Ahh, time. You know, the one “commodity” that should be useful but many of us (including myself) typically waste?! Well, enough already. It’s officially 2018 and there’s no time to waste.

I say this coming from a place of excuses. My job is demanding and the more I accomplish, the more work comes in its place. I have a family and never feel like I get to spend enough time with them. I travel heavily (like, 80% of my time travel) and I barely even see the few friends I have. I force myself to at least get in fitness despite the lack on consistency regarding the place. The only constant that I have is time. And you know what?! That part of my life is going in the right direction for that very reason: consistent timing.

As caught up and frustrated as I can at times view this, I am starting to think I am viewing it all wrong; this is liberating! Let me explain my thoughts on time in today’s world in North America.

Let me first start with not when we wake up, but when we go to bed. In my past life, I would say that on average I went to bed at midnight. That is tough on me when it comes time to wake up early. Not happening easily at all. Meaning, waking up early to hit the fitness center simply won’t happen. I will slap that snooze button and later regret not going though I rationalized that sleep was far more important.

Instead, the way we start our day can be determined by the way we end it. I would suggest going to bed earlier than even the time we think we may need. My newer routine (mostly but not always) is in the bed by 9:30pm. You read that right. That way, I am typically up before my alarm sounds at 6:30am. This gives me a whooping 9 hours of sleep time on paper though it may take me another 30mins or so to fall asleep. My typical first commitment in the morning is using this time to be undistracted and focus on my fitness. It is important to me and my health. I feel that by accomplishing this first, I have already hit one of the harder goals of the day and I am feeling accomplished even before the work day begins.

Before I go any further, let me state that I totally understand this doesn’t work for everyone. Maybe somebody doesn’t really care about fitness. Totally OK. Perhaps another prefers the afternoon for fitness or in the evening. Also a great approach. The point I am trying to make is that you have to do what’s best for you and the one thing I can tie it back to is that we all just have to be consistent in performing what we want at that specific time to build a routine.

That is the tricky part that I have been battling for some time. I lost my way somewhere in my early 30’s for a bit letting life take the wheel instead of me steering it in the direction I want to go. I get that life will pull us here and there, but it is up to us to course correct. It is an action that requires planning and a bit of willpower to truly see through. I acknowledge that things will happen and get in the way that may take priority over your routine. And again, that’s OK! It is a nice shake up and can help you to balance out these life dynamics along the way.

So as we begin 2018, let’s be careful not to set ourselves up for failure. New Year Resolutions are a bit bogus to begin with and you know this is the case when you see, say, gym memberships going in hard during the New Year. They know our failure rate is high meaning we’ll sign up, show up a few times, and then keep paying those membership fees without showing up. History repeats itself so break the cycle by first choosing something you can overcome and change. Once you see you have success here, it can empower you to slowly but surely change your habits and course correct yourself into a successful 2018.

So…what exactly are my plans for 2018? First, blog daily. Seriously, daily. I refuse to enter 2019 feeling like I barely made a dent in my ambition to put myself out here in the digital space. Next, I have a few companies/people I want to help and so I will make this the year I go out of my comfort zone where I may feel a little anxiety. That’s where “no pain, no gain” comes from. Meaning, for us to grow, being a bit uncomfortable is necessary and there is no…other…way…

Have any tips and tricks yourself? Sound off here (or Twitter; social media in general) and let me know your thoughts. Here’s to a kick ass 2018!