Had a mom ask me this question recently… How do you make workouts a priority when you work full time, have kiddos, and somehow have to keep your house clean?

THAT is a great question! Cuz… let me tell you… I battled with this one myself when I first started this crazy journey.

CAN we do it ALL?  Well… of course… YES!  We can.

Can we do it ALL and not lose our minds?  Well… um… I’m pretty sure the average woman would have a MAJOR nervous breakdown if she did EVERYTHING perfectly… right?

Kids + Perfectly Clean House + Work Full Time + Work Out Every Day + Mom Does It All = INSANITY

Unless your name is WONDER WOMAN, then what it comes down to is this… You have to choose your battles and decide WHAT are your most important priorities in the long run?

Ask yourself… in the long run…  WHAT’S going to make the BIGGEST difference in my life?

I highly suggest that you take that list and prioritize it from most important to least important.

My hubs and I did this about 10 years ago.  We were reading a book about setting important lifetime goals, so we made a list of our most important lifetime priorities.

On that list, first came God… then family… then health and fitness… THEN wealth.

The funny thing is… we went on for about 8 years after that doing NOTHING about one of our top priorities… health and fitness.

I was too busy with babies and work and everything else… I would clean my house PERFECTLY… scrubbing counters, wiping down cabinets… vacuuming.  In my eyes… at the time… a clean house was top priority.

Then… one day, I realized that SOMETHING had to change… I was constantly hating on myself… I felt gross… fat… ugly… all those things that we mamas say to ourselves when we give up our bodies for our babies and well… the busy family lives we tend to get lost in…. soccer… baseball… dance lessons… school… music lessons… you name it!

I imagined myself as a 60 year-old looking back at where I was RIGHT then.  And my 60 year-old self was disappointed that I had put so much emphasis into a clean house and priorities that really weren’t that important in the long run.

On the other end of it… my 60 year-old self was PROUD of me for actually doing something about it… facilitating that change and becoming a better version of myself… enjoying the rest of my 30’s feeling healthy and fit and having more energy… and well… the rest of my life for that matter.

So… My priorities changed.  They went from:

Kids ->  Clean House ->  Job ->  Workout

to:

Kids ->  Work Out ->  Job  -> Clean House

And let me tell you… the above order was NOT easy to decide on.

You see… I’m a perfectionist.  I can’t STAND a messy house.  I’m not generally peaceful when there’s mess all around me.

BUT… if it comes to being healthy (which will last FOREVER), or having a perfectly clean house (which will only be TEMPORARY while I have the little ones), then I choose HEALTH!

Why?  Because eventually, you will get to a place where keeping the house clean is manageable… when the little ones grow up.

BUT… if you don’t take care of yourself NOW... then the health problems will slowly start to develop, and by the time you have TIME to make your health a priority… it may be too late.  OR… you might have a lot of backtracking to do.

So… my advice to you, mama, is this…

Take care of YOU and everything else will fall into place.  You’ll be happier, therefore your kids will be happier.  You’ll be more successful at work with a positive attitude coming from the INSIDE.   Maybe you’ll even get that promotion you’ve always wanted.

My point is this… by taking care of yourself, you build CONFIDENCE.  You’ll realize that that perfectly clean house you idealize REALLY isn’t that important after all.

So take 40 minutes out of your day for YOU.  5 minutes to get ready to work out… 5 minutes to get your water & push play on a 30 minute workout DVD… and 30 minutes to get ‘er done.

40 minutes a day can CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

I would know… it has mine :)

Mama… I get your struggles… I get your heartaches… I’ve BEEN there!  So I’m sharing from the HEART!  Make the decision.  Get past your fears and JUST DO IT!

The word I can use to describe the way I feel AFTER making that change?

FREEDOM!  Pure and GLORIOUS freedom!

So from my heart to yours, I beg you to listen in carefully….  Your family depends on you to be there for them.  To be HAPPY and CONFIDENT.

My dear sweet mama… know this… you were WONDERFULLY and BEAUTIFULLY made.  You are ENOUGH just as you are… it’s NOT about having a sexy body… it’s about being the BEST version of YOU that you can be.

You’re doing this For YOU.  For your KIDS.  For EVERYONE in your life who is important to you.

So mama… KNOW in your heart that it’s OKAY to do something for YOU!  Go out there, and GET ‘ER DONE!  You’re WORTH it!  :)