Many of my friends ask me how I find the time to exercise 4-5 times a week, work part-time, and still take 15 credits without losing my mind. To be honest, at first it was hard. I use to always skip breakfast, buy fast food on campus and never exercise. I still slip some days ad fall back to old habits. I use to say that I never had the time to do any of those things. I drilled in my head that I never had the time to make my breakfast, make it to the gym or pack meals when I was on campus till 10 at night. If there is one thing college students never seem to have enough of its time.
Now the one thing I always make time for is myself. And that means taking my health seriously. Getting to this point was difficult. It didn’t happen overnight and I’m still growing and still working out my kinks.
The main thing I had to change was my mindset. Instead of saying I never had time for this or that I trained myself to instead say that I wasn’t making time for myself. By doing so, it made not eating breakfast or not exercising irrational, because it made me confront these self destructive behaviors. This also forced me to reprioritize my time so that my health and wellbeing were not being sacrificed. Nothing but my family comes before my wellbeing. My time is now centered on my family, wellbeing, work, and studying. Things outside of those four categories, as a friend of mine once said to me, will fall where they can.
As Spring semester begins it is time to get back in school mode. The holiday cheer will linger but the days off won’t. Even with classes, work, and an internship I still make time for myself and the gym. I pack my lunch the night before, put aside the fruit I’ll have for breakfast and have my workout pack filled with gym clothes ready if I won’t have time to get home and change before hitting the gym. I make time for what’s important me.
Task: Make a list of everything you’re currently dedicating your time to. Be honest.
Question: How much time have you set aside for wellbeing?
