How Working Out Can Lead To Success

We all know being straight up and honest with your loved ones, business associates, friends, family or co-workers is the best way to produce a conducive environment but in some areas of life, certain topics are easier to discuss than others.

Let’s take the topic of health, fitness and diet for example. Have you ever tried to bring this up with anyone and have the conversation go bad so fast that you make the shift and transition to another topic before things get really ugly!

These topics can become a very sensitive discussion because at first glance, most people will think you are noticing the reps that were once being done now being avoided or even the dreaded weight that is being put on! People can get very sensitive about their weight because the differences become obvious to them first and it makes them feel uncomfortable. They notice before anyone else how their clothes just don’t fit the same anymore. They start to feel a little sluggish. They start to question why they don’t have the same energy levels they once did. Their confidence can also go lower as they start to question their looks and appearance.

They know their diet has changed and they know they are eating more processed foods and sugars and less whole foods and vegetables but don’t have the discipline to control their habits. This can all weigh on someone and not just around their gut, it’s on their mind too and because of this their focus begins to change from being on the offensive, being deliberate, having a presence to someone who is not wanting to be seen and to someone who is playing defense.

In sports, some say defense wins championships but I can guarantee you that in life, playing defense will not lead to success. Being on the offensive and learning with purpose and a positive energy will lead to success in life.

This leads us to the point of this article which will hopefully motivate and permanently propel you to seek how to and to continually be first healthy because without our health in the right place, your level of success will never be at its full capacity. With that let’s go!

Here are some reasons why being healthy and exercising will lead to more success in your life.

POINT 1 - First of all, the ability to focus and remain sharp for an extended period of time is something that stems from being fit and exercising. Let’s consider an example of two people. We have one person who doesn’t exercise which results in taking longer to get into the flow of things at work because they are more lethargic and have less energy. Blood doesn’t rush through their body as a result of being more vascular which can hinder creativity and enthusiasm. Next, we have the other person who does exercise on a regular basis and does have the energy levels to exceed expectations and outperform their competition. Their creative mind races with new ideas because of all the time exercising, all the toxins being released from their body and all the confidence they are building while seeing their body improve on a weekly basis. Exercising promotes efficiency because your body which is in motion, more than someone who doesn’t exercise, stays in motion even while not at the gym and in places like your house or your office. Think of all the benefits and advantages you will have over your competition when you’re in a state of motion and creativity and they are not.

Point 2 - Let’s move on to another point which is critical to the success you will have in any industry and that is the ability to problem solve. Being able to problem solve, think bigger, think outside of the box, think about your blind spots or the blind spots in others and their ideas requires a high level of energy which leads to the ability to problem solve and find the best solution to a problem. Notice how I didn’t say find a solution. I say find the best solution. The person with the most energy will be the person who will sustain through an issue and be determined enough to critique all options on the table to find the best possible solution. Others in a meeting may, after some time, look at all the options, then glance at their watch and say, “You know what? Let’s go ahead with this one, it seems like the best decision.” Little do they know the most dedicated person in the room, the person who just crushed 60 minutes of cardio in the morning has their mind racing with their opinion and their strategies that dive deeper than most other opinions in the room because they have the energy to do so. This state of being is a huge competitive advantage that one day will impress your boss and even your boss’s boss!

Point 3 - The next point may be one you never thought of before but does make a lot of sense if you just let me explain. The more you exercise and the more fit you become, the less jealous and envious you will be of others. This leads to an old saying …”The more you keep your eyes on yourself and stop watching others, the more likely you won’t trip and fall”. This point cannot be overstated. People that are jealous or envious of others use their time thinking about what people are doing and what their next moves will be. All this thought about others takes away from the time you need to be thinking about your goals and the plans you have in place to achieve your goals. More often than not jealously and envy are negative traits that brew from within causing self-doubt, pain and wasted time. We need to eliminate jealously and envy from our mentality and believe it or not, it starts with exercise and diet. The more fit and the closer you are to your fitness goals the less you think about others at the gym doing their best to reach their goals in an effort to look and feel great. You know the pain and stress they are doing to look great because you are doing the same thing. This breeds appreciation and mutual respect for one another The more fit and the closer you are to your fitness goals the less you think about someone else who is miles behind you in terms of physique but has a nicer car or whatever material items people get needlessly jealous about. Let me remind you that name brand and designer clothes don’t make your body look good! Your body can make any designer or name brand clothes look great. Your body and the way it curves and looks inside any shirt is the reason why the shirt will look good. Don’t believe me? Take a look around next time you are out at a mall or at your office or school. Being fit looks great in any shirt designer or not. Not being fit becomes obvious no matter how expensive your shirt is. The other side of this point is to not be jealous of the effort people are putting into their diet and exercise plan. It takes endurance and a huge amount of effort to work out consistently and this is something anyone can be doing. So instead of selling yourself on being jealous or letting yourself be jealous of others, use this energy to audit your diet and exercise plan. Can you be doing more? Can you ask the questions that may help you reach your goals instead of standing in the shadows and pointing the jealous finger? I think we all know the answer to that question. The bottom line here is when you’re working out and exercising on a regular basis your confidence will increase because you know you’re putting in the time needed to change your body for the better. This confidence gained only through hard work cannot be duplicated. This is yours and yours alone.

Point 4 - One factor that rarely gets discussed is that exercise actually helps you remember more and it actually improves your memory. This is extremely important when speaking to become more successful. A better memory helps in all things obvious like the ability to recall information and do better on tests or exams but did you know a better memory actually will help you build better relationships? This is because people like it when you remember their names and details of discussions. People like it when you remember conversations and events that took place 2 years ago or 5 years ago. This adds to your credibility as a great person to do business with. Having a great memory automatically places you into a category that doesn’t get spoken about often enough and that is of someone who is responsible and cares about the day to day interactions they are having with their associates. There is a certain connotation people have with a bad memory which is one of not caring about details or drinking too much alcohol or smoking too often which all leads to a less equipped memory. Your memory is a huge part of your arsenal in any debate or discussion about the past. If you can, with certainty, recall more information from the past that proves your point, you will most likely win that debate and increase your reputation. A great memory is impressive and puts you into the category of someone who can be trusted and relied upon with information. Having a better memory especially helps when following up with people and when networking because you are better able to bring up conversations from the past and build upon those same conversations which actually build relationships. Asking how someone is doing today with an issue you were speaking to them about 2 years ago is a game changer if you want to become closer to anyone. Talking to someone about the progress they are having with their successes and challenges keeps you in the conversation and eliminates the awkward need to break the ice with people and get to know them for the first time again, every time you meet them! Exercise keeps you sharp and able to recall and retain more information. Exercise increases your heart rate which pumps more oxygen into your brain. Studies have even shown the antidepressant effect of exercise was also associated with more cell growth in the hippocampus, an area of the brain responsible for learning and memory.

Point 5 - Being successful and even the journey to be successful in any area of life will cause a certain level of stress and exercise, in my opinion, is the greatest stress reliever. There are many ways to release stress like over-eating, smoking, drinking, staying out and partying, gambling, watching too much tv but as you can see, exercise is the healthiest and most practical way to release the daily stress that builds up. If exercise is not the release of the daily stress that builds up, one will resort to other less healthy ways of releasing stress.

Point 6 - Something that is rarely talked about when it comes to being as successful as possible is the amount of sleep you get and exercise encourages sleep. Sleeping helps you perform better, it helps you feel and look better and it helps you outlast your competition when everyone else wants to just relax and take it easy because they don’t have the energy to keep working as you do because you’ve exercised and you’ve slept better the night before. When it comes to sleep, more often than not, the quality of your sleep matters more than the quantity because the more often you reach the deepest phase of your sleep cycles, the more your mind and body will recuperate. Have you ever tried to meet deadlines and have serious discussions on little sleep? Doesn’t work out so well does it? Was it because you stayed up a little too late the night before? The best cure for this that I know of is getting a great workout in the day before any important meeting, getting the proper amount of sleep you need and getting up refreshed and ready for any challenge.

Point 7 - All these points lead to this one which is longevity. Exercise increases your longevity which means you last longer in business which also means your value in the marketplace is higher. Side note, this has nothing to do with your age. I’ve seen many younger people not able to keep up with some people twice their age only because their energy levels diminish after a short period of time yet the much older people are still able to work the longer hours required to be more successful. This leads to the lifespan of effectiveness in the corporate world people have. People who exercise have the endurance to do what it takes to get the job done because they’ve done it already on the track or in the weight room.

Point 8 - On to our last point which is exercise helps you become more attractive. Sometimes being more attractive is simply smiling more often. You smile more often because you feel better, you have more endorphins circulating throughout your body, you feel lighter on your feet and more comfortable in your clothes. You feel more attractive and guess what …that is contagious. People want to be around more attractive people and people who are comfortable in their own skin. People want to do more business with more attractive people, people want to refer more attractive people which all help in business and being successful.

All the points above can lead to more money and success in business but it all starts with you wanting to make the change necessary to initiate the cause in your life to improve and to take advantage of the opportunities that surround us.

Start today and even if you can’t exercise right now develop a dietary plan. Initiate the steps required to start exercising and living a healthy lifestyle because as I’ve proven in this article, you can be leaving a lot of your potential for success behind if you don’t.