When I was at uni there was an award titled Do With It What You Will. It was given by Deni McKenzie, and what Deni had in mind back then was lost on my 20 something brain.
It was given to the person that went above and beyond what it was expected they were capable of. So they may have been academically brilliant, but they also put in on the sporting field or in the cultural aspects of college. Or they were a general all rounder, not the best at any one thing, but they did pretty damn well at almost anything they put their mind to.
It now resonates with me like the Teddy Roosevelt quote, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
Too often we can get caught up in perfectionism, all or nothing thinking.
And so we either go all in and burn out quickly, or do nothing, and well, get nowhere.
Right now, I’m in the final two weeks of moving our gym. We are transitioning from our gritty old box to a newer, much more accommodating space. I’m incredibly excited, but the “extra” work is a mountain. Right now, my daily roles include:
- Company Director & Admin
- Coach & Programmer
- Marketer & Maintenance Man
- Dad & Partner
- General “Dogsbody” for anything else that pops up.
In all of that, I almost forgot “Healthy Functioning Human.”
So as it stands right now, I am super excited about the big move, things are looking so good for it, but it has eaten into the time I would normally use for other things.
Yes, some things have been missed etc, and I have picked them back up.
Something that I am non-negotiable for is movement.
Is my training perfect right now and I am doing every session I absolutely want to be to the best of my ability? Absofuckinglutely not.
Is this grounds to stop and just say, ‘I will get back on the wagon in a couple of weeks?
Again, absofuckinglutely not!
I normally train five or six days each week, with my one or two rest days thrown in.
Depending on my goals it might be CrossFit classes for those sessions, so all up five or six hours per week. If I am going after a pretty big and specific goal that might push out to around eight to 10 hours (please know this is only when looking to do some competition type stuff in CrossFit.). Normally though it is around that five hours a week with some light activity like walking thrown in as well.
However, due to my increased workload with everything extra I am needing to do I am not able to do all the training I would like. So I am doing what I can with what I have right now. I am making sure that I train three to four times a week. So a max of three to four hours.
This is the minimum I will do. Three days a week.
I am holding the line while I am doing all the other stuff. What I mean by that is that I am staying as fit and healthy as I can in a different period of life that is a bit difficult and tricky to navigate.
To me the most important thing right now is keeping the habit. It isn’t the CrossFit Open, it isn’t about being the fittest in my age division in the country, it isn’t about setting PRs in any lifts, any run distance, or any number of gymnastics movements. It is staying as consistent as I can and maintaining where I am at.
So it means that right now my training, exercise, and eating doesn’t look like it might for me when I am in full swing. And that is AOK. To me what is not AOK is just thinking I can let it slide and put everything else first.
I am not saying that move isn’t important, it really is, it is one of my biggest priorities right now as I want the absolute best for all of our current and future members. I am saying that pretty well equally as important is looking after myself as well.
The move, the running of the box, none of it could happen if I were not fit and healthy.
And long term, it is vital that my body and mind are sound enough to keep doing this for you all.
So today, while my routine may not be my ideal or anywhere near perfect situation, it is damn close to perfect for right now.
I hear you too when you say, ‘Jim! you can just workout whenever you want, the gym is right there!’, and I agree, yes, yes I can. Sometimes though convenience can make it too easy to fob it off, it is why most at home gym programs have a limited lifespan. You can just as easily keep putting it off.
The other thing with that is that sometimes it isn’t a gym workout. It might be 20 mins at home of some bodyweight exercises and stretching. It might be a cruisy 3km run from home where I don’t push myself to the limit.
I have battled the all or nothing mentality, and am on the other side of it. And I know I can help you with it too, if you give me 30 mins to sit and talk you through it.
The reason I want the all or nothing mentality to die when things get tough in our lives is that looking after ourselves doesn’t return to us as easily as we think it will after that stop, that pause, oh you know? I will just have this month off because the mornings are dark, the evenings are cool, the dog needs pats etc etc etc.
So hang in with me while we navigate the gym moving in a couple of weeks and maybe hit me up for a chat, a workout, a walk, or any other idea you might have that helps keep you going in a difficult to navigate period of life.