You Have To Make A Decision

Sitting in front of me just a few days ago was this segment of an email I received.

This is part of an email in regards to a triathlon I signed up for many months ago that I actually forgot about(intentionally). Back when I was determined to get back in shape. Back when I knew that I needed something to get me going.

Many months later I read that email as I was snarfing down Cheetos and instantly thinking I should just cancel. I have not been exercising. No way could I do this race. This was an easy choice. I did not have time for a race or to get ready. What was I thinking? Just get my money back and call it good.

AND THEN I STOPPED

The choice was not easy. I was simply making excuses as I have done so many times in the months prior on a variety of topics.

I do not have time to run.

I do not have time to bike.

I do not have time to swim.

I do not have time to eat healthy.

I do not have time to regain some balance in my life.

I simply do not have time to do the things I want with all this work that I must get done.

How many of us have had these thoughts? Here I was sitting in my kitchen facing a decision on a matter of racing or not racing in a sprint triathlon that really nobody cares about besides myself. And I sat there early in the morning really analyzing myself, my decisions, and my life. It was a wake up call.

I was not happy always doing “work” all day long. The 80 hour workweeks were taking a toll on my mind, family, and body. A recent string of events have lead to question if what I am doing with work is even the right path and therefore further complicates the time given to the job.

I was not happy with the fitness level of my body. I hate that only two pairs of pants fit. I hate how I look in the mirror. I hate many things that we all are so critical of about our own bodies.

I was not happy that I was not getting to do the things I wanted do. I had the excuses and reasons and justified in my mind why it was not my fault for the conditions I was facing.

I was basically not happy as a person.

Then this little email creeps into my life and has me making what seems like a life or death situation.

So, I start to map things out. How many weeks until the race? 9 weeks. Ok, I can get to a basic fitness level to do alright by my standards. 9 weeks is doable in terms of focus and dedication. I can focus for 9 weeks right?

What do I weigh now? Oh lord, do I even want to know? No, but you have to have a baseline. I creep over to the scale and face reality. YIKES! Not good and the number explains why only two pair of pants fit.

Am I really doing this? Seriously? I told Amanda and she looked at me like I was crazy. “What about just running like you said you were going to do?” I have had conversations about this type of thing before. A few weeks back I said I was simply going to run and nothing else, but that went nowhere. I told her this was it. She nodded her head like I was a fool or as if she has heard this scenario play out before(broken record syndrome)

I grabbed my training resources and started to map out what plan I wanted to create and how it would look. This was going to be different. I have never trained for just a sprint triathlon. After reading, plotting, organizing, and sketching things out I knew what needed to be done. It did not seem so bad.

I was going to do this. I was going to stop making excuses and make it happen. I called the plan Fat to Dad Bod

And so Sunday I ran. I ran to my daughters soccer game. I am not sure if you call it a run or fast walk, but I got three miles done. I was beyond sore(I was already sore from fitness day on Friday for PD).

Monday I knocked out a swim test in the morning and swam the exact same time of 18:16 for a 1000 yard swim that I did one year ago. Crazy.

Monday night I took the bike out for a 10 mile ride just to remember how to ride a bike. My bike needs some fixing so I will be dropping it off at the shop this week so no bike workouts for a few days.

You see it was not that I did not have time. It was that my mind was wrong. What we do when we have excuses is build them into facts. I cannot create more time, but what I can do is FIND the time. I had the time. Waking up early is finding the time. Instead of sitting in a chair on my phone during soccer practice I found the time to ride. I had to stop lying to myself. The time exists if we want it to. This is the truth that we don’t like to face.

I know that my blog is about education and you might be wondering why this post? The issues I struggle with and am working to overcome are universal. These same things happen in the classroom as well as out of it. We all complain about time, but really the fact is that we don’t want to get off our ass and do something about it. We would rather just complain about things, point the finger at others, scoff at those who do, and go home and be unhappy with ourselves.

It is important that we look at ourselves and be honest. I have to be honest. If I don’t want to remain in the state of mind where I have been, then I have to do something about it. Nobody else is going to do anything for me because they don’t care. And they shouldn’t.

I challenge you to analyze your life. What do you want to change? What do you you wish you had more time for? List these things, chart them out, and then develop a plan to FIND the time to make it happen.

In the coming weeks I will share how I started and how I map things out. It is a system that can be applied to any situation or goal.

Until then……. go make it happen instead of complaining about it or others.

Now, I am off to go get things done.