What are you willing to protect?

I was recently challenged by a simple but powerful question: “What are you willing to protect?”

That question stuck with me, and it led to a couple others I want to pose as well.

What are the non-negotiables that absolutely must be on your calendar?
What non-negotiables should be on your calendar, but currently aren’t?

As I sat with those questions, I had to look honestly at my own life.

How far am I willing to go to protect my workout time, and just as importantly, my wife Heidi’s workout time, as we raise a young family? (I realized I was being a bit selfish with my schedule and not doing my best to make sure she could get her workouts in. We’ve since corrected that.)

How far am I willing to go to protect prayer time, date nights, friendships, volunteer time and downtime?

When I zoomed out, it was clear that everything comes down to one concept: preparation.

I think I’ve been doing fairly well in most areas, but there are definitely a few that have slipped. And that’s what happens to many of us, not because we don’t care, but because we haven’t clearly defined what is non-negotiable in our lives. The things that matter most don’t stay protected by accident. They stay protected because we intentionally put them on the calendar and refuse to move them, except in extreme situations.

So take a few minutes and ask yourself:

What would it take for me to step up and make ______ a non-negotiable?

If for you, exercise is the word that comes to mind, then you have to decide: Are you going to wait for a health scare to start exercising? Or are you going to start now and do what you can to take care of your body?

And once you do start, then it’s up to you to protect that momentum and keep moving forward.

My mom was one of the best examples of this when it came to fitness. After experiencing my dad’s colon cancer diagnosis and watching him pass away, she decided to not wait, and she started exercising. She put exercise on her calendar 3x a week and for the last 8 years she has stuck to that. She made it a non-negotiable, and in 8 years, she very rarely has missed. That’s the kind of discipline it takes. Not just with exercise, but with all things that are important to you. Make it a non-negotiable, and then protect it by having a plan and getting it on the calendar.

I think it is great practice to occasionally take an honest, birds eye view of your life and see what needs to be adjusted. Take a few minutes today to think through these questions, then go set your non-negotiables.