Need Advice for a Balance Life

Hi,

I would appreciate having somes tips to help me build a balance life and build habit that can last for the years to come. I am asking because I am currently working on myself and trying to change my life so it fit better my vision. I am asking in this forum, because I believe many gymnast had to make choice and adapt there lifestyle.

My situation: I am a full time student in university, working 20 hours week and still living in my parent house. I have a young brother (6 years old) and young sister (9 years old) wish I want to be there for them. I have a girlfriend and friends I want  to have time for them too.  On top of that, I want to increase the frequency I train and have time to read more books.

BTW, I don't drink and I rarely go to party. 

Hey Dominic,

First of all, what is your vision?

If I take a little headstart before you answer this question :

I think you have to ask yourself what are your priorities.  In my experience and as a learning PT, it's good to wish it but if your not focus on something, it's way harder to get it done.  So, what do you want?  From there, a little clean up will be already made. (Btw, I'm not saying to stop anything, but the more you're focused on a goal, the easier will be to change).

So, if your goal is to train more, you have to make it a priority, otherwise, I'm almost certain you'll find excuses to come back to old habits at some points.

In your case, you can't change your studies neither your job.  So, look at the time you spend with your family and friends and see if you can take a bit of this time for your training.  Start with one workout, then two and three... try this every weeks, two weeks or even months and see how well it fits with what you want.

It's the same with everything but you can't give full time to everything, so look to one thing at time.  This way, you'll make new habits easier to happen and to keep them.

In my experience, that's what got me to stay on GB.  I have a job and a girlfriend but I always priorities 2 periods every day to workout 

Hey Dominic,

You're not alone in the search for balance...life's to-do list is absolutely endless. One thing that has helped me is to quit trying to pack everything into a single week. Instead, try to adopt a realistic, lower-stress timeline where you can still accomplish everything.

For example, my training "weeks" are now 9-15 days long. Since I like to run and climb regularly, I had to extend the length of my ideal workout rotation to fit it all into my schedule. Once I adopted that strategy, I felt less pressured in other areas of my life, was more mindful during my sessions, and even began recovering better. For anything else that isn't fixed to a 7-day schedule like work and school, this same strategy can be used. 

Speaking of mindfulness, another thing I suggest you look into is daily meditation. I have been doing my best to meditate daily and have experienced awesome results using John Kabat Zin's recordings. His app is "JKZ" and Series 2 is fantastic. It begins with sessions that are slightly under 10 minutes long, which we should all easily be able to make time for.  

7 hours ago, Everett Carroll said:

Speaking of mindfulness, another thing I suggest you look into is daily meditation. I have been doing my best to meditate daily and have experienced awesome results using John Kabat Zin's recordings. His app is "JKZ" and Series 2 is fantastic. It begins with sessions that are slightly under 10 minutes long, which we should all easily be able to make time for.  

Good point Everett!

I also use headspace to guide me.  It's a bit expensive but I think it's worth it!

A 10 minutes daily it's good way to start.  Eventually, by getting used to it and by getting better, we can add a 5 minutes, then later another 5 and so on.

@Étienne LajeunesseFor now, my goal is to focus on what I have wrote before, but it's less important for me having time with friend. I want to be more productive during my day so I have more quality time with my family, girlfriend and more time for training. I need to learn to stop losing time a little bit everywhere. I am losing too much time being ineffective/lazy during the morning and this set the tempo for the day... I know that I have the bad habit of looking at too much think on my cellphone...

@Everett Carroll What the best moment to do the meditation?

Is there a way to kick start a morning properly?

On 10/8/2017 at 4:26 AM, Dominic Laporte said:

My situation: I am a full time student in university, working 20 hours week and still living in my parent house. I have a young brother (6 years old) and young sister (9 years old) wish I want to be there for them. I have a girlfriend and friends I want  to have time for them too.  On top of that, I want to increase the frequency I train and have time to read more books.

It's much easier to stick to the new habits if they are simple and regular- time and repetition are doing magic with you (similar to GB philosophy).

For example regarding training, instead of thinking too much about planning and scheduling, just choose to show up every day and do at least something. That way the training sticks to your daily routine naturally and soon you don't even think about it. In GB Foundation there are 3 thumbnails in program website (Upper Body, Lower Body, Core), make your minimum goal to have all of them colourful (meaning that complete all of them at least once a week). You can either stretch, jog or do some Fundamentals on the other days. If you don't feel like doing the Core today, then do something else and move your Core workout to the next day. The key here is not to overcomplicate things and not to push yourself if you don't feel well that day. Believe me, daily habit of doing even only 10minutes of something can move mountains in longer term. It works especially well if you train in the mornings. It spares up evening time for your family and loved ones and sets a good structure for your upcoming day. Add some short meditation or mindfulness session (5-10minutes) to your morning rituals to reset your thoughts and emotions and you are well ahead on re-balancing your life.

Thank for the tips guys! 

I am wondering for my sleep routine, should I aim to wake up every morning at the same time or should I favor a a sleep night of the same length?

@Janno RilloYou mention about training in the morning. Is it counter productive to stretch in the morning while our body is still tense?

@Everett Carroll I've look for the apps: Is it JKZ Series 2 the exact name or is there an apps with all the meditation?

Have you ideas of small ideas I should start implementing during my day?

@Dominic Laporte

For your sleep, you should ideally have the same schedule everyday.  That would keep your cycles optimal.  But since life is what it is, for my part, I try to get 8 hours of sleep every night, no matter when I go to bed.  But again, try it by yourself, it's the best way to learn how your body works.

For your question to Janno, limbering in the morning is a good way to start the day.  It doesn't need to be hard, just to loosen up after a good night sleep. 

Otherwise, you can try doing your daily training in the morning too.  Not always easy, but you could get used to it.

I think you can start by implementing one training at the time like we all said and keep doing it until it's part of your daily routine.  It's always easier to start small and build from there.

2 hours ago, Dominic Laporte said:

I've look for the apps: Is it JKZ Series 2 the exact name or is there an apps with all the meditation?

Have you ideas of small ideas I should start implementing during my day?

Yes, that's it. Meditate when you can. Daily, if possible. Don't overthink it. Try to get into a routine like Etienne is saying, but that won't happen overnight. Making any one of the things we've mentioned a habit is not easy, so be patient and stick with it. Like anything else, this is a process that takes time and commitment, which is why I suggested mindfulness practice for you. Becoming more mindful of your day, your priorities, the task at hand, etc., is going to help you tremendously by keeping you focused and less anxious. As with GST, the real gains are in the long-term practice and commitment so get after it, day in and day out. 

2 hours ago, Dominic Laporte said:

I am wondering for my sleep routine, should I aim to wake up every morning at the same time or should I favor a a sleep night of the same length?

 

First focus on getting as much sleep as you can, preferably 8+ hours. From there, if possible, you can attempt to keep your usual amount of sleep within the same timeframe each night. I never suggest sacrificing sleep time in order to remain in the same timeframe, however, especially for physically active individuals.