So I reckon it is about now when your new year resolutions are well and truly under threat, especially the fitness, health and diet related goals.
Do not underestimate how important it is to persist with them, particularly if you are in a leadership role. It is my belief that the number one factor in successfully implementing your strategies and plans is your ability to do the work. By this, I mean the energy, focus, drive that is required to deliver and a significant contributing factor to this comes from your wellbeing.
Your wellbeing must be an integral part of executing your plan.
I personally do this by committing to some form of exercise first-up every morning and it is now an integrated and essential part of my every day. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone for a paddle, a run, or for a swim where I have been struggling with a problem in my head at the start of the session to have worked out a solution by the end. At a minimum, exercise enables me to clear my head and maintain focus in moving forward and working toward my goals.
I recently saw a wonderful TED talk by Simon Sinek on the chemicals that are released from exercise, which he described as the ‘can-do’ endorphins. These endorphins help combat depression, manage stress and also give us a feeling of confidence to tackle whatever is coming next. Exercise is great tool to allow us to solely focus on our body’s motions and forget about the day’s stresses, at least for a while
Most importantly for me, exercise helps to strengthen the body making it more resilient and more capable to endure what life (and work) throws at us. The more it can endure, the more we can get through from a work perspective. Many of the people I work with neglect their body, yet their body is their most important asset when it comes to turning any of their dreams and visions into reality.
Exercise is a great way to help us feel good about ourselves. There is a level of achievement and fulfilment that comes with its completion. It helps us to feel positive and helps our brains fire up other thought patterns and decision-making processes making us more resilient and productive.
On the flip side, if you choose not to exercise, eat lots of unhealthy food, drink too much etc, your brain will slow down, your body will slow and and it will be harder to make the decisions you have to. It makes it harder to have the energy that you need to persevere. It will put your body under significant stress and at some point, something will have to give.
So, I would encourage everyone to develop a daily exercise routine for 2018 and commit to it being part of your every day. Build it into your daily routine and lose the excuses that you don’t have the time.
To help support this, here are four ways to help ensure the mattress doesn’t win in the battle to keep you in bed.
- Make the decision the night before to get up and plan what you will do – don’t try and negotiate with yourself in the morning.
- Join a squad, a club, a gym, find a work out buddy or wear a fitness device to track your progress – this will keep you accountable.
- Set yourself a fitness goal or find an event to do every few months, pay the entry fee and recruit others to join you.
- Don’t procrastinate on social media (the average person has five social media accounts and spends around 1 hour 40 minutes a day browsing these networks). Put your phone away!
