Dr. Kenney’s Friday 5 Spot
On Fridays I like to share experiences I’ve had during the week with patients and in my personal life that I’ve found significant. I like to share them in hopes that you might find value in them and have something resonate with you in your life.
Something I encounter often. As many of you know, my wife and I have a nutrition and exercise business. Working with people on what they’re eating and how they’re working out, we encounter many of the same issues repeatedly. Without question, one of the most common is “I don’t have the time.” Though we all get busy, there is something I tend to notice about the use of time. The highest performing people I know get a ton accomplished in a day. As such, they are regimented, focused, and if you were to ask them what they did at a certain point in their day, most would be able to tell you exactly what they did.
With clients that tell us they are too busy to eat well and/or exercise, we ask them to account for how they spend their day so we can offer suggestions. Commonly, the clients that tell us how packed their schedules are unable to offer specifics. For example, we might hear “well I had to bring my son to school” or “I had meetings” but there is no breakdown of how long things last or time available to them. They are usually reluctant to consider breaks in their schedule, unwilling to condense activities, and devote hours to things that should take minutes. How we spend our time reflects our priorities. Take a look at how you’re spending your time and whether it’s helping or hurting your goals.
An analogy I like. My 4-year-old son recently got a $1 bill. He was so excited that he brought it to preschool and told anyone who would listen that he was going to go to the store and buy everything he wanted with his “monies.” As we all know, one dollar will not create any shopping sprees.
This made me think of people that want better businesses, bodies, relationships, and results but devote so little to accomplishing those things. They’re giving one-dollar efforts but expecting million-dollar results. That way of thinking is analogous to what my son expected to happen with a single dollar. If you desire something better in your personal or professional life, you must put in the time and effort to make it happen.
Something that works for me. Every morning before I come to work, I listen to a motivational video on YouTube. I do so not because I lack drive or motivation, but because I want to hear words from people that inspire me. Some of my favorites include Eric Thomas, David Goggins, Les Brown, Jordan Peterson, Inky Johnson, and Jocko Willink. Five to ten minutes of some type of motivational video gives me an extra boost of energy that I direct toward my patients, business, to-do list, physical endeavors, and more. It helps me expand my work ethic, desire, confidence, and drive. Find someone or something that uplifts you, listen to it early in your day, and watch how your day progresses.
An important concept. Something my wife and I teach our clients is the difference between exercise and being active. Both are great but it’s important to understand how they are different. Exercise will include higher intensity activities. These include weightlifting, running, cycling, aerobic classes, and more. Examples of being active are less intense endeavors such as walking, stretching, yard work, certain type of yoga, and more.
The reason we teach the difference is that many clients expect to lose weight, get stronger, or re-shape their bodies by just being “active.” While it is admirable to keep the body moving in that fashion, it will not create the impetus for the body to make major changes. That is why I always recommend that people carve out a certain number of days per week for vigorous exercise and then on the other days (or at another point in the day) focus on actively recovering with things like walking, stretching, or yard work. Utilizing both exercise and being active provides your body the stimulus to make changes while also providing the recovery it needs to do so.
Some quotes I love.
“If you think the price of winning is too high, wait until you get the bill for regret.”
“Trying tends to be a momentary attempt, while training is an ongoing action.”
“If you look at the people in your circle and don’t get inspired, then you don’t have a circle. You have a cage.”
“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” – John Wooden