I believe that nothing is truly a failure as long as you learn from the experience. Then, it becomes nothing more than a life lesson to improve your chances for next time. So, what did I learn in 2024?
It all comes down to two very important aspects – a lack of time management & sleep.
The two of these together make any task exceptionally difficult. In fact, being exhausted at night played a major part in my professional life as a freelance writer. I was more likely to make mistakes and had a harder time concentrating on the job.
Then again, I was also trying to write content for clients after coming home from a long day of work tending to several schools as a network technician. Still, sleep and rest deprivation held me back in a lot of ways as a professional writer.
How Time Management Disrupted My Fitness Plans
My life is exceptionally chaotic. However, it’s not always the chaos that has slowed me down. Sometimes, I got in my own way and burned more time than I should have.
What I’ve been working on lately is having a more flexible schedule to accommodate the chaos in my life. But it goes a bit deeper than that. I’m also trying to get back in the mindset that it’s OK to work after 5:30 pm or on the weekends.
I don’t view what I do for a living as “work” in the traditional sense. I truly love almost everything I do and find most of the projects to be therapeutic as a way to escape the chaos in my life. So, why do I try to wrap up the day at 5:30 pm?
For the past several years, I tried to force my “work day” into an 8-hour period. I wanted structure and to have a solid chunk of time dedicated to my profession. Because my day is easily disrupted by one event or another, I just can’t make that happen. And that’s OK, as long as I commit to making that time up somewhere throughout the week.
Instead of being so rigid in my work schedule, I’ve started to find a bit of flexibility. Yes, I’ll still try to maintain the 8:00 am to 5:30 pm work day. But I am far less stressed about chewing up the time as I’ve been working later on certain days or making up for it on the weekends.
That’s one of the major changes I’m making to the fitness challenges in 2025. I can still get to the gym as I am no longer stressed about the tiny window of time I had in the mornings. Instead of pushing to get out of the house by 5:45 am, I can go after dropping my daughter off at school or even in the afternoons. The work I am missing throughout the day can be done after hours or on a Saturday.
How Sleep Deprivation Held Back Fitness
Sleep affects both your physical and mental health in profound ways. And not getting enough of it can throw a wrench in the gears of your fitness goals. This is especially true for bodybuilders as sleeping is when you’ll do the most recovery from lifting weights.
I’ve been trying to get on a routine schedule for sleep for quite some time. But in 2025, I am fully committed to my plans of drinking some Sleepytime Tea at 8:45 pm and going to bed by 9:30. Well, at least Sunday through Thursday.
Sleep deprivation led to things like poor decision-making, especially when it came to food, and a severe lack of energy for working out. It’s difficult to get in the swing of things when you’re dragging ass and can barely keep your eyes open. Although testosterone therapy has dramatically improved my energy levels, there’s only so much that hormone therapy can handle when you don’t actually sleep.
One of my goals for the next fitness challenge is to get more sleep on average throughout the week. To do this, I’m calculating the average number of hours since last June and then comparing them. The idea is to see how much of a difference getting a bit more sleep every day makes on things like weight loss, motivation, and what I can accomplish on any given day.
Learn from the Mistakes, Not Dwell On Them
It does no good to dwell on the things you did not accomplish. Instead, use those mistakes to empower you. The more you learn today, the better are your chances the next time you make an attempt. And you should always continue to make those attempts, especially if they’re regarding things you truly want to accomplish.
One of the most common quotes I use for just about everything in life is, “Never give up, never surrender.” If I had given up when things got rocky when I began my career as a writer, I’d probably be working a job I hate right now. Instead, I kept learning and growing to achieve the thing I wanted most – to become a freelance writer capable of replacing a full-time income.
I take that same mentality into everything I try to accomplish. And although I haven’t been able to complete any of the fitness challenges in the past, I’ll continue to try until I do. That’s what separates me from a lot of other folks. I refuse to give up.
I know what I am capable of doing, and I know that if I continue to push myself, I’ll succeed.
So, don’t fret when you fail at something. It’s only a failure if you don’t learn from the situation. In which case, you’re more likely to repeat the same mistakes. Instead, understand why the situation went south to prepare yourself for the next time. Each attempt only brings you closer to your end-game goals. It’d be awfully silly to quit now when the next attempt could be the one that works.
In my case, I’m going all-in on this next fitness challenge while taking what I learned about myself in 2024.
What Did You Learn About Yourself in 2024?
Take a look at the past year. What kinds of things did you learn about yourself and how are you going to adjust them for 2025? Some of you might only need small tweaks while others need an entire revamp of the strategy. It all depends on what you want to achieve and what holds you back.
Things like self-improvement don’t happen overnight. It may take months or even years to be successful at what you want. But you’ll still get there as long as you don’t give up and learn more about yourself.
The journey can deliver experiences beyond what you could imagine. These experiences can ultimately shape your life in profound and positive ways long before you even reach your goals. But none of that will happen if you throw in the towel.
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