There is something very therapeutic about organising your life. Today Rachel and I are having a day where we sort out our apartment – clean from top to bottom, organise work papers into order, throw away the stuff we don’t need etc. Personally, although it is a job that takes a long time, it is something I really like to do, and for lots of reasons.….

• Clearing your life ‘junk’ creates space – be it desk space or head space.
• It reduces stress – the human mind doesn’t cope well with clutter!
• It reminds you of where you are up to, be it in life or business.
• It makes you re-evaluate what is important – paperwork or gadgets you thought would come in handy that haven’t can be moved on!
• It reminds you of things you still need to do!

To me, it seems human nature dictates that we operate along nicely, slowly becoming more and more disorganised until something disrupts it, whatever that may be. I don’t think allowing a certain amount of disorganisation is a bad thing, nor is it a sign of laziness, if you use disruption as an opportunity for improvement. I have seen it in big businesses, small businesses and every day life. The pattern is consistent, so it isn’t just me!

Our disruption today is simply we have a spare few hours so can get to grips with things – that, plus the upcoming visits from a number of family members! The result will be a big improvement in the way we operate in the coming months, and hopefully more productivity from us with regards to business and life now we can reassess and get rid of things that are slowing us down and distracting us.

So you may wonder why I am talking about clearing desk space on a health and fitness website.

Well the reason is inspired from something I saw in the gym yesterday. As with most gyms, you see the same crew of regulars who train at the same time as you. Then in walked a young lad who has been at my gym for a couple of years or so. As with lots of young guys he seems to spend 90% of his time working on his chest and the other 10% doing curls.

it is clear to anyone that after 4 months you would expect to be closer to your goal.

I was once getting changed when he walked in with his friend (who trains in the same way) and I asked them what their goals were. They responded by saying they wanted to get bigger for Rugby. I gave them plenty of advice on how to achieve this, pointed out the flaws in their all-chest routine, gave them advice on their diet etc. They are not clients of mine, nor did they even ask for the advice, but I had to tell them where they were going wrong as they clearly had either never been given good advice, or had ignored the advice they had been given. I didn’t really expect them to listen, but they were polite enough to take everything on board, even if they weren’t going to put the suggestions into action. At least my conscience was clear – I had tried to help them in a small way!

I hadn’t seen either of them for a while, as my schedule meant we have been training in various gyms, and at various times. Yesterday however we were training in our usual gym, and one of the young guys walked in, went straight to the dumbbells and started performing his usual chest routine! Not a problem, it may have been part of his schedule that day, but he was absolutely no bigger than the last time I saw him, which must be 3-4 months ago. Whether or not you are involved with exercise or know much about training, it is clear to anyone that after 4 months you would expect to be closer to your goal.

So the point of the article is how often do you assess you training schedule? How do you evaluate your progress and whether or not your training is actually getting you anywhere? If, like the guy at my gym, you are working hard but not actually achieving anything you want to then it is time to have a look at what you are doing, looking for clues at to why something isn’t working and you aren’t achieving. Exercise feels good; achieving your goals feels better. Don’t waste your time, effort and money on a plan that isn’t a catalyst to your wants and needs.

I have written a few articles on goal setting and given a few tips and pointers, but I do so because I live my life by lists, plans, schedules etc – I have to! Every day I have a list of objectives, I know what I have to do, and where I have to be (whether or not it all gets done is a different matter!) To some degree, I am in an almost never-ending search to make myself more efficient both at work and with my training – read my article on training smart for an example. Having a plan makes life much more simple and goals far easier to achieve.

Regular readers will know that recently a small HF team completed a 900 mile bike ride from one end of the UK to the other. We did this as complete amateur cyclists (the longest we had ever ridden before was less than 20 miles) and had only owned our bikes for 6 weeks before we set off on the epic journey! We managed to prepare for the event by sticking to a schedule of training that was event-specific. There was no point in us continuing with our usual routine as it wouldn’t have been much help when it came to battling the Scottish highlands! This was a case of changing to suit m goals. I won’t lie and say that I particularly enjoyed some days, but my goal was set and in many ways, suffering is part of the experience! I am now writing a book on the experience as some sort of therapy – hopefully putting my experience on the page will help me get over months of cardio training!

So going back to assessment of your routine, start with your goal and work back. Have you measured your progress? Are you bigger, stronger, faster, leaner? I am not saying you have to measure progress to the nth degree – it could be as simple as ‘do I look leaner?’ If that works for you, then fine. My message is don’t become attached to the programmes that you enjoy if they aren’t working for you. Remember – achievement first, enjoyment second. The real enjoyment and satisfaction comes from knowing you have achieved what you set out to do, whatever that may be.

Now if you will excuse me, I have lots of house-tidying to do…..

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