How much exercise are you getting?

How much journaling and mindwork are you doing to make your life better?

Are you finding yourself hitting the drive-thru at the fast food place instead of making a healthy lunch?

Why is it that doing these kinds of activities feel like a chore?—Even when you know how much better you’d feel after doing them.

Maybe it’s that you don’t feel like you have enough time for them? Maybe you’re overwhelmed and overworked and can’t see how in the world these good habits can be worked into your schedule?

I totally hear you!!

But…

What if you considered these very important tasks as mandatory?  What if exercise and food prep were as important to your success as writing that perfect email or meeting your client deadline?

How would your week be different if it was structured to focus on a kind of success that counts on you incorporating these things that are missing into your routine?

What if you considered these elements as part of your JOB even though people don’t typically think they should be?

Why should you approach being successful this way?

Because if you don’t value these elements, you won’t do them.

However, if you treat them like a part of your job, you can get them done and move further ahead than you thought.

If you step back and really look at your schedule and your goals, you might just surprise yourself by the wiggle room you can find to incorporate the things you care about and that you truly need worked into your regular routine.

When you shift your perspective, that client call, responding to emails, or reviewing text, it starts to be as equally important as journaling for your mindset, getting in a good workout, and eating healthy.

How?

Ask yourself, what’s one thing that you need to add to your schedule. Maybe it’s an exercise class? Can you do a morning workout at the start of your day or maybe at lunch? Can you set up a treadmill desk? Can you find one single exercise to do every day, even if it’s small like touching your toes?

Maybe you have a cranky boss who you fear might not be into the idea of you coming in a little late or leaving for lunch a little early. Can you convince the boss or your co-worker to exercise at the same time as you? Odds are they need these success elements worked into their routine, too. 😉

I encourage you to get creative and think about ways you can make this idea work.

It is very likely that your mind will try to trick you by telling you that you can’t or don’t need to exercise, eat healthy or whatever your “additional” thing is. This is very common since what you’re wanting to do is not a part of your normal routine. It’s easy to stay comfortable with what we’ve been doing, even though we want more.

If you want more, you have to make changes to get it. The reason your mind starts sending those “no” thoughts your way is only your primal, lizard brain trying to keep you safe. I encourage you to really listen to your body and heart rather than what your head is likely going to tell you.

Your ultimate goal is to focus on what you can do to make exercise or writing or meditating or eating healthy a regular habit.

It can feel nuts to think of it this way but when you start to upgrade your everyday by treating your nice-to-have elements as equals with your have-to-have elements, it automatically makes it easier to work more efficiently, with more clarity and more successfully.

You reach the results you want MUCH faster when you look at your job and life with a holistic approach like this. You’ll find that when you take care of the elements that feel like “nice-to-haves” everything else is better.

If you look at some of the most successful people out there, you’ll find that they attribute much of their success to this approach of treating what they once considered nice-to-haves as must-haves. Wildly successful people like Marie Forleo and Tim Ferriss and have found the wiggle room and see the difference this holistic approach has on their success. You can, too!

I committed to doing more exercise and eating better by hiring a health coach who I adore. This requires me to make time for 30 minutes of exercise each day and to prep my meals each day. We’re talking serious grocery lists and meal proportions.

Even though I’m sore from my new routine, I’m 100% committed. I can see how it’s going to make me and even my family more successful. My energy levels are rising and I know I’ll be able to translate what I learn from working out and planning my meals to my business so I can be more successful.

I challenge you to give it a try. What’s one area where you think you can find a way to wedge in that good-for-you thing? Let me know in the comments.

With much love and gratitude,