I recently joined a gym.
I guess that’s not surprising given that lots of people join gyms in January. But for me joining wasn’t about a new year’s resolution. Until six months ago, I worked out 3-4 times per week and being physically active was – and still is – a huge part of my identity. So while I want to get back to my previous fitness level, I joined a gym because I needed structure.
Though I’m only a couple of weeks into my entrepreneur identity, one thing was immediately apparent: it’s really easy to lose the day. There are a million things I need to be doing. But because I have loads of time it’s been difficult to create the sense of urgency needed to crank through my to-do list super efficiently. Since I’m currently working from home, everything is very fluid. If I wake up at 2 am with an idea for a workshop or a downloadable worksheet, I can get out of bed and work on it knowing that no one is expecting me to be in the office by 9. If figuring out how to set up the contact form on my website takes me six hours instead of the three I allotted, no big deal. It’s my schedule, my deadline.
And while I’m all for fluidity in certain areas of my life, building a business isn’t one of them.
So even though joining a gym means I’m spending money, I whole-heartedly believe it is a worthwhile investment. That’s because attending classes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday snaps other aspects of my life into place.
For example, taking a 6:30 am class means going to bed at a reasonable time the night before, which places a cap on my available hours for the day. It also means I’m starting my day early and can check one task off my to-do list by 7:30 am, which makes me feel like a go-getter (though the 5:30 am people have me beat). Additionally, there’s something about lifting weights and getting my sweat on that sets a kick-ass tone for the day.
Furthermore, spending time in the gym but ignoring my nutrition is counterproductive. If I want to maximize the return on my investment of my physical activity, I also need to properly fuel my body. That means I’m more diligent about meal prep, snacking throughout the day to stay energized, and drinking more water.
Consistently getting to the gym and eating healthier requires planning. In order to accommodate those activities, I have to plan other aspects of my life:
When do I go grocery shopping? And what do I buy?
How long will it take me to prepare meals? If I’m not preparing meals on Sundays, what does that do to my weeknights and my ability to work until 7? And if I am preparing meals on Sunday, when am I doing laundry? Just because I’m working from home on Monday doesn’t mean I should just casually move laundry to Monday. Maybe Wednesday is actually better.
Or maybe I need to meet a new contact for coffee at 8 am on a Wednesday morning, which means I’m not getting to the gym. So do I go to the gym Wednesday afternoon or evening? Does that disrupt the flow of the rest of my day and limit my ability to get things done? If that’s the case maybe it makes more sense to go Thursday morning instead.
It may sound strange, or counter-intuitive, but planning is quite liberating (at least for me). I like having an agenda for the day and managing my expectations against it. I need to see progress and feel like I’m moving forward. In other words, I need the little wins – knowing I wanted to write a new blog post, outline a webinar, respond to an email, or get in a workout and actually doing it. Sure, each task alone isn’t enough to make my business successful, but I’m really hoping the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
And while I understand the above may make me sound like a gym rat, getting to the gym three times a week is the non-negotiable foundation of my schedule. And that has physical, mental, and structural benefits.