Your Highest Priority

      Many times we set a goal such as weight loss with every intention of doing the necessary actions to accomplish this; however the priority of this soon fades and is masked by other habits of life. Yes, in fact many of us have very important obligations such as family, work, and the relation of the two but what is most commonly missed is without health nothing functions correctly. Without taking care of yourself first you cannot provide, take care of, or even reside within a high qualitative family or work atmosphere. Here are 5 tips to help keep yourself a high priority:

1. Draw the Line – No more sacrificing yourself and the healthy things you do for YOURSELF. If you are going to commit to 3 boot camps a week while spending time on developing a meal plan, then this is what you need to do. Canceling sessions or missing meals is a clear sign you are not staying within your parameters. You function best when your exercise routine and nutrition plan is consistent and stable, so why would you let it slip with first sign of stress or busy schedule. This is when you need it the most!

2. Make appointments – No more treating exercise as a “maybe”. Set the routine with specific time/date and amount of duration of exercise. Once it’s set on the calendar, treat it as if it is the most important interview of your career. If you have no other choice than to miss it, make very sure you reschedule it the moment you know it is impossible to make.

3. Involve the Family - If you are doing your thing and your family is doing theirs, how long will it take before those 2 become 1? Not long! Even with very good discipline if your family eats differently and has different lifestyle habits, you will soon follow because families stick together even if it is for the bad. Teach your family to eat the same. Who cares if your kids don’t like to eat healthy, that’s why you are the parent. Make them learn your healthy habits before you fall back into theirs.

4. Remind yourself – Self talk is a great way to keep yourself in check and knowledgeable of what needs to come. Life is fast, if you stop evaluating your purposes you’ll lose your focus. Try to make it a daily habit, preferably in the morning, of going over your actions for that day to help work towards your goals.

5. Buddy up – Having a close friend or co-worker to give you friendly reminders to stay on track and why it’s important can mean everything to someone and keep them moving forward. A buddy can see yourself from a different perspective and let you know when you get side tracked or distant from your goal. Plus who else would you want to make proud of you than your biggest fan, it’ll just make you work that much harder.

I understand the type of personality that wants to put others first, especially your family because I too share this personality. However what I do understand is, if I take care of my health by exercising and eating properly this keeps my mood in check, gives me energy to spend with my family, increases my productivity for work, and enhances my ability to do amazing things like wakeboarding, snowboarding, hiking, or under water basket weaving!