09/03/2026
Work is really busy. Or your kid is going through a “phase.” Or it’s pie season. Any number of obstacles, distractions, and competing demands can make it so easy (and understandable!) to put your fitness, nutrition, and health goals on hold.
Most of us have done this. We tell ourselves, “I’ll start that new habit when life calms down a bit.” Problem is… Things never really slow down permanently. And so, we persistently delay improvements to “another time.”
Occasionally, life does offer a tiny, ideal window, and we try to do it all—all the food prep, all the fitness classes, all the meditating. But it’s just a window. When it closes, we’re stuck again, struggling to make progress.
Making sure you keep moving starts with a paradigm shift - your health habits are not an “on” or “off” switch; they’re on a dial.
When life is sweet and smooth, you can turn your exercise, nutrition, and sleep dials way up. Bust through your PRs at the gym, eat all the arugula, meditate like a monk.
But if life is bumpy and crunched, just turn the dial down a little. If you can’t do the whole workout, do some foam rolling. If you can’t make healthy, balanced meals at home, add a side salad to your takeout.
Here's how the dial method might work for exercise, but you can apply this same thinking to your nutrition, sleep, stress management, relationships, and environment:
1. Park farther from the office to walk more.
2. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
3. Do a 10-minute workout next to bed in the morning.
4. Do a reasonable challenging 30-minute workout three times a week.
5. Do three 30-minute workouts a week and a daily 20-minute walk
6. Do three 1-hour gym workouts a week and a daily walk.
7. Do your gym routine four times a week, and hike on the weekends.
8. Do five 1-hour workouts a week and a daily 1-hour walk.
9. Do a challenging 60 to 90-minute workout six times a week.
10. Intense daily training for a tactical or military job.
Whatever the goal, there’s a range of improvements to make—it’s never “all or nothing.” The truth is: The strongest people aren’t doing it all. They’ve just learned to do something—even on the messiest, busiest, temptation-filled days.
