“I already know what I need to do, so I don’t need a plan to get it done.”

“WRONG!” I want to shout, when I read this in Brian Moran’s book, The 12-Week Year. But maybe you’ve caught yourself thinking exactly that. I know I have. How is it we know we need to plan, but can’t bring ourselves to do it?

Over the last several months, including the coronavirus, I’ve had the most productive fitness routine of my life. Believe me, until the last year, working out could hardly have been less interesting to me. I hated going to the gym, and didn’t want to “pay the cost to be the boss” with my physical health. But I’m 60 years old now; some things last a lot longer if you take good care of them. Who would look at the season of life I’m having now, and not want it to go on as long as possible?

One thing that changed for me was realistic planning. I always felt, if I was going to work...