This week’s Body post comes from a special guest writer, my son Jake. He turned 40 this year (you may remember his comment about how fast the year flew by), and he’s learned a thing or two about staying active when life gets full. I think you’ll enjoy his take.
Have no doubt, approaching and reaching the top of the proverbial “hill” is sobering. This isn’t a motivational speech or a lecture about discipline and grinding. Rather, it’s an invitation to learn more about yourself and reflect on how life will inevitably change for you and everyone around you as you age.
For the most part, life isn’t necessarily easier when you’re younger, but it is often simpler. You can work out, stay up late, get up early, and push yourself without giving much thought to how everything fits together. Training can become a central part of your routine simply because there are fewer things competing for your time.
My experience was much the same during my college years, but man, 40 just hits different. Work demands more of my attention. Family deserves my time. Responsibilities that didn’t exist ten or fifteen years ago now occupy space in my schedule. By the time I finally have an opportunity to train, the last thing I want to do is put on my shoes and get moving. And honestly, that’s okay sometimes.
I genuinely enjoy training, growing stronger, and doing challenging things. Outdoor activities such as mountain biking and hiking are favorites of mine. They aren’t just means to an end for getting in shape. They give me something to work toward, a reason to get outside, and a sense of accomplishment that carries over into other parts of life.
The struggle is finding room for those things alongside everything else. A busy workweek can leave you mentally exhausted before you even consider physical fatigue. Time spent working, driving, handling responsibilities, and being present for family adds up quickly. There are only so many hours in a day, and not all of them belong to you.
When time and energy are limited, it becomes easy to put off the things that matter to us. We tell ourselves we’ll get back on track next week, when work slows down, or when the weather improves. Sometimes those circumstances never really change. Eventually, the struggle becomes less about finding motivation and more about finding a way to make our priorities fit the lives we actually live.
Reduce the friction: Stop making consistency harder than it needs to be
It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing the answer is simply to try harder. Be more disciplined. Find more motivation. Get up earlier. Make better use of our time. And while discipline certainly matters, I’m not convinced that trying harder is always the answer.
Sometimes, we need to step back and ask a different question: What would this look like if it were easy?
Author Tim Ferriss has popularized this question as a way of challenging ourselves to reconsider how we approach problems. I like it because it shifts the focus away from how much effort we can force ourselves to give and toward how we can remove unnecessary obstacles between ourselves and the things we want to accomplish.
Think about training, for example. If getting to the gym requires packing a bag, driving across town, working around a crowded schedule, and finding the energy to complete an entire workout, there are plenty of opportunities for the day to get away from you. Sometimes, the workout never happens.
But what if you had a few dumbbells, a kettlebell, and a bench at home? What if you could get in 20 or 30 minutes of meaningful training without leaving the house?
You haven’t eliminated the effort required to get stronger. You still have to pick up the weights, do the work, and challenge yourself. What you’ve eliminated is some of the unnecessary effort required just to get started.
That’s what I mean by reducing friction. It’s about recognizing where we make things unnecessarily difficult and finding practical ways to simplify the process. The goal isn’t to avoid hard work. It’s to reserve more of our time and energy for the work that actually matters.
Small changes, lasting impact
Reducing friction doesn’t have to involve a major lifestyle change or an expensive investment. Often, it starts with identifying the little things that repeatedly get in our way.
If you struggle to get out the door for an early workout, lay out your clothes the night before. If you want to ride your mountain bike more often, keep it maintained and ready to go instead of letting basic maintenance become another reason to postpone a ride. If winter makes outdoor training less appealing, have an indoor option available so your entire routine doesn’t depend on the weather cooperating. For me, access to a spin bike has been pivotal.
The point isn’t to turn every aspect of life into an efficiency project. We don’t need to optimize every minute or squeeze productivity out of every waking hour. Sometimes, the best use of our time is to do absolutely nothing.
Instead, the goal is to be intentional about the things we want to protect. When something genuinely matters to us, it’s worth considering whether the way we’ve organized our lives helps us follow through or makes it unnecessarily difficult.
Consistency doesn’t have to look perfect
Another thing I’m learning is that consistency doesn’t mean doing everything exactly as planned. Life at 40 requires a degree of flexibility that we might not have needed when our schedules were simpler.
Some weeks, training might go exactly as intended. Other weeks, work runs late, family needs your attention, or your body tells you it needs a little more recovery. The ability to adjust without abandoning the bigger picture becomes just as important as having a plan in the first place.
There’s a difference between adjusting your approach and giving up on your priorities. Learning to recognize that difference takes some self-awareness, and it means letting go of the idea that every workout has to be perfect to count.
I think this is particularly important as we move into the colder months. For me, the shorter days, less daylight, and the temptation to settle into the comfort of the couch can make it harder to maintain momentum.
If your entire routine depends on ideal weather, unlimited time, and feeling motivated, winter can quickly derail your progress.
Having alternatives doesn’t mean lowering your standards. It means acknowledging reality and giving yourself options. You can still pursue meaningful goals without expecting every week to look the same.
Build a life that supports your priorities
Turning 40 hasn’t made me want to do less. If anything, it has made me more aware of how much I still want to do. I want to keep getting stronger, improve on the bike, spend time outdoors, be present for my family, and continue challenging myself in ways that make life interesting.
But I also recognize that I can’t approach every day as if I have unlimited time, energy, and recovery. The answer isn’t to grind myself into the ground trying to maintain the same routines I had when life was simpler.
It’s to build routines that make sense for the life I have now. Maybe that’s part of what growing older teaches us. Discipline matters, but so does knowing yourself. So does being adaptable.
As we approach another winter, another busy workweek, or another season of life where time seems to disappear faster than we’d like, consider asking yourself that question:
What would this look like if it were easy?
Not because you’re looking for shortcuts or an excuse to do less, but because you want to keep doing the things that matter for years to come.
At 40, consistency isn’t just about finding the willpower to push through today. It’s about building a life that makes it possible to show up again tomorrow.
About Jake
Jake holds a Bachelor’s in Kinesiology and a Master’s in Health Administration, and he’s a Certified Athletic Trainer. He once co-owned and ran a CrossFit gym, has worked at an orthopedic clinic, and today works for Boston Scientific, a medical device company. He’s married and a stepdad to three, and he can often be found taking care of the family pets, two dogs and two cats. When he can, he’s out hiking or mountain biking.