Putting Structure In Your Life

If you have taken my ZUMBA fitness classes for a while, you may have noticed that there is a particular pattern that I follow.

For my one-hour class, I have 14 songs. The first is a warm-up. Then I have three intense songs, one of which always involves squats and lunges. Then comes a recovery song where we slow down the heart rate. Afterwards, we have three more intense songs, one of which always involves punching. Another recovery song follows, and then we have three more intense songs, one of which is always a pure leg or a leg-back work-out. We have one last recovery song, and we finish with a stretch.

When I first started teaching ZUMBA at the church, I didn't have any real pattern. The songs were, in some sense, randomly thrown together. But it wasn't long until I developed a particular structure, and it is this structure that makes the class so intense. Before I developed this structure, the class was moderately intense. Actually, I didn't feel it was all that intense because I would tell my wife that I don't really get a work-out from my class.

Then I put together this structure, and by the end of class, I'm ready to crash!

When you think about structure, don't think so much about strict rules. Think about structure as a building frame for a goal.

My goals for my ZUMBA fitness classes are that people get a great work-out, tone up, build cardio endurance, and as a bonus, lose some weight. So far, not only have I established these goals for myself, but also for other people who attend these classes. But before, my ZUMBA fitness classes didn't really contribute much to overall fitness -- not until I put some structure into my class.

Here's something else about the structure of my class: I don't get away from it! This structure is set in stone. There will always be 14 songs in my 60-minute class. There will always be three recovery songs, one warm up, one stretch, one punching song, etc. All I could do from this point is to build on this structure to make it better. Not to CHANGE it, but to IMPROVE it.

In my 45-minute class, it's different. One warm-up, four intense, one recovery, three intense, one recovery, one stretch.

When you have structure, you could finally accomplish something because you know what you have to work with. But take the structure away, and everything becomes random -- and you can't accomplish anything with randomness. You cannot randomly work your way to success.

While we may not be big fans of structure, we know how important they are. When definitely know how important structure is when playing games!

Just think, how frustrating would it be to play a game that had no structure? There is no set way to win and there are no rules to break. Anybody could just make up the rules along the way, and everybody would be frustrated because nobody could really win.

Back when I was teaching PE, one of the things we went over was establishing rules for any game. There were particular games the kids like to play, but the rules weren't always clear -- that is, it was really easy to make stuff up along the way. A game with unclear rules is a game with no structure. A game with no structure is a game that nobody could win, but everybody could lose.

If there is something you want to go for, you have to have structure to help you get there. Otherwise, you could just stop what you're doing because you would be making stuff up along the way. Again, you cannot win with random actions.

Can you build a house without the skeleton? Well, you can....but it will eventually fall down, and building it would be a pain every bit of the way! Once you build a foundation and a skeleton, not only would building the house be easier, but you would know what the house is suppose to look like based on the structure (which is the foundation and the skeleton).

Once the foundation and skeleton is up, then comes the walls, the pipes, the electrical, all the HVAC stuff, insulation -- you know, all the unattractive stuff that stays hidden. Once all the structure is established, then we could pretty up the house with vinyl paneling, paint, carpet or hardwood floors, window blinds and curtains, kitchen appliances, etc. But without the structure set in place, you can't bring in any of that pretty stuff that we look at everyday.

Structure could be a pain to have, but it helps you get to where you want to go. While it takes time to put structure together, once it is put together, you will take off quickly!

Establishing your own business is a challenge mostly because of the lack of structure. It's not lack of money or lack of time. It's having no plan in place to get you going. Once you take the time to build a structure for your business, then issues such as money and time would resolve themselves. But what aspiring entrepreneurs get caught up in is finding money, trying to make time, this, that, and the other and completely forget that they need to first write out a PLAN -- that is, build a structure for their business.

People wanting to lose weight, get fit, build muscle, be able to run a 5K would fail at their attempts if they have no structure in place. When you have structure, a plan in place, then you know exactly what you need to do. Going for your goals randomly will just make you run in circles. You need to plan out your meals, your exercise routines, the amount of time you will put into your attempts, and address any other changes you need to make.

There is YOU and there is your GOAL. What will connect you two would be STRUCTURE. Think about building a bridge from an island to the mainland. If you try to swim, you would get tired and the waves may push you off course -- and you also might get eaten up by a shark. But if you build a bridge, you could drive back and forth from the island to the mainland with no problems. The only thing you need to consider is making sure the structure remains safe and sound.

Is your life based on randomness or structure? If you find that you're usually accomplishing what you want, then you have structure in your life. If you find that you're all over the place and accomplishing nothing, your life is based on randomness. Spend a little time building a structure and you will find that reaching goals would be easier.

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