You guys! I am so excited. And scared. I signed up for the first ever Precision Nutrition Level 2 – A Master Class for Fitness Professionals. Sounds a little scary, right?
It’s a year-long commitment filled with daily learning, feedback, accountability, assessment and case studies. Basically, I hired myself a coach and 100 awesome accountability partners. Hmmm…sounds just like what I tell my clients and friends to do when they are struggling with their commitment to exercising and/or eating well.
I absolutely love reading and learning, especially when it comes to continuing my education on all things related to training, nutrition and mindset. However, as much as I enjoy learning, sometimes I let life get in the way. Other things take priority and I don’t make as much time to learn and improve myself as a nutrition coach as I would like.
I’m clearly type-A and generally self-disciplined, perhaps too much at times ;-). When it comes to training I rarely miss a scheduled session. {By the way, that does not mean I train every day. Rest is important.} When it comes to food, I eat well nearly all the time, simply because I want to at this point. It makes me feel good and I truly enjoy the foods that I eat. Those things have become easy for me because I have developed habits and practiced them over and over again for years.
One thing that isn’t easy for me is making time to read and learn more often. I purchase books or subscribe to blogs with the intention to keep up on reading regularly, but it seems that lately I always have an excuse. I tell myself I’ll read tomorrow because today I had to pay the bills, take care of my three-year-old son, exercise, cook dinner for my family, enter new clients into our software system, post in my online nutrition group, clean up the gym after a flood, etc.
Finally, I’m following some of my own advice, I’m ready to start making time and stop making excuses. I’m excited to become a better nutrition coach and to get in the habit of carving out time to learn more on a regular basis.
One of the best pieces of advice I have heard is something Alwyn Cosgrove says. He says that if you want something enough, you’ll make time for it. If you don’t have time, that just means you don’t value it enough, or at least not as much as you value something else. Yup, I am absolutely saying that if you tell me you don’t have time to exercise, I immediately change that around in my head… you just don’t value exercising as much as you value something else. That doesn’t mean I think you’re lazy. You may truly be using that time for something else more pressing at the moment, but generally speaking you do have time if you value it enough. {Side note: If you have cable or are on Facebook you probably have time to exercise.}
Of course, the time commitment this course is going to take scares me. I don’t really feel like I have an extra thirty minutes every day, but I also know I value this experience enough that I will make time. Other reasons I’m scared…quizzes, papers and having someone critique my work are three more things that take me a bit outside of my comfort zone at this point in my life. I graduated from college over ten years ago!
Scaredy-cat feelings aside, I’m ridiculously excited! It’s time for me to stop going at this one alone. I’m not making as much time as I’d like to continue my education and become a better nutrition coach, so I’m taking some very familiar advice and getting a coach myself.
Today, think about something you really want. Maybe it’s something that’s been on your mind a lot, but you just haven’t made time for it. Think about what’s holding you back. You either don’t value this thing you want as much as you value something else or you’re scared out of your mind to take a risk. Maybe it’s a combination of both.
It’s important to re-evaluate your priorities sometimes. It’s important to do things that scare you a bit sometimes. This is how you grow!
What have you done lately that scares you?
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