but checking several times a day uses valuable time and energy. Let your clients know that you will only be checking email twice a day, and tell them what time you will be doing this. This will free up time for more valuable activities such as working out or preparing nutritious food.
- Pass it along: delegate it! There are some things you can stop doing because you hand them to someone else. Can your son start mowing the yard for you? Can you hire someone to do some of your tasks more cheaply than you can do them yourself?
Remember: every second you spend on activities that do not move you toward your goal takes you in the opposite direction from your goal. Live intentionally!
Now GO!
You are now positioned for success. You have set your goals, you have stopped doing the things that don’t move you toward those goals, and you have freed up energy and time to focus on the highest value tasks.
Your to-do list should look a lot different now. It should be, well, doable as opposed to a bottomless pit of never finished pressures.
The only way to get fit is to make it a top priority. It should feel urgent. It should be one of your top goals. Why? Because if you squander your health, you will be forced to give up much of what you love and enjoy. But keep your health and you stay positioned for success.
Spend time this Father’s Day deciding what you can stop doing so that you have the time and energy to live with intention and direction. Get ready to change your life.
To your success,
Coach Travis Barrett MS, CSCS
P.S. If you’ve found any of this helpful, please be sure to share, like, subscribe to this channel (and my YouTube channel listed below). DHP is exclusively built on word of mouth. We need your help in order to continue to grow and help more people!
P.P.S. - Whenever you're ready, here are 2 ways I can help
1) Subscribe to the DHP YouTube Channel for our most up to date free information about training, nutrition, and recovery
2) Private Coaching
Check out these testimonials below
Traci Counley said “I have been working with Travis for 6 years and he is an amazing coach! I have had several personal trainers over the last 15 years and by far Travis is the most dedicated, thorough, and up to date trainer I have ever had the pleasure to work with. He programs workouts for me on a really progressive and easy to use iPhone app and I do the workouts in my home gym. I love this flexibility and the ability to track my workouts easily. He really gets to know you as an individual and focuses on your goals and how best to achieve them. Travis has an extensive background in kinesiology, various training methods and power lifting and is constantly adapting to the needs of his clients to get them in the best shape of their lives. He consistently seeks out additional training and workshops to expand his fitness knowledge and then passes that onto his clients with new workouts. If you are committed and follow his scheduled workouts and put in a little extra time for mobility work, I guarantee you will be satisfied with your fitness goals. I am in the best shape of my life in my mid 40’s and the strongest I have ever been and the reason why is because Travis has me on a program that changes every 4 weeks and uses different exercises with different rep ranges, intensity and volume each block. He is amazing at coming up with new exercises that work muscle groups in different ways so that you are consistently making gains. He also uses the concept of periodization effectively to maximize strength but also works in appropriate deloading weeks. I cannot say enough great things about Travis not only as a strength and conditioning coach but as a human being. He is one of the kindest people I have ever met and is very easy to talk to and work with. Working with Travis has been the best decision I’ve ever made. Make the commitment now to the best trainer out there!
Emma Price said “Travis has been phenomenal to work with! As an avid runner and a stay at home mom, I was struggling to find a workout routine/program that wasn’t all “fluff” workouts and cardio, yet was also nervous to do anything at the gym beyond a treadmill due to a 15 yr old chronic back injury. Enter Travis! He has 100% met me where I’m at and created a path forward. I’m an absolute novice, and he’s helping me become comfortable in the gym, has handled all my questions and concerns, and most important to me, is helping me get stronger and more limber without hurting or aggravating my injury. Travis is extremely knowledgeable and attentive to detail, which I highly appreciate. As well as meeting in person, he uses a great coaching app we can communicate through and where he can share videos of the workouts I need to do and in return I can share my videos so he can check my form. I’m just a regular person, not a gym rat or body builder, so I was a bit hesitant to seek out a personal trainer, but it has been one of the best decisions I’ve made! Travis is just all around a great guy and amazing coach!!”
Fredrick Lee said “Travis is an absolute professional! I’ve been in special operations for over 12+ years and have had many injuries. I was about to get another back surgery when I started working with Travis. Within 6 months I was pain free, 6 months later I was reaching performance and strength I haven’t seen in years!”
