Working in a gym, I frequently come across people that say (and honestly believe) they ‘don’t have time’ to get to the gym, or exercise, or prepare meals etc. etc. Yet they ask me to come up with a solution to help them tone up and lose weight…without it impacting on the 24hrs they already don’t have available.
So, I’d like to talk about prioritising. I once read somewhere if you rephrase “I don’t have time” for “I’m not prioritising that right now”, it completely changes the feel of the sentence and brings a harsh reality to what you’re actually saying. I have to be mindful to whom I say this to and how it might be received as some clients are not ready for such reality.
Generally we live in a blaming culture. People don’t take responsibility for their own actions, they merely blame something/someone else, usually “outside” of their control. People have become so good at this, they don’t even know they’re doing it! It is my job, by trade, to work with people and find a solution to problems. For instance, a client tells me they need to lose weight but have tried everything, nothing seems to work. It is now my responsibility to go through the different routes and methods to try and figure out what they have tried, why didn’t it work, and what I can do to change the result of this whilst they are under my guidance. I would say, 9 times out of 10, maybe even higher than this, the only reason your goal has not yet been met, is because you have not made it high enough on your priority list. That’s all.
I think a lot of my close friends and family would agree, I am a selfish person. I am happy enough to admit this and am no longer ashamed to say it out loud. I used to think it was a bad thing and something you shouldn’t say to people, but actually, at 31, I don’t mind who thinks I’m selfish or not! I know who I am and believe the only way I got to Olympian status, is by being selfish. Anything that could potentially negatively affect my athletic plans, I will go full de-fence (said in a full on American accent) and choose the option that is in my best interest as an athlete. I think this does get easier with age when you care a little bit less about peoples feelings, I also believe it to be a skill. It is hard to say no to people but as we get older, and practise it more, it does usually get a little easier. If your goal to lose weight was truly a number one priority goal, you wouldn’t mind saying no to people. Saying no to the office cakes, no to drinking binges, saying no to a social on a Friday night because you know it will wipe out your plans for going to the gym on Saturday morning. If it was a number one priority, you would simply say, no.
This blog is not here to shame people, it’s here to just wake some of you up. If your main priority in life is your kids, you will do all you can to ensure their safety, happiness, well-being and so on, is where it should be. If your priority is to keep your job, you will make sure you’re well enough to get to work. You will make sure you have your travel arranged for work and if something happens to that mode of transport, you find a solution as quickly as humanly possible. You prioritise. So the next time you think, OK, Monday is the start of the new me. Ask yourself, where will this goal realistically sit on the priority list? If it isn’t near the top, say top 3, don’t beat yourself up that things didn’t change for you. Just know that you prioritised your family, job, friends, partner over that goal. It wasn’t that you didn’t have time or you had a bad day. It just sat below your other priorities.
