THE LIFESTYLE ENTREPRENEUR

Read time - 4 minutes

Fitting it all

In this issue:

• The 24 hour conundrum

• My mixed success at managing it

• Strategy and execution

You ever notice, when you add up all the things you need to accomplish each week—let alone the things you want to accomplish—there’s not enough time in the day?

Me too.

Here’s the breakdown of the average American, based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Annual Time Use Study:

The total conveniently adds up to more than 24. That’s due to reporting methodology, but the point stands.

For most of us, a realistic daily breakdown might look like this:

• Work – 9

• Sleep – 8

• Eating, Personal Care, Transition, Commute – 3

• Everything Else – 4

And for most of us, the ideal day would also include:

• Exercise – 1.5

• Time for yourself – 1

• Time with spouse and kids – 1.5

• Something fun (watch a show, read, go for ice cream) – 1

• Connect with a friend – 1

We’re trying to cram 6–7 hours of meaningful living into a 4-hour window.

Even with smart rotation and prioritization, the math doesn’t work.

And during our peak career and parenting years—most of us are handling it poorly.

• 42% of Americans are obese

• 35% of Americans get less than 7 hours of sleep per night

• 19% of Americans have some form of mental illness

Modern life makes a healthy existence extremely difficult.

And it’s getting harder every year.

How do some people do it?

We all know people who seem to “do it all”—careers, kids, health, friends, community.

The truth is: no one has it all figured out. Everyone’s carrying something. Everyone has blind spots. But some people manage the chaos better than others.

And it’s rarely luck—they’ve designed it.

My productivity history

The 45-year-old Mike you’re reading about now has five kids—including a toddler and an infant.

And yet, I’m the most balanced I’ve ever been.

• I have meaningful work that pays well and energizes me

• I spend a large amount of time with my kids and we’re extremely close

• I live an active life—diverse sports, regular exercise, outdoor time

• I have a thriving social life that includes regular dance parties (yes, still)

And I feel great. Which is the only metric that really matters.

But it wasn’t always this way.

My younger self let life get out of balance—bad enough to impact my health, my marriage, and my mental state.

Years of correcting course—through trial, error, and some hard-earned wisdom—are what inform the writing I do today.

How to make it all work

Everything I recommend is rooted in two things:

1. What experts say works

2. What has actually worked for me in the chaos of real life

And now—spring is one of the best times to reset.

We’re emerging from the winter slog. School’s still in session. Weather is decent. The world has a little momentum.

It’s the perfect time to reassess how you’re using your 24 hours.

My approach

It comes down to two pillars:

• Strategy

  • Future-selfing

  • Planning and journaling

• Execution

  • Clarity on what’s realistic

  • Tools that actually work

Strategy: Know where you’re going

If you don’t know who you’re trying to become, everything feels equally important. And that’s how overwhelm wins.

Tools I use:

1. Future-Self Work

   • Reject the past

   • Define your future self in vivid detail

   • Audit your environment

   • Shift your daily habits to align with the person you want to be

2. Quarterly and daily planning (outlined fully in The Lifestyle Entrepreneur #8)

   • The Wheel of Life

   • The Personal & Family VTO

   • Weekly reflection

   • Daily intention setting

This takes less than an hour per quarter and 5 minutes a day.

My priorities today look like this:

1. My wellness comes first

2. Work matters—but not more than health or family

3. Friendships are on the calendar weekly

Execution: Make it happen

Daily Priorities

I list 3 things each morning:

“3 Things to Make Today Great.”

This is one of my most effective tools for staying on track—even when the baby didn’t sleep, my calendar gets wrecked, or motivation is low.

Time Blocking

Most people put their work calendar in stone, and let personal life orbit around it.

Flip that.

Lock in the stuff that matters:

• Your workouts

• Date night

• Time with your kids

• Clarity breaks

  Then build your schedule around those anchors.

Smart Multitasking

Not the bad kind—like emailing during meetings.

The good kind:

• Walking meetings

• Lunch with a friend

• Evening walk + audiobook

• Efficient workouts (compound lifts > isolation machines)

• Jiu jitsu (yes, I’m biased—but it gives you mobility, cardio, and human connection)

Your environment is the boss

If you’re stuck in life, audit your environment. Then make upgrades.

• Reduce your commute (over time)

• Choose gyms, coffee shops, grocery stores that make routines easier

• Build a home setup that supports how you want to live

• Spring is perfect for doing this—spring cleaning, home reset, calendar refresh

Something > Nothing

Life derails even the best plans. So you need a fallback system.

• A 5-minute bodyweight workout

• A 3-minute walk

• A single call to a friend

• One paragraph journal entry

If you stay in motion, you stay alive. Momentum over perfection.

Final Thoughts

The best systems are the ones you actually use.

Spring gives you the energy to try something different. Take one or two tools from above, and just start.

Audit your days. Add one new habit.

Try one thing to regain 30 minutes.

That’s all it takes to shift from default mode to designed living.

Talk to you next week,

Mike