Be Selfish . . . try it . . . for a month!

This headline caught your eye, didn't it? Was it because I'm asking you to be selfish and selfishness is frowned upon in our culture? To be honest with you, I don't think there is anything wrong with be selfish . . . isn't selfishness putting yourself FIRST before all others? If yes, and you are selfish by putting FITNESS FIRST, then I really think everyone will benefit!

Imagine what you could accomplish if you were selfish about your time and put FITNESS first. If we put nutrition and exercise FIRST in our lives, what would we be capable of?

Most people would say that if they put fitness and nutrition first in their lives, that they would get into the best shape of their lives. But, then they pause and come up with a million excuses on how that is just too impossible with their lives: "My wife/husband doesn't like to eat healthy"; "my job is way too stressful and I travel too much"; "I don't have money to eat healthy"; or, "I like to meet my friends on Friday and Saturday nights at the local pizza joint and have some food and beer!"

I totally get that our lives are busy . . . Being in the fitness industry and spending 13 hours in the gym, the last thing I want to do is spend one more hour in the gym to get my personal workout in. WE ALL HAVE EXCUSES . . .

But . . . let's think about this: The "fitness first" philosophy.

I challenge you to spend the month of October putting fitness first. That's right, you are allowed to be selfish to accomplish these three things:

1. You do NOT miss a workout. No matter what!

2. You consume healthy calories that allow you to reach your goals.

3. You say no to any obligation that keeps you from getting your necessary 7+ hours of sleep and keeps you from getting your workout in.

Give yourself permission to be selfish . . . if just for the month of October.

Are you second guessing your ability to make fitness a priority for the month? Well, let me show you what you think might happen if you prioritize fitness and then what will happen instead:

Workouts: You write your workouts (in pen) on your calendar and make a "meeting" with yourself to be there. ONLY the "end of the world" will be able to stop you from making this appointment. You let your co-workers, friends and family know that workouts come first (if just for that month).

If you are at work and a meeting runs late or you're stuck at work late . . . give yourself permission to leave.

You might think these actions will get you fired. Or, your kids and spouse will disown you, but instead you will find that getting your workouts in makes you feel amazing . . . gives you more energy for your work, family and play. When people realize that your workouts and health are a priority to you, they WILL respect that. They might even be jealous of your ability to put exercise and nutrition first.

Eat Well: You need to reach your caloric intake for the day and get your veggies and proteins. If you travel a lot, give yourself permission to eat at more expensive restaurants instead of fast food so you can find more vegetables and good meats.

You're sitting there right now thinking to yourself . . . but, eating healthy is so expensive . . . I'm going to go broke and I have no time to prepare healthy meals, right? Well, perhaps at first eating healthy will seem more expensive or the time it takes you to cook a healthier meal is longer than before . . . but, once you get into the habit of doing this it will be more manageable.

Sleep: Find a time to go to bed and stick with it. You tell your friends that you can't go out until 3 in the morning 2-3 times a week. Or, you get off your computer before bedtime so you can fall asleep. Try to get 7+ hours of sleep each night.

You're thinking to yourself right now . . . but, if I go to bed early, I might be missing out on things. Instead, think about how much less coffee you will have to drink in the morning because you feel more "well rested". Or, you're making incredible gains in the gym because your body gets its' recovery each night.

Wrapping it up . . . I'm not asking you to be a bad person and only care about yourself in every aspect of life. I'm asking you to just put your fitness FIRST for a month and experience the differences in your life.

Be selfish and put fitness first for the month of October. To help you with this and give you some good guidance, check out my "28-Day Body Transformation Challenge" coming up Oct. 2. This is the perfect opportunity for you to give "temporary selfishness" a try.

• Yes, it requires a shitload of discipline.

• Yes, you’ll probably need to give up a few crappy TV shows.

• Yes, you’ll need to work on the systems that govern your day.

• Yes, you’ll need to be more productive at work.

• Yes, you’ll need to build a batcave.

• Yes, you’ll need to get your friends and family on board.

• Yes, you’ll need to let your coworkers know that you need to leave at a specific time.

• YOU GOT THIS!!!! Let's do this together.

• *** Idea of this article taken from "Nerd Fitness" online.