{"id":9307,"date":"2024-11-09T21:01:29","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T01:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/too-busy-for-self-improvement-try-this-60-second-solution\/"},"modified":"2024-11-09T21:01:29","modified_gmt":"2024-11-10T01:01:29","slug":"too-busy-for-self-improvement-try-this-60-second-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/too-busy-for-self-improvement-try-this-60-second-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"Too Busy for Self Improvement? Try This 60-Second Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Profit<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

\n

Because I am so much less than I\u2019d like to be, self-improvement is always on my mind.<\/p>\n

I want to become<\/g> a better writer. I want to be a better husband and father and friend. I want to be better at speaking Spanish and playing the French horn. I\u2019d like to continue to improve my Jiu-Jitsu. In fact, I want to be better at just about everything I do.<\/p>\n

Except golf. I\u2019ve happily given up trying to improve my golf game\u2026<\/p>\n

Admittedly, I get a ton of things done every day. Way more things than I ever imagined I could do before I developed the time-management system I now use. But I am still bound by that cursed 24-hour limit to each day.<\/p>\n

And so, despite my best efforts, I\u2019ve had to accept the fact that I will never have the time I need to get better at everything.<\/p>\n

Until recently, that is, when I came up with my \u201c60-second solution\u201d to the problem.<\/p>\n

Let me take yoga, as an example. Because I spend 4 or 5 hours every week wrestling, my body needs a contra-exercise to stretch me out and open me up. Yoga is the thing. Ideally, I\u2019d spend 30 minutes doing yoga for every hour I spend with Jiu Jitsu. I don\u2019t have time for that. But I do have time to spend a minute or two practicing yoga every day. So that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been doing. And though my mini yoga sessions are hardly equal to what I could do in half an hour, they are far better \u2013 physically and mentally \u2013 than doing nothing at all.<\/p>\n

Meditation is another example. I know from experience that it is very good for me. It calms me down and puts me in a better, more productive mood. There is no doubt I\u2019d get ideal results if I meditated for 20 or 30 or even 60 minutes a day. But my schedule doesn\u2019t allow it. Instead, I\u2019ve begun meditating for just 3 to 5 minutes. I do it first thing in the morning before I even get out of bed. And I do it whenever I feel stressed and almost always before I go to sleep.<\/p>\n

These micro-meditations are less powerful, of course. But they still work! In fact, I was pleased to find that there are several apps out there that allow you to adjust the timing of a guided meditation to whatever you like. Some days, I do 10 minutes. Some days, I do 5 or even 3. I know more is better \u2013 but some, I\u2019ve found, is better than none. (By the way, I\u2019ve tried a dozen apps. The one I prefer is probably the best known: Headspace. I love that guy\u2019s voice!)<\/p>\n

I apply the same strategy to working out. My standard workout is very vigorous and takes about an hour. My current schedule allows me to do it twice a week, which is really (at my age) all that my body needs. But when I\u2019m traveling or when I miss a workout, I can do a micro-workout. I have two versions. The 1-minute version consists of 25 pushups and 25 Hindu squats. The 2-minute version adds 30 seconds of abs and 30 seconds of back\/biceps.<\/p>\n

A minute or two of hard exercise can\u2019t compare to my standard workout. But when I can\u2019t do that, these micro-workouts are very helpful in maintaining my fitness.<\/p>\n

My morning routine these days consists of four micro-exercises.<\/p>\n

First, after waking up, I sit on the side of my bed and meditate. I do it for as long as it feels comfortable. Although my objective is only a minute or two, I typically do it for at least 5 minutes.<\/p>\n

Then, after showering, I do a micro-workout and then a micro-yoga session. And while brushing my hair, I do a micro-smiling session. (Smiling isn\u2019t something I am very good at. Forcing myself to grin in front of the mirror each morning boosts my mood.)<\/p>\n

These micro-exercises take such a ridiculously short amount of time that they pose no psychological threat to me. I never feel, as I often do with more ambitious self-improvement exercises, that I don\u2019t have the energy or the time.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been doing them for a while now and I can tell you honestly that (a) I have never missed a day, and (b) it feels great knowing that I\u2019m doing these things that I was hoping but failing to do in the past.<\/p>\n

And now I\u2019m asking myself: What other neglected self-improvement goals can I reduce to micro-exercises?<\/p>\n

How about singing? I can certainly find a minute or two every day to practice the scales.<\/p>\n

I can do the same with languages. There are dozens of apps that I can use to improve my vocabulary or grammar in just a few minutes a day.<\/p>\n

I know, already, that this is going to be fun.<\/p>\n

#
<\/p>\n

Do you want to accomplish 10x more in half the time? Download the free 90-Day Blueprint my coaching clients use to achieve greater success: https:\/\/www.earlytorise.com\/90-day-blueprint\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/h4>\n
\n

Mark Morgan Ford<\/a><\/h3>\n
\"Mark<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Mark Morgan Ford was the creator of Early To Rise. In 2011, Mark retired from ETR and now writes the Wealth Builders Club. His advice, in our opinion, continues to get better and better with every essay, particularly in the controversial ones we have shared today. We encourage you to read everything you can that has been written by Mark.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

\"Profit<\/a>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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