In order to write this post, because I’ve been grinding since I was 15 or 16 years old, and by grinding, I mean working extremely hard, working extremely long hours and not getting much sleep. I once read that, everyone has a choice and that choice is you need to pick three of family and friends is one, health is another, sleep is another and work is another. You can really succeed at three of those at a time. If you are trying to accomplish all four that’s beyond the grind. And that’s what I’m trying to accomplish. And that’s what I’ve always been trying to accomplish.
Over the course of the last few years, my health has gone up and down. My weight has fluctuated. My fitness level has decline and then come back up. I associate all of these with a more intense grind, working harder than ever, experiencing a little more stress, not making time for the health aspect of the four pillars, etc. So I had to devise a plan. A plan to bring that fourth pillar up to speed while still achieving an ultimate life in family, business or work and sleep.
Here’s what I do.
First, you have to eat well. And by eat well I mean nutrient rich foods, 3 meals a day minimum and not over eating and not binging. The way I accomplish this is through small meals with healthy snacks. Amy has been a huge proponent of quick to go snacks for many years and I benefited from that. Now I use things like complex protein drinks that include fruits and veggies, berries and vegetarian proteins. I use the natural protein bars only when necessary. I eat fruit and grab hansels and nuts and seeds when I need a snack. I drink water and stay hydrated that has been one of the keys for me. If I get dehydrated and hungry I tend to binge a lot more. Coz I’m feeling a lot more tired than I actually might be if I were hydrated. Relying less on coffee has been huge not just pushing coffee whenever I’m feeling low, whenever I start to dip. Actually, instead of going for the coffee having a small bite to eat and some water. These had been keys for my nutrition for my health.
When it comes to sleep I had to make a choice between night time or morning. I have to make a choice between getting up early to work or staying up late to work. For me I can survive maybe not in the most the best possible way a 6 hours a night, 7 or 8 would be ideal and I’m shooting for that. But it’s when I get down into the four that I really suffer. When you consistently able to get 6 or 7, by not doing both late nights and early mornings by choosing one. If you are an over achiever, if you like to push it, I think you should choose one and not do both.
When it comes to my family I have to be relentless with my blocking off of time. All day Thursday, Tuesday afternoons and all day Sunday. I have blocked off time and I’m doing everything I can not to work at those times. Still work at night but not during the day. That is self discipline. If your work ethic is so strong you can succeed in three areas, I think the fourth area may simply require a more disciplined approach. I’ve been following Jocko on Instagram. He makes me look like I’m undisciplined. He is a navy seal, retired navy seal from the marine or something. I’ve been focusing heavenly on this one recently because I wanted to do more of my life than I was already doing. Sometimes to get that four pillar all you need is a little more. When it comes to work priorities are key. Taking the things that most benefit putting them on the top of the list and getting them done and doing them. Instead of taking the most important things and postponing them. This is how I try to organize my work schedule. Take the most important things and get them done. Take the rest of the things get them done. Later take the necessity things either delegate or if they are very quick get them done. So this process also takes discipline it’s all about prioritization.
How this is have anything to do with weight loss. Well, weight loss is part of a healthy lifestyle. Maintaining a healthy weight is the key. If you are not on a healthy weight you need to lose weight. This can be done over achievers can do this. This requires significant discipline. It baffles me that we have type A people who, it doesn’t back on me. It is understandable when we have type A who gain weight because they’re putting their resources into these other three.
I have tips for weight loss for high achievers – intimate and fasting, eat early in the day. When you feel like binging, choosing an option that’s not too terrible and then fasting. Taking one day off from meeting a week has been key because you can make up for those nights or those days when you have to eat up your schedule because your schedule won’t allow it.
These are some of the things that I’ve been using.
I hope you find them useful too.
