Outsourcing ... The Busy Persons Super Power
Outsourcing The Time-Saving Super Power
What would be your chosen super power?
Super-strength? Super-speed? Flying? Turning Invisible?
It’s fun to fantasise about possessing an extraordinary gift that would transform your life and let you achieve more than you could ever imagine.
However… it’s unlikely we’re going to suddenly develop the ability to teleport.
But there is a super power that we can acquire as busy professionals.
A super power that is going to give us more time and energy!
It’s called Outsourcing!
What is Outsourcing?
By definition, outsourcing is the acquisition of external goods / services.
It’s a term most commonly used in business, so for my busy professionals, you may be familiar with the concept.
In a business… the goal is to spend as much time as possible doing the things you do best.
A lot of other tasks, will therefore be outsourced to free up more time and energy.
For example, imagine you’re a talented barber.
But for the first hour of every day you have to spend it organising your appointments.
It would make sense to hire an assistant to organise your calendar so you can spend the time doing what you do best … cutting hair!
That’s outsourcing!
How is this relevant to health & fitness?
Having worked with many busy people, one of the most common objections I encounter is that people ‘can’t find time’ for certain tasks.
Whether that’s time to:
Go to the gym
Plan workouts
Prepare healthy food
Or go to bed early
Time management can therefore be a limiting factor to a persons ability to get results.
This is where outsourcing comes into play.
3 Key Areas You Can Outsource To Save Time & Energy
Nutrition
Nutrition plays a major role in how we look, move and feel.
Yet it can be so hard to make food choices on a daily basis that align with our goals.
It may be because we’re too short on:
Time to make the food
Energy to cook the food
Ideas of what to cook
The skill to prepare the food we want
I noticed that consistently accessing highly nutritious, minimally processed, healthy food was a real challenge to our clients at Fitness Studio 46.
So we partnered up with a local food preparation business ‘Life’s A Batch’ and got our clients 10% off all their purchases.
All of the food is made from scratch, using fresh ingredients and containing a wide variety of nutrients.
Oh and it’s delicious!
The food is delivered to you and can last in the freezer for 2-3 months!
Now, enjoying a home-cooked tasty meal that aligns with your fitness goals, only takes 3-5 minutes to heat up…
With no washing up afterwards!
This, in my opinion is one of the most effective things to outsource because it not only saves you loads of time and energy…
It directly contributes to your health, how you look and how you feel.
*A top tip for getting the most from your food prep is to work alongside a coach / trainer*
It’s great to be able to get access to healthy food.
But especially if you’re looking to dial in on your physique…
Knowing how many calories you need and what nutrients you need is essential.
So it’s important to order the right foods to match your calorie / nutrient targets.
A coach will be able to help you understand what that is.
2. Lifestyle Factors
Until living in my own house and getting married, I didn’t realise just how time consuming it is to live!
Cleaning, shopping, washing, Ironing, gardening and other odd jobs.
It sometimes feels that running a home is another full-time job.
But… There are companies and local businesses who’s goal is to save you time and energy on a daily basis.
My mom actually ran an ironing service for a time… so even something as monotonous and boring as ironing, people will do professionally.
It only costs about £10-£20 per basket of ironing.
You can hire a cleaner in the UK for an average of £15-£25 per hour.
A window cleaner for £15-£25
You could get your shopping delivered as oppose to going around the shops each week.
There are plenty of everyday tasks that can be outsourced.
With the time saved each week, you could:
Spend more time with your family & friends
Use the opportunity to take on extra work
Train or do some exercise
Or simply enjoy some more downtime, rest or sleep.
It’s up to you!
3. Training
I love the saying that…
“Anybody can you make tired.. not everyone can make you better”
It’s common for people to think initially when training that if they can just break a sweat, they’ll start getting in shape.
But after a while, people begin to realise that there is more to it than just working up a sweat.
It’s usually at this point they’ll either have to research training in more depth or work with a trainer or coach.
I often compare hiring a coach, like wanting to learn engineering.
Between the internet and the library, there is enough information out there, that you could essentially teach yourself everything you’d need to know about engineering.
However…
The majority of people see the value in paying thousands of pounds to go on a university course.
Why?
Because at university your study is guided by professors and tutors with an in-depth knowledge of the subject
It’s likely they have had years of practical experience in the field.
They’ll be able to take complicated information and explain it in simple ways.
If ever you get stuck, they’re available to answer questions.
And they also have access to a network of other professionals and information that may not be easy to come by.
It would be much faster to learn a subject under the tutelage of an expert than to do the research yourself and have to filter what is relevant or irrelevant for you as an individual.
This is how I see the value of coaching.
In terms of outsourcing your training, there are various levels you can get assistance.
You could get a training programme to follow or join a challenge or course.
You could get access to group coaching, either in person or online.
Or you could work in a 1-1 setting with a coach.
I provide all 3 of these services and find individuals having success at every level.
But it depends on how much help a person needs.
Or to what extent they want to outsource.
Outsourcing your training to a good coach is going to guarantee that the time you’ve put aside to work on how you look, move and feel is actually going to be valuable!
There is nothing worse than paying a cleaner, ironing service and food preparation company each week, to free you up time to train …
Only to do a workout that isn’t getting you results.
Summary
Not having enough time and energy is a serious barrier to improving the health and fitness of busy people.
We can free ourselves up more time and energy everyday by embracing the super power of outsourcing.
3 key areas to consider outsourcing:
Nutrition
Lifestyle
Training
Despite many of these services having financial cost…
Looking, moving and feeling at your best.
Being able to live your life to the fullest in good health.
May hold more value!
So if you take anything away from this episode…
Look at your week and ask yourself “what could I outsource?”
Take action on that and then use the extra time wisely to improve your quality of life!
Yours in coaching,
Harry