I don’t have a direct recollection of any epiphany I had regarding making time for fitness. I am busy. Every minute of my day seems to be accounted for. My life has been like that for years, and I dig it. I like to stay productive.
But at some point I decided that I needed to add time for fitness.
I don’t necessarily think it was a conscious decision. I mean, I had known for years that I needed to exercise, but I just never seemed to be able to justify the time out for a regular program. I’d walk here and there, but nothing regular.
Then I got a dog, a Westie.
She was a puppy when we got her, and she had a ton of energy. I work out of the house, so I really needed her to calm down, but she was always bothering me to play, keeping me from getting work done. I mean, could you say no to that face?
Eventually I hit upon the idea of walking her every day. (Yeah, you may have noticed that I can be slow to pick up on the obvious.) I started with a 20-minute walk, and eventually worked up to 45 minutes to an hour — and sometimes longer — daily.
Here’s the key change brought about by that decision, and it wasn’t the physical change resulting from the exercise. It was a mental change.
I had previously thought that I could not be away from my office for that long in the morning, believing I might miss something important from a client. We are a small company, so we thrive on being very responsive to our customers. However, as my dog and I went on our walks, I realized I could be away from the office. Nothing catastrophic happened. We’re still in business.
Every once in a while I did — and still do — get a phone call while we’re out walking that causes me to head straight back to the office, but that’s cool.
By walking the dog, I discovered that I could take time for exercise.
So I added more.
Now I walk the dog — only for about a half-hour now that she’s older — AND do an hour or so of Tony Horton’s P90X OR One-On-One OR Insanity AND maybe even some Ultimate Power Yoga.
Not only has my world not come crashing down around me, because I exchanged other time for fitness time, but my quality of life has dramatically improved. I feel better, look better, and just enjoy life a lot more.
How about you? Do you have trouble convincing yourself to make time for fitness? Maybe you should get a puppy.