Imagine if you had a dozen full-time jobs.

Each job expects you to be at an office at least 40 hours per week. You are also required to travel on weekends.

Sounds outrageous to juggle all of that responsibility, right? Now imagine fitting in your family, faith, and fitness within that overbooked schedule. It would likely be impossible to serve everyone to the best of your ability.

Nowadays there are a lot of things vying for your attention. From your daily to-do lists to your relationships, this demand for your focus means your time has become your most valuable commodity.

Nothing, not even money, is of greater value than your time. It sounds counter-intuitive. After all, given the choice, most people would save money over time, reasoning that money is the rarer commodity.

You can earn back money you lose; however, once time expires, it’s gone forever. That’s why your greatest possession is the time you have directly in front of you.

Unless you establish priorities for yourself, unimportant things will steal your focus and energy.

How to Go Where You Want to Go

You've been busy before. "I'm so busy," says everyone. 

Maybe because you've said "yes" to more than you can handle. Or because you rarely say "no" to things.

But activity and accomplishment are not the same thing. Making today matter means identifying your priorities and then behaving according to those choices.

If you want to reach your health and fitness goals, you may even need to change your behaviors and beliefs.

It’s not how about hard you work. Instead, it’s about how smart you work. But you probably already know that.

While many tasks need to be done, you can’t afford to confuse activity with productivity.

You must prioritize those things that move you closer to your goals.

One strategy is to schedule "open space" into your daily calendar. What might that look like?

If you spend sixteen waking hours, creating open space means leaving a few hours unscheduled every day. You may be saying to yourself, “I can’t do that. I can’t spare three hours a day."

That’s why open space is so difficult to maintain; however, creating open space and taking essential time off is exactly what you need to learn how to do.

You can’t maintain your priorities if you fill your life with false busyness.

Maybe you can't get your core responsibilities accomplished (things like faith, family, finances, and fitness) because you're spending valuable time on FaceTube. There is always time to do what you really want, you just have to find balance and prioritize.

If you're struggling to protect your priorities, you must take ownership.

Did you ever stop to think what it means to "take personal responsibility" for something? For the most part it means, no matter what happens in your life, you are responsible.

I know there are exceptions, like my dad's mother dying when he was an infant. These tragedies are tough to explain and outside of one's control.

Andy Andrews wrote a book called The Traveler's Gift that I highly recommend reading.

In it he shares seven decisions that determine success. The first decision is "The Buck Stops Here."

This is how it goes:

Never again will I blame my parents, my spouse, my boss, or employees for my present situation. Neither my education or lack of one, my genetics, or the circumstantial ebb and flow of everyday life will affect my future in a negative way. If I allow myself to blame these uncontrollable forces for my lack of success, I will be forever caught in a web of the past. I will look forward. I will not let my history control my destiny.

The buck stops here. I accept responsibility for my past. I am responsible for my success. I am where I am today—mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and financially—because of decisions I have made. My decisions have always been governed by my thinking. Therefore, I am where I am today—mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and financially—because of how I think. Today I will begin the process of changing where I am—mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and financially—by changing the way I think.

The buck stops here. I control my thoughts. I control my emotions.

In the future, when I am tempted to ask the question “Why me?”, I will immediately counter with the answer: “Why not me?” Challenges are a gift, an opportunity to learn. Problems are the common thread running through the lives of great men and women, over the age of 40. In times of adversity, I will not have a problem to deal with, I will have a choice to make. My thoughts will be clear. I will make the right choice. Adversity is preparation for greatness. I will accept the preparation.

Why me? Why not me? I will be prepared for something great! I accept responsibility for my past. I control my thoughts. I control my emotions. I am responsible for my success.

I'd say this is a very powerful lesson. In many ways, it brings a sense of relief in the face of big challenges.

Why? Because you have the power to change your situation and circumstances.

The first step is to define your reality. Where are you are right now in relation to where you want to be?

I had a point in my life where I had to stop lying to myself. The stories that I told myself about why I wasn't showing up and being the best me in my faith, family, fitness and finances had to change.

That could only start after I stopped lying and started telling the truth. But first I had to overcome fear. The best way for me to do this was by asking myself the hard questions and journaling (writing out) the answers.

Navigating stormy weather was tough, I didn't like everything, but it challenged me to grow and get better. And that's my challenge for you today.

Ask yourself the five hard questions.

1. Where are you?
2. What needs to change in your relationships?
3. What needs to change in your spiritual life?
4. What needs to change in your health and fitness?
5. What needs to change in your finances?

Take some time to think it through and write it down. Then come back a few more times until you get it all down. I promise it will make a significant impact in your life, as it did for me.

Then you can start coming up with a plan to work on improving each of those areas. It won't happen overnight but it will happen over time.

The only way things would have stayed the same for me was if I stayed the same. I couldn't accept that and you shouldn't either.

You have way too much potential to be any less than excellent.

One more thing.

Do you need a coach to unlock your potential and help you get what you want?

There’s a reason why celebrities and other highly successful people use coaches and trainers: Coaching works.

And that's why so many people turn to fitness-and-nutrition coaches, like Coach Sharon Arangio, to help you get leaner, stronger, and happier.

Truth is, changing your lifestyle is hard. It involves intelligent work. You must be weird too.

You've probably seen the infomercials and ads claiming that you can lose weight and transform your body in just a few days. But that quick-fix diet is deceitful.

Getting healthy requires a lifestyle makeover that takes smart effort, consistency, and the support of an expert.

If any of these components is missing, the odds of success plummet.

The good news is that one component virtually guarantees the continued presence of the other two, and that's support.

You see, a world-class coach provides a proven system. A coach helps with the time factor in two ways:

• Finding time in your schedule to train (do the work)
• Sticking with your program long enough to reach your goals.

Even the busiest men and women, over 40 years, take care of themselves first. A coach will help you prioritize exercise. A coach will design workouts that are both efficient and effective.

Finally, a coach will provide the framework that you need to keep going (long after you would have stopped, if you were "going to the gym" by yourself).

Don’t try to go it alone; we all need help. Position yourself for success by working with an accountability coach.

Lead by example. Your kids are counting on you. And your grandkids. And your great grandkids too.

If you're waiting for motivation, expect to keep waiting. Instead, take a small action.

Achieve one small success. And that will give you the motivation to keep going.

To your success,

Coach Joe

Joseph Arangio helps 40+ men and women get leaner, stronger, and happier. He's delivered over 100,000 transformation programs to satisfied clients around the globe. If you want to lose weight from home, with the best online age-management personal trainer, or you want to visit the best longevity personal trainer in the Lehigh Valley, you can take a free 14-day trial.