One of the biggest mental shifts I have ever made when it came to making better decisions and ultimately working toward my Ideal health, fitness, weight, and lifestyle was substituting one four-letter word for another.
Instead of thinking: ‘Should I spend my time doing this, I switched to thinking — ‘Should I spend my life doing this.’
See, sometimes I think that the way we think about things or talk about things is designed to minimize the impact of our choices.
If I say that I spent 50% of my time dealing with stuff that I didn’t particularly enjoy…I could rationalize it as the cost of doing business or tell myself that most people spend far more time than that doing things in life that they don’t enjoy.
But if I say I spent 50% of my life in that same situation – it seems far more troubling. I’m more motivated to change because I can’t retrieve that 50% of my life once it’s gone.
Maybe it’s just semantics but the way we spend our time is actually the way we’re spending our lives…and to me, that means no settling.
When I really embraced this way of thinking I knew that creating my Ideal and holistic healthy Lifestyle wasn’t just an interesting idea…it was a must.
My belief is that when you decide what and who you’re spending your time on…you shouldn’t settle – because you’re actually spending your life on them.
So whether you choose to use this approach or not, the message is really that you have the opportunity to do, be and have almost anything you want…but you can’t achieve any of it by settling.
And every day that you’re not pursuing your Ideal health or lifestyle, spending time with those that are important to you, or doing the things that you truly want to do is a day you can’t get back.
We all have the same 168 hours each week…are you spending yours the way you want?