Derailers

I tripped over a very important consideration when it comes to my inability to really make much progress on my weight and fitness goals in that previous post. Pursuing a variety of goals invariably leads to compromises around how much time and energy I can give to any one goal. My pursuit of an MBA undermined my efforts to get in better shape. Reconciling the demands of my classes on the time that I had used to workout was one of the first things that I had to accept when I started taking classes. I couldn't workout and keep up with my classwork. The classes took priority. I eventually shifted my workouts to the morning, but late nights kept me from going out for some runs. Even more insidious was how my classes drained my willpower as the program wore on. My focus and desire waned as I got closer finishing. It took more energy to attend to the classwork. The energy I used to write posts and work on assignments wasn't there when I needed to work out.

So achieving one goal, getting an MBA, limited how much progress I could make on fitness goals. Injuries have also had a huge impact on my fitness. Problems with my feet a couple of years ago and the calf issues that plagued me for most of last year seriously limited my ability to get in running miles. The breaks that these injuries have forced on me have set me back considerably. Rather than slowly building my fitness, I go in cycles where I get in good shape and than have to rebuild as I recover from injury. I'm still in much better shape than I was a few years ago, but I have to wonder where I would be if I hadn't had these setbacks. Even with my classes, I'm pretty sure I would have attained my goal of a sub 50 minutes 10K by now if I had been able to consistently train over the last couple of years.

I haven't published some research I did at work a few years ago because my classes took away all the time, energy, and mental focus that I need to get my paper in shape for submission. It's 80% of the way there, but it's that last 20% that's really hard. There's lots of tedious work in this phase. The shift in my work day from one with big chunks to do lab work to a day broken into much smaller chunks with many more meetings thrown in makes it hard to find the time to do for this tedium while I'm at work. There is no way that it will get done at home when classes were pending. So achieving one goal, getting a promotion at work, cost me another goal, publishing a paper.

Recognizing how my goals are related, and how my success in pursuing these goals depends on factors that aren't always under my control is something I have to consider as I think about what I want to do now that I don't have the MBA commitments. I get back a bunch of my time, but I also get back all the energy that I gave to that effort. This MBA experience has made me much more appreciative of how I use my energy. Physical energy is one thing, but my mental and emotional energy is also critical to succeeding in getting in shape, being a better husband, and getting the things I want from life. I can't just throw it all out there and hope it works out. I need to focus on what I want and ensure that I'm using my energy in way that gets me closer to that goal.