7 Habits of Highly Effective Fitness

Habit #3 Put First Things First

We are examining effective fitness through the prism of Stephen Covey' infamous "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". 
In Covey's writings, he argues that to be effective in any and all endeavors requires certain habits and ways of thinking.
If you want your fitness regimen to reap results - whether it is a PR, a heavier lift, a longer, healthier life - employing effective habits will help get you there.
Just to review: Covey's 7 Habits:

1. Be Proactive
2. Begin with the End in Mind
3. Put First Things First
4. Think Win-Win
5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the Saw

Habit #1 -- "Be Proactive" --  is about changing your mindset from someone who is acted upon to someone who acts. It’s about reminding yourself that you are in charge of your life and how you respond to it.
Habit #2 -- "Begin With the End in Mind" --builds off of the first. It instructs you to marshal the power of personal power and control. It is based on the principle that things are created twice. First creation is in your mind and the second is in physical reality.

Habit #3 - Put First Things First
When it comes to your fitness, putting this habit into effect will most likely be the difference between a successful fitness transformation and another set back. It means making those things MOST important to you the # 1 priority.  And, my friends, it is not as easy as you think.
Here's an example.
Let's say you set your priority: "I want to be the best Mother/Father/Husband/Wife I can be."
A noble priority and well worth all your best efforts. But where should you begin? Spending more time with your spouse and kids? Cleaning the house more? Date night once in a while?
Again all noble things to do. But go back and look at that priority: "I want to be a better..."

First word - I
​
Okay, you should start to see where this is going. You can't be a better anything if you are not the best you. Making YOU a priority will allow you to fill the glass of all those people and priorities around you. It is no coincidence that on an airplane, the flight attendants instruct you to put on your oxygen mask before helping others, even if those others are the most precious in your life. (We'll discuss this in more depth in Habit #7).
Covey used a quadrant system to help visualize these priorities.

To simplify Covey and put it into our fitness context, look at it this way:
Quadrant 1 has to be done and you are going to do it. For the most part, those things are out of your control. Real crisis, emergencies things like that.
Quadrant 2 is where the focus of your time and energy needs to be. These are in your control and set your priorities. Working out, staying fit, getting strong belongs here.
Quadrant 3 ​are things that you have control over and may want to get away from like a gossipy neighbor.
Quadrant 4 are things you simply can and should get limit or get rid of. Social media browsing, funny cat videos, streaming NetFlicks. (No judgement here!)

​By emphasizing those things in Quadrant 2 - you are able to put First Things First.

So, when it comes to your fitness, how do you Put First Things First?

1. Focus on your investment - your return.  You have all these priorities in your life. Your fitness is the bank account in which you are making deposits so you can withdraw later. For me, I want to live a long, strong, vibrant, healthy life. I am investing in that.
2. Schedule it! Research show that if you schedule it, put it on your calendar and ink it in, you are more likely to follow through. At 614Fitness, schedule your week or month in advance and don't let anyone mess with your priorities.
3. Join a club. Mayo clinic found that those who joined a club were more likely to stick with their fitness. And, curiously, a person's commitment was commensurate with how expensive the fees were! If you are investing your hard earned cash, you are more likely to go all in.
4. Have fun. Your fitness routine needs to be fun. Include groups you enjoy hanging out with, share a common cause or goal or just like to be around. If your fitness routine is boring or mundane, there is no way you will want to stick to it.

Put fitness in your First Things First box. Make it routine, an important part of you. All of those other priorities in your life will fit in neatly around you... I promise!
See you in the gym!