Fit for Life: Want an Easy Life?

Fit for Life: Want an Easy Life?

Life can be easy now but at what expense later?

 

Everyone can have an easy life if they want to.

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It's just a matter of how seriously you want to take your responsibilities as a human being.

 

In my opinion, an easy life would look like this:

 

You wake up whenever you want. No alarm clock; get out of bed at your own discretion.

 

From there, you click on the t.v., pick up your phone, scroll through all your social media channels, and see what everyone else is doing. Forget about getting to the gym; that's too difficult.

 

You are hungry, so you open a cereal box, pop a burrito in the microwave, and eat breakfast.

 

After that, you shower, get dressed, stroll into work late, and do the bare minimum until lunchtime.

Between talking with co-workers and drinking coffee, you may get a few productive tasks done to keep your job.

 

You have an entry-level position, so it doesn't matter how productive you are because the people leading your company are just like you, and they don't care.

 

At lunchtime, you hit a fast food drive-thru or a convenience store and get the fastest, cheapest thing to fill you up. Something like a "meal deal" or an orange piece of meat turning on rollers behind the counter.

 

After that, you slog through your day until quitting time, lacking energy and enthusiasm the entire time.

It's usually 5 pm, but no one is watching, so why not leave early?

 

You get in your car to drive home, but before you do, you make dinner by ordering takeout from the local Chinese restaurant closest to your house so you don't inconvenience yourself and drive out of your way.

 

You get home, eat your dinner, and plop on the couch, binge-watching Netflix until 2 am, then get up and repeat the cycle the next day and every day after that.

 

Yes, folks, that's a recipe for an easy life, and some do live like this, but that is also the structure for a low performer.

It's also a recipe for disaster later on in life.

 

Unless they hit the lottery, this person is probably broke, overweight to the point they are a high-risk candidate for life-threatening disease and will be on medication for the rest of their lives. They live in a mental fog, are depressed, and have no energy or desire to be productive.

 

Compare that to a little more challenging life, and you decide what outcome you want.

 

If you are trying to be a high performer in life, aka a Fighter Jet (as opposed to a crop duster), it takes discipline to choose the more challenging way and consistently do it over and over every day.

 

Here's what life looks like for someone trying to be a high performer.

 

You wake up when your alarm goes off before sunrise and jump out of bed without hitting the snooze button.

You immediately ingest at least 20oz. of water to hydrate yourself because you are dehydrated when you wake up.

Now it's time to make the coffee, so you won't need to sit in line at a drive-thru or coffee shop and waste time.

 

Because you got up early enough, you have time to either read or journal so you can start your day on a positive note and check your "to-do" list to be efficient with your time throughout the day.

 

Next, you prepare a protein shake and pack the lunch that you prepared the night before. You also pack some healthy snacks to graze on throughout the day so you have sustained energy between meals.

 

Now you grab your gym bag (also packed the night before) and head to Providence Fit Body Boot Camp for an intense 30-minute workout. (You are dreading doing burpees the whole ride there). After the training, you consume your nutrient-dense protein shake and feel invincible, ready for battle.

 

You have already accomplished a lot and feel energized and ready to attack your day. You show up for work early, ready to be productive, and focus on the things that move the income needle forward.

 

Lunchtime rolls around, and you pull out your homemade chicken, rice, and vegetables that you made the night before and feel that you are eating healthy to maintain energy levels throughout the day.

 

Two hours after lunch, when energy levels dip, you grab an iced coffee, some nuts, and a piece of fruit and finish your work day on fire because you hit your quotas and made some money.

 

You then drive home, prepare dinner, take a walk or a bike ride before you repeat the cycle and

retire for the day. You get to bed when you know you will get at least 7.5 hours of sleep, so you can wake full of energy when it's time to start the next day.

 

That resembles the life of a healthy, productive person that is setting themselves up for success. Yes, it requires a lot more work than the first scenario, but isn't it worth it later on down the road? I think so.

 

The story's moral is that our responsibilities are to care for ourselves and others regardless of what is involved. You can't be a good role model and set a good example when you choose the easy way out.

 

Set an example and be a leader by challenging yourself to improve daily.

Live the life that makes you feel happy, productive, and essential.

 

Choose easy now, have a hard life later, choose hard now, have an easy life later.

 

Nothing good comes easy.

 

Coach Matt