Showing up is the hardest part!

I was asked to speak to a group of entrepreneurs last week about how I keep going with being so busy, how to maximize my time, etc. The more I thought about it the more I kept getting stuck on how we forget or how we just don't want to do something. I REALLY don't want to get up at 4am. But I do it because my fitness journey is important to me. I don't always want to go to work BUT I do really like that paycheck and if I don't go it's not sowing up in my bank account!

Ninety percent of doing anything is just showing up! This isn't just for your new business or for your fitness journey. This could be for starting any new endeavor or trying to form a new routine or habit.

Maybe you're a Mel Robbins fan and you have read The 5 Second Rule. If you haven't listen to her Ted Talk. Maybe you haven't and maybe you should. The long and short of it is that you just need to get up and do the thing. We are always waiting until we know more, waiting until all the cake is gone, waiting for the kids to start school, waiting waiting waiting.....

And then before we know it we have gone nowhere!

So how do we break free of this trap? Well, if you read the book you would know you can count 5,4,3,2,1....and you just get up but I don't want to oversimplify so here are some action items for you to combine with your 5,4,3,2,1 GO! Every single achievement or goal is accomplished by taking the first step of showing up and being disciplined. You might just show up at the gym for 20 minutes and walk on the treadmill, you might just start adding some extra veggies today or make your own food at home instead of grabbing fast food...we can figure out the rest but let's just get started!

Just take the first step.....

Once you get started THEN you can start to work on some things that can help you make better use of your time and energy. Here are my TOP 3 action items for starting a new habit and being more productive:

1. Take Inventory. What are you already doing? What is non-negotiable? What can you do while you're doing something else? HELLO NETFLIX! What have you accomplished? What do you want to do? What do you NOT want to do anymore? When can you do what you WANT to do? It's like cleaning out the closet (my husband would like for me to do more of this!) or the attic. Imagine you have lived in a home for 50 years. When you move in the hall closet or the attic is empty. Then you toss some things in there to deal with later. Then you pile the Christmas decorations on there, and OH! there are the Easter baskets I forgot I had a bought two more....The point is it gets filled up! Your schedule is the same way. So much like needing to go through our personal items we also need to go through our schedules.

2. Habit Stacking will change your life. Combine something that is already part of your routine with something new. This could look like placing a sticky note on your bathroom mirror to remind you to wash your face or saying your affirmations while you are already brushing your teeth. Put your vitamins next to your coffee maker so you remember to take them. Use timers to keep you on track!

3. Maximize your time! Know what you should be doing with your time and be prepared! Have a plan, prepare your environment and have some action steps specifically if you have very little time. This limits the amount of time you spend messing around in the gym trying to figure out where to start or getting frustrated when you are hungry because you have no idea what to eat.

If this was helpful for you or you would like to share how any one of these have helped you get started towards your goals email me at stacygartner@icloud.com. I would love to hear about your journey!