“Date Day”, “Daddy Day” – whatever you want to call it – make it happen!

I have always considered myself a very lucky man, but some say that you make your own luck. Either way I have worked very hard to get to where I am in many facets of my life.

It dawned upon me recently at a business event when I was asked what I was doing tomorrow to which I replied that it was “Date Day!”

Now I was in a room with very successful people in their own right, but they were all taken aback by this notion …

One commented, “I’ve heard of a date night”, and then they asked what I meant. I outlined that Thursdays were, in fact, a full day of spending time with my beautiful wife Lauren. 

Now many equate success to wealth, but others equate it to having more time to do the things that you love or enjoy.

Yes, I am a driven person and what drives me is helping people to discover what is important in life – health, fitness and wellbeing make up the major vehicle in this process, but also to try to find a balanced and happy lifestyle.

You see happiness is what I like to focus on the most, and I then almost reverse engineer from that focus to set up what that looks like. The key ingredient being time.

So, to me spending time with the woman I love and adore the most is a vital part of my happiness and helps balance out the rest of my very hectic week juggling a successful business, three kids with their school and sporting commitments, my own health and exercise and everything else you can think of! 

Now making all of this happen took a bit of time to set up and, in fact, it started 10 or so years ago when I first started Just In Time Personal Training.

I decided that Thursdays would be “Daddy Day” and I would wake to get the kids breakfast and then either walk, ride or drive them to school (early to play some sporting games first) and depending on their stage of life spend most of that day at a play centre, the zoo, Scienceworks or relaxing and playing games or sports.

It was an amazing time and brought much joy to both me and the kids but also allowed time for Lauren to chill out and take some time to herself after doing the bulk of the parenting every other day of the week! During COVID, Daddy Day blended into family day a lot of the time and during any given lockdown, we had days and weeks of it – it was actually great for our family.

As the kids were all in school as of the start of 2021, I suggested that Daddy Day evolve into Date Day and that we spend some quality time together and to be brutally honest, it is awesome! 

So, I thought that I would put this little article together in the hope that it might prompt you to sort out your priorities – you may not be in a position to make a day of it, but perhaps it could be a two-hour date night or, if on your own, it could involve setting up some form of weekly commitment to yourself that is uninterrupted but doing something that you love or enjoy.

Life is short and we can work and work away and before you know it, life has passed you by. I don’t want that and, sure, I could possibly work harder and make Thursday a day of work, but then I could also have loads of money, lose half of it with a costly divorce, see the kids infrequently and be nowhere near where my life wants to be.

Goals can come in many forms and when happiness is your driving force, it makes it very easy to set small steps to head in the direction that you want and as the old saying goes, “if you build it, it will come”.

I hope that this article motivates you to find whatever day you want to call it and that you can make it happen.

Incidentally I am writing this article at 12.15am and it is time for bed before Date Day when I wake up! •

For more information, exercise guidance or if you have any questions, feel free to contact me by heading to justintimept.com