Well, that’s over.
Some of you are happy. Some of you are pissed. And most of us are probably ready to watch something without being told which candidate is going to ruin our lives.
But watching how much emotion people poured into this election got me thinking.
We’ve got people treating politicians like heroes. Other people are treating those same politicians like personal enemies.
Meanwhile, we’ve got our own lives sitting there waiting for some attention.
Our health. Our families. The things we keep saying we’re going to do.
And I’m wondering how much better off we’d be if we gave those things even half the attention we give people in office.
Because here’s how I look at it.
They’re not my heroes. They’re not my personal enemies. And I’m not giving them that much space in my head.
I’ve got enough work to do on myself.
I’m guessing you do, too.
They Got Elected. They Didn’t Take Over Your Life.
Before somebody gets worked up, yes, the people in office make decisions that matter.
I’m not saying otherwise.
But there’s a big difference between recognizing that and acting like an election result decides whether you can have a good life.
Whoever won, you still have decisions to make tomorrow.
Are you getting up when you said you would?
Are you going to train?
What are you eating for lunch?
Are you spending the evening with your family, or sitting next to them staring at your phone and getting angry?
Nobody in office is making all those decisions for you.
And if we’re being honest, most of the things we need to work on were there before the election.
You didn’t start skipping workouts when the results came in. Your eating habits didn’t suddenly fall apart on election night.
Those things were already waiting for you.
They still are.
You Don’t Need a Political Hero
If your candidate won, great.
Be happy about it. Then go live your life.
You hired somebody to do a job. You don’t need to turn them into the person who’s going to save you.
You’ve still got to take care of yourself.
You’ve still got to have the conversations you’ve been avoiding. Deal with the habits that aren’t doing you any favors. Get serious about the things you say you want.
Nobody getting sworn into office does that work for you.
And honestly, I’d rather put my hope into something I’m willing to work on than sit around waiting for a politician to make my life what I want it to be.
That doesn’t mean everything is easy or that you control every circumstance.
It means you’re not handing over responsibility for the parts that are yours.
You Don’t Need a Political Enemy, Either
If your candidate lost, I get being disappointed.
But how much of your life are you willing to spend being mad at somebody who isn’t even in the room?
You’re at dinner thinking about them.
You’re lying in bed reading about them.
You’ve got a free half hour, and instead of doing something for yourself, you’re watching another person explain why you should be furious.
At some point, you’ve got to ask what you’re getting out of that.
Stay informed. Have your opinions. Vote the way you believe you should.
But you don’t have to carry these people around with you all day.
They don’t deserve to be part of every meal, every conversation, and every quiet moment you get.
You’re allowed to forget about them for a while.
Go lift. Cook something. Walk the dog. Sit in the garage with your friends and talk about something you actually enjoy.
Your whole life doesn’t need to be a reaction to what somebody in office said this morning.
Meanwhile, What Have You Been Putting Off?
Here’s where I’d rather put the attention.
What have you been telling yourself you need to do?
Lose some weight?
Get stronger?
Get back to training without quitting three weeks later?
Stop eating whatever’s convenient and then wondering why nothing changes?
Maybe you need to make a doctor’s appointment. Maybe you need to get to bed instead of watching videos until midnight.
You probably don’t need me to give you a list.
You already know what’s been bothering you.
You’ve thought about it while getting dressed. While walking past the weights in the garage. While telling somebody, “Yeah, I need to get back into it.”
That’s the stuff I want you to pay attention to.
Not so you can find another reason to be hard on yourself.
So you can finally do something about it.
You Might Have More Time Than You Think
I know people are busy.
I coach people with jobs, kids, responsibilities, and schedules that don’t leave much room. I’m not going to pretend everybody has two free hours every afternoon.
But let’s also be honest.
If you spent forty-five minutes reading political comments last night, you had forty-five minutes.
You just spent it reading political comments.
Maybe that wasn’t enough time to get to the gym and back. Fine.
Could you have made tomorrow’s lunch?
Gone for a walk?
Figured out when you’re training this week?
There’s nothing wrong with sitting down and wasting a little time. We all do it.
But don’t spend the whole evening arguing online and then tell yourself you had no chance to do anything for your health.
Take some of that time back.
You don’t need their permission. You don’t need the news to calm down. You can just put the phone down and go do something else.
Forget the Big Announcement. Make a Plan for Tomorrow.
You don’t need to declare that this is the moment you’re changing your entire life.
We’ve all heard that speech. Most of us have given it.
Just figure out what tomorrow looks like.
When can you train?
What are you going to eat?
What do you need to have ready so you’re not making every decision tired and hungry?
Start there.
If you’ve been trying to force a routine that never fits your schedule, change the routine. There’s no prize for writing down a plan you can’t actually follow.
And when a day goes sideways, deal with that day.
Don’t turn a missed workout into three weeks of doing nothing because you’re waiting for another Monday.
This doesn’t need to be dramatic.
You’re learning to take better care of yourself in the middle of a normal, sometimes inconvenient life.
Give Yourself Somebody to Count On
That’s what I want people to get out of this.
Not another lecture about discipline. Not another reason to feel guilty.
I want you to realize you’re allowed to put this much interest and effort into yourself.
You can care about getting stronger.
You can make time to prepare food you feel good about eating.
You can want to look better, feel more capable, and stop putting your own needs at the bottom of the list.
And you don’t have to wait for the right person to be in office before you start.
Every time you follow through on something you told yourself you would do, you give yourself a reason to believe you’ll do it again.
That’s worth building.
I’d rather see you develop some confidence in yourself than spend the next few years pinning all your hope, or all your anger, on a politician.
Let Them Do Their Job. You’ve Got a Life to Live.
Pay attention when you need to. Vote. Hold people accountable.
Then get on with your day.
These people don’t need to be your heroes or your enemies. They don’t deserve that kind of emotional investment.
And they sure as hell don’t need to be the reason you keep putting your own life on hold.
You’ve got people you love. Things you want to do. A body you have to live in every day.
Give those things your attention.
The election results made one thing very clear to me: I’m not waiting on anybody in office to get my life moving in the direction I want.
I’d encourage you to do the same.
Forget about them for a while.
Put that effort into the person who has to get up tomorrow and do something with your life.
You.
Ryan Padilla
Apogee Fitness Training
