Where Do I REALLY Find The Time to Exercise!?

THE biggest challenge that most people face in creating the bodies they want is in finding the time for exercise. This is true even with the extremely time efficient workouts that are available today.

As arrogant as it may sound I have found (learned from someone else) the REAL answer. Seriously.

Excerpt from my first book The Body You Want (I had my own permission:-).

I was at a time management seminar once, and the instructor pulled-out a huge, two gallon glass jar, and a bag of big rocks. He then proceeded to fill the jar with as many rocks as it could hold – about 6 or 7. he then asked the audience, “is this jar full?”

We said, “Yes.”

He said, “No.” And proceeded to bring-out a bag of gravel. After he filled the jar with as much gravel as it would hold, he asked us, “is it full now?”

We said, “No.”

He said, “Good, you’re learning.” After which he filled the jar with sand. After the sand he asked us, “it is full this time?’
We said, “No.”

He said, “I can’t put anything over on you guys,” and filled the remaining spaces of the jar with water. And of course asked us, “is it full now?”

We said, “Yes.”

He said, “Right-on. Now, what was the point of that demonstration?”

So, one lady stood-up and said, “The point is that no matter how much you think that you have going on in your life, there’s always room for more.”

I will never forget his answer, “No. The point of this exercise is that if I hadn’t put in the big rocks first, then I never would have fit them in.”

The big rocks are your body, your relationship, and everything else that’s really important to you. The rocks, the sand, and the gravel are all of the urgent things that seem important in the moment, but leave you feeling empty in the end. The gravel, sand, and water are always flowing into the jar of your life, and if you do not consciously invest the time and energy to put the important stuff in before your day, week, month, or year begin, then the unimportant crap will take over your life, and eat every single second of your life like a swarm of locusts. Leaving you fat, unfulfilled, and wondering, “Where did it all go?”

End of excerpt

All that means in practice is scheduling the time with yourself BEFORE the week starts – on paper or digitally, but NOT in your head (that NEVER works). After you schedule it treat it like an appointment with the most important person in your life – it really is.

The fitter and healthier you are the more energy you have, and the more energy you have the more you can take on everything else in your life. But, if you go in reverse and take care of everything else (the sands of life) first at the expense of your body, then eventually you will run out of energy to do anything else.

The point of the story is that you have all heard the above advice many times before, but most of you simply poo-poo it and think, “Oh, I’ve heard that before. I already know that.”

“To know and not to do is still not to know.”

-Zen proverb