Sometimes you've got to accept doing poorly

"How do you do it?"  Do what?

"All these things you do.  Like work and bike and write your column.  All that stuff."  I don't know.  It just gets done.

"I know, but you've got to have some advice for me.  I'm just getting started and I'm really overwhelmed."  OK.  Well, maybe.

First, turn off the television.  "No way.  I can't do that.  It's the only time I see my wife."  That sort of answers itself.  Uh dude, you can do better than that.

Is there really something on TV that you can't live without?  How many reality shows can one man stand?  And Bachelorette?  Really?

"But you're forgetting about sports.  I've got these sports packages so I can watch something 24 hours a day, on 10 different stations."  Do you really need to be watching the World Series of Tiddlywinks?  And you can hardly spell pentathlon, much less know what events are in it.

If memory serves me correctly, you watched the luge championship one time and then rode your kid's sled down the hill, into traffic, and then crashed into a tree.  Two surgeries didn't cure your interest in luge?

And then there's sleep.  Nobody needs to sleep until noon.  "I was up late."  Yeah, I know.  Binge watching MASH reruns really shouldn't be on the agenda.

I'll admit that this is the category that I fail on.  I don't get enough sleep.  No doubt.  I know that the research tells us clearly that we need more sleep.  It's just that I've got too much to do. 

"I've heard you brag about exercise all the time.  Your dadgum bicycle and all that.  There are just days that I don't want to exercise."

There are days that I don't want to exercise either.  But most of the time, I do it anyway.  It is part of my lifestyle.  It's part of who I am.  I do it because I want to be healthy for many more years. Right now, it's working pretty good for me.

It takes discipline (at which point my friend groans loudly).  And persistence.  And a loud alarm clock.

"OK...but back to the big picture, please."  Well, you've got to prioritize.  It is important to know what is most important to you.  You've got to have a plan.  Know what you want in life and understand what it takes to get there.

Some days it's important to knock out all the little tasks first and then move on to the most important big task.  Other days it helps to get all the easy stuff out of the way before you go to the harder stuff.  And sometimes it works best to tackle the hardest thing on your list first.  In other words, you've got be flexible. 

And one more thing.  You've got to be willing to do some things poorly.  Those are the things that are least important to you...that are lowest on your priority list.  I mean, I've seen your yard.  Mowing and trimming seem to be pretty low on your priority list.

"Yeah, if it's green and growing, I'm fine with it."  There you are.  You're already on it.  Good luck with the rest of it.