As a father and husband that works full time I have always struggled to find time to do things that are important outside of being a "good" employee, father, or husband. What almost always falls by the wayside for me is my health and wellness. Often, taking care of young children, cooking meals, and spending long hours at work leaves me tired and burned out when I get home. I'm pledging to fix this. This morning, I started on my journey that I'm going to call "Becoming a better human."
I've been reading a book by Jocko Willink, Discipline Equals Freedom, and it has truly inspired me to change how I live. In the near future I will be doing an in depth review of this book and why I think it has been so impactful to me. To provide a quick summary... I need to take ownership over my life and become more disciplined.
When I am tired after getting my kids in bed and all I want to do (and often end up doing) is sitting on the couch watching youtube videos on changing my life or building the side business I hope to create, I'm not actually doing anything to change my current situation. I'm doing lots of research without any tangible action. Jocko's book has inspired me to get off the couch, be more disciplined, and become a better human being.
Becoming a better human being is a pretty open ended goal so I hope to provide some additional clarity on what my main set of goals is going to be to start. The main areas I plan to get better at are becoming a better father, husband, supervisor, athlete, dog trainer, and sportsman. I plan to become a better human by:
- Getting up on time (4:30) every day of the week.
- Exercising every day.
- Not eating junk food including candy or sugary drinks.
- Reading content that supports my focus areas above every day.
- limiting my use of phone screen time to under 1 hour a day.
I know that this is going to be incredibly challenging to tackle for me. Not because any one of these goals is inherently debilitatingly challenging, but because I have been soft and undisciplined for a very long time. I know I'm going to make mistakes and stumble along the way, but that's ok. I'll be providing regular updates on my blog and get along to creating the youtube channel I have always wanted to create. At the end of the day, I'm the one who is going to benefit from these changes more than anyone and I need to be disciplined to make them happen.