A Time To Start

Tick tock, tick tock, seconds, then minutes, then hours fly by.  The day is over, the month end is here and before you know it, we are celebrating a new year.  You hear your co-worker, neighbor, family member say, “This year flew by!” or “Where did the time go?!”.  We all wish to have MORE time but in reality we devalue the time we have. Have you been a victim of wishing away the week, just to get to Friday?   Are you counting down the days until vacation to get away?  Do you feel like you can’t wait to put 2015 behind you so you can start over in 2016?

What if time was money, would you value it more?  You probably would NOT wish it away.  We are taught to invest money.   How about investing TIME?  Yes, I’m suggesting that you invest your time to get MORE time.   This means, every week, you need to invest a block of time for YOU.   A Life Savings Account if you will.  Minutes, Hours, Days….you decide the amount you can invest.  Your return…MORE time.  More time to enjoy your weekend, more time to spend on vacation and more time celebrating countless New Years with family and friends.  What? How?! It’s just not possible to get MORE time, right?  But it is.  It IS possible and it’s an investment YOU have to decide to make!  Why?  Every second you don’t spend on yourself, every second you say “I don’t have time”, you are LOSING time.   Your Life Savings Account is being depleted.  Trust me, you don’t want this account to hit zero.  There are no overdrafts in the Life Savings Account.

What investments will give you MORE time? Well, I have 5 Time Investment Habits that will help you get started:

1. Buy a Day Planner and — USE IT.   Big or small, fancy or plain, it doesn’t matter but this should be a holiday gift idea for everyone! This is as important as your multi-vitamin and morning coffee.  Take it everywhere you go like it’s your security blanket! Every morning, you need to visit your planner and make sure that you have scheduled YOU time. It only works if you — USE it though.  My husband likes using the Day-Timer from daytimer.com.   They send 12 monthly planners about the size of your hand and they come in a nifty storage box! I, myself, use the Day Designer by Blue Sky (available at Target) but you can get them from bluesky.com too!  It’s more like a spiral notebook that holds an entire year. Everyone’s taste is different but everyone can use one!  Kids included.  Your invested time: 10 minutes a day.  Don’t miss the appointment you set for YOU! Remember, there is a LIFE fee to pay if you do.

2. Strength Train.  Yes, muscle matters.  Slow Movement Accelerated Results Training (SMART) is an exercise protocol we recommend.  It’s called SMART Fitness.  This method of exercise is something everyone can do.  In fact, at Smart Fitness our clients range in age from 13 to 84! Rather than heaving weights around haphazardly, Smart Fitness focuses on slow controlled movements. This significantly reduces the risk of injury while also keeping it time conscious at just 20 minutes from start to finish. Why do you need muscle? Muscle is what helps you move!  It’s what keeps your body productive and powerful. Strength training creates a stronger mind and body to help add invaluable time to your Life Clock. Your invested time: 20 minutes, twice a week. To learn more about this method, visit GoSmartFitness.com.   

3. MOVE.  Did you know that the average American office worker sits for 10 hours?! Add TV and social media time and that’s too much sitting!!  So, STAND UP at work while you are on the phone, dance in your kitchen while cooking, walk the dog after dinner, take the kids to the park and run with them, lunge down your hallways, squat during the commercials of your favorite TV show, just MOVE. Use those muscles you are strengthening in habit #2 and MOVE!!  Every little bit helps!  It’s all about changing habits and creating new and IMPROVED habits.  At least 20 minutes a day will make a vast improvement.   Because remember, if you stop moving, you ….   Well, I’ll let you finish that sentence. 

4. 5 Colors a Day.  I challenge you to write down your food for a day.   At the end of the day, write down the color of each food.  How many colors did you write?  If it’s not at least 5 different colors, you probably should reevaluate what you are putting in your body!  It seems like a very simple idea, but it works.  Everything in your life needs balance, including your food.  A diet rich in white, starchy carbohydrates is not balanced and will leave you moody, bloated and tired!  A little preparation at the beginning of the week goes a long way.  Remember the planner from step 1?  — USE IT!  Write down recipe ideas and prepare your shopping list each week.   Also, another way to ensure you are getting the nutrients you need each day is to take a high quality, natural, multi-vitamin.   One we would recommend is the Life Strip from Shaklee.  It has the perfect combo of nutrients to help you live a longer, healthier life in one, convenient strip!  Check out NobleHealth.myshaklee.com for more information about Life Strip and other pure, nutrition products.  

5. Shut off your brain.  Is there an app for that?  No, but that is part of the problem! We are TOO connected and always ON.  Who’s life is similar to this:  get up, get coffee, check email, check social media, get more coffee, work, work, work, drink energy drink, check email, check social media, sleep a minute, repeat.  It’s a hard habit to break but we all need to UNPLUG, get reconnected with ourselves and SLEEP.   Before you start getting ready for your day, before you check your phone or computer, before you get the kids ready for school, take 5-10 minutes for yourself.  Sit in a quiet room and just stretch for a few minutes and breathe.   If you are going to work, try to delay the email check until you have sat down and *cough, cough* opened your planner.   Reconnect with yourself before you start the day by making sure you’ve scheduled YOU time.   Another, simple, yet powerful way to shut your brain off and recharge is to take a walk or workout (MOVE).  Take in the fresh air and don’t check your phone!  Caffeine and energy drinks are not the ideal way to stay awake or have energy.   Good fuel (food) and sleep are the best way to keep yourself going!   So eat your 5 colors a day and make sure you are investing at least 6-8 hours to dream time 🙂 Your brain and body will thank you.

If you are reading this sentence, then you took the TIME to learn about investing in YOU!   We promise you, if you start creating the 5 new habits above, you will add seconds, minutes, hours and DAYS to your LIFE clock.  The clock is ticking, so start NOW!

Feel free to drop us a line with any questions or comments!

andrew@gosmartfitness.com

stacey@gosmartfitness.com

Your Partners in Health,

Andrew and Stacey Noble

Smart Fitness

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