WINNING THE WEEK
A good friend of mine created a system he uses as a short term goal he calls “Winning the Week.” With his permission, I’m sharing that system with you and expanding on it so you can customize it to your individual needs.
We should all have long term goals we’ve set to reach by the end of the year. But there are always times during a fitness program that we lose sight of those goals and begin to wonder if it’s all worth it. And for the record, those doubts come from Satan. Satan doesn’t want you to have health because he despises you and doesn’t want you to use the benefits of a healthy lifestyle to accomplish God’s purpose for your life. God blesses you with the option of choosing to be healthy because He loves you.
Look at it this way:
- God cares about your health, but so does Satan.
- God cares because He loves you. Satan cares because he despises you.
- Satan knows that in an unhealthy state, you can’t possibly serve the Lord at your highest capacity and you are more vulnerable to temptation.
Now ask yourself the following question:
Do I want to emphasize health for love or neglect it to enhance hatred? It’s your choice.
Think long and hard about that question and use your answer as daily motivation to stick with the program. If you continue with the Daniel Plan, you’re embracing God’s love. If you choose to give up, you’re showing your approval of Satan’s hatred for God and yourself and embracing his plan for your demise.
If you’re struggling with the Daniel Plan, try taking baby steps towards your long range goals by winning every week. Here’s how it works.
Make a list of the things you need to accomplish each week to stay on track with your quest for health. Think about the areas where you struggle and write them down. List 10 weekly goals and if you reach 7-8 of them, you win the week! An example list may look something like this:
| Weekly Goal | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Eat Breakfast | W | L | W | W | W |
| 2. 3 Workouts/week | L | L | W | W | W |
| 3. 3 Servings of Veggies Daily | W | W | W | W | W |
| 4. 3 Servings of Fruits Daily | W | L | L | L | W |
| 5. 7 Hours of Sleep/Night | L | L | L | W | W |
| 6. 10 Ounces of Water Daily | W | W | W | W | W |
| 7. Eliminate Evening Wine | W | L | L | W | L |
| 8. Reduce Meal Portion Size | W | W | W | W | W |
| 9. Daily Prayer Time | W | W | W | W | W |
| 10. Daily Act of Kindness | W | L | L | W | W |
| Win the Week? | YES | NO | NO | YES | YES |
The (W) means you won in that category and the (L) obviously means you didn’t do so well…you lost.
By keeping a weekly chart, you can see at a glance the areas you need to focus on from week to week. Notice I added categories not only for physical health but spiritual health as well. Strive for balance in your life to achieve maximum health. Encourage your kids to have their own charts as well and make this weekly competition a family affair. Win every week, work to turn every L into a W and you will stay on track towards reaching your long range goals by the end of the year!