At No Excuses CrossFit, we have checklists for everything in our gym, so we always deliver the best service. 

We have checklists for opening the gym, coaching classes, cleaning and so on. These standard operating procedures ensure we never miss steps.

Do you have a health and fitness checklist in your life? You might have a mental list of “stuff you should do,” but what if you had an actual checklist that helped you stay on track every day?

If you had a list of essential activities, I bet you’d be more inclined to do them. And as you link together strings of checkmarks, you’ll feel great about yourself and build a ton of momentum.

To help, I’ll give you a basic daily checklist for health and fitness. I’ll put just eight things on the list — enough to have a huge effect on your life but not enough to make you feel overwhelmed.

Copy the list and paste it into a doc so you can edit it. Add things that are important to you or delete items that don’t fit your plan. Then print the list and cross stuff off as you get it done every day – you can use an app for this if you prefer. At the end of the day, I bet you’ll have a great sense of accomplishment. 

Here’s the list:

• Include protein at breakfast. 
• Eat veggies at all three meals. 
• Eat a healthy snack that’s high in protein and low in fat.
• Pick up healthy food for tomorrow’s meals.
• Do a workout.
• Move outside the gym for at least 20 minutes.
• Spend 10-15 minutes stretching.
• Get to bed on time so you’re rested for the next day.

If you did those eight things every single day, what do you think would happen?

I’ve seen dedicated people do that stuff daily, and I can tell you what happens: They make incredible progress toward their goals. They get fitter and healthier, they have more energy, and they earn a great sense of purpose. 

So what happens on days when you can’t do everything? We all have “disaster days,” right? Well, just do whatever you can—even crossing two items off the list is a big deal. 

For example, if you have a brutally busy day but eat veggies at every meal and go for a 20-minute walk, you’re still winning. That’s more than most people do on a good day!

The list will help you stay on track on bad days and good ones, and eventually, you might not even need it anymore because you’ve created some great habits. 

But to start, enter the list in a tracking app or physically print it out. Just make sure you have some way to review your progress so you can see how much you’re accomplishing.

Whenever you need a boost, look at all the boxes you’ve checked and take pride in your hot streaks. I guarantee that it will motivate you to keep working on the list every day. You’ll start making great progress toward your goals, and progress is addictive!