Creating a Routine for Myself Without Sacrificing Time With My Boys

One thing you need to know about me is, I am stubborn.

Once I get it in my head I am going to do something, I will do it- even if I feel the force against me.

Yes, I know, despite everything I teach, I too can ignore signs sometimes.

I live passionately in life and want to commit myself 100% once I get an idea. I know that is the only way to accomplish anything, is to make yourself push through. However, there comes a time when you need to figure out if you have to continue committing 100% to get through the hump, or take a step and reevaluate.

Well, it’s reevaluation time for me. I had to come to terms with my routine not serving me anymore.

I know what you are thinking, it’s just a routine, how does it serve you? Why is it a big deal to let it go? What about it is working against you?

See a routine is the key component to accomplish goals. You must have a routine that gives you non-negotiables that create healthy habits that lead to goal accomplishment.

Routines encompass the steps you need to do daily in order to make progress in life. So routines need to serve you if you want to feel aligned with who you want to be.

For me, I stood by my morning routine of movement.

I needed it. It was the only way I could wake myself up in the morning. It was the only way I felt accomplishment right off the bat. I put it on a pedestal that my success throughout the day was only due to exercising in the morning.

I had to interpret it as what it truly meant: I thought the morning workout routine was the only time I could accomplish exercising, because I was scared of waiting until the end of the day to do it. I was fearful if I waited too long the motivation would wear off, the day would tire me out, and I would feel too sluggish to exercise.

I truly thought I was incapable of success of holding myself accountable at night, so why subject myself to failure?

I sat with the realization for a while. I had to figure out why I was feeling this way, why I didn’t believe in myself.

What I came up with is, I had this proven pattern I had created for myself. Each time I decided to wait to the end of the day, or only had time to go to the gym at the end of the day, I never actually did it. The reason I did this is, because I always said to myself, “If I feel like going I will just go at the end of the day,” “If I am not tired, I’ll go to the gym later,” etc. etc.

I was leaving it open ended, so of course I didn’t go. I was giving myself a choice, and I was allowing myself room to choose the easy option. Why would anyone say yes to the hard stuff if they didn’t have to?

I wasn’t telling myself the rule or boundary.

I was allowing myself to be fearful of challenging myself at the end of the day, thinking I needed to baby myself instead. I couldn’t push myself if I was feeling tired, or if I had a bad day, or if I was so busy I wanted a break.

Once I took the option away, and said what I was going to just go, I started to. I had to remind myself each time I was slipping into exhaustion, or losing motivation, I still had to go either way. I would perk up and got myself excited again.

I forgot there was a time when I didn’t exercise in the morning. I used to do it after my full time job teaching preschool. It was something I craved after the end of a hard work day.

I remembered how scared I was switching to early morning. Pushing myself to wake up at a new hour and shake off the sleepies so suddenly. It quickly turned into my favorite thing.

I didn’t want to let it go but it’s not conducive to my life anymore. It’s not serving me because of other things I want to do.

I can either miss out on home life with my boys to go to the gym, because I am too stubborn to let it go. Or I can push through a little change to go at the end of the day when they are sleeping.

When I put it in terms like that, the decision became clear. My priorities aligned.

The thing about goals, is we are taught you have to sacrifice your life in order to accomplish them. You don’t. The only thing you need to sacrifice are the bad habits that hold you back from accomplishing the goals.

You can still show up for everyone, your responsibilities AND yourself. No more choosing.

That is how my Maximize Your Minutes method was created. The system that teaches you how to do it all.

If you want to switch up your routine to serve your new lifestyle but are struggling, get The 90 Day Sustainable Routine Change Challenge workbook on Amazon! Help yourself set up your new routine successfully and actually stick with it!