Coach Chris tackling health one decision at a time
By Chris Tamer

I’m a simple guy. I would rather make 1 big decision once, than 1,000 little ones. If I can streamline or simplify a situation, I will, every time. Eliminating any number of decisions makes it easier for me to focus on those things in life that need more immediate attention.

I know my workout schedule every week. I made the decision years ago that training, fitness, and health are important. So, I made a single decision that training sessions will be in my schedule every week. I don’t have to decide each day if I will train or not.

I have my workout schedule in my online calendar. If I have to schedule something, I know I will avoid these times as they are already on my schedule. Of course, I do have to change up from time to time due to kids, work, travel, etc. but on a regular week, I follow this training schedule:

Monday at 11am
Tuesday at 7am
Thursday at 7am
Friday at 11am

I try to get in one day on the weekend depending on my kids’ schedule, travel or coaching hockey. Saturday at 7 am is a great time to train and a lot of fun.

That’s it. It’s done. I don’t have to make a decision every day or every week if I am going to the gym. It’s not a game-time decision. I know myself and I would fail if I had to decide every time I had to make this decision. Something always comes up and things that seem important at the moment may not be. It may just be a distraction in life that does not line up with my beliefs and priorities.

Values

The key is to make sure whatever you are doing, whatever is taking up time in your day, is in line with your priorities and values. Have you ever found yourself in the middle of something and said. “Why the hell did I commit to this?” or “I’m doing something that is wasting time and it’s taking me away from what I need to do?”  Much can be written about on this topic.  Seth Godin tackled this on Tim Ferriss’ blog post and I highly recommend checking it out.

The hardest part about this isn’t saying “yes” to what’s important, it’s all the times you have to say “no”.