Forbes: 4 Reason Why Taking Fitness Seriously Makes You a Great Leader

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennifercohen/2014/09/10/4-reasons-why-taking-fitness-seriously-makes-you-a-great-leader/?utm_campaign=forbestwittersf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

Above, I have provided the link to an article from Forbes called 4 Reasons Why Taking Fitness Seriously Makes You a Great Leader. I absolutely love being active and healthy, so the title of this article caught my eye. As I read on, I realized that this was going to be the subject of my blog post for this week.

I have always loved working out and knew that this passion stemmed from more than just external factors. Reading this article, I had discovered an article that had perfectly articulated the main reasons why I love working out. I would like to briefly touch on each of the 4 reasons.

Reason #1: It establishes discipline. When I take time out of my day to go to the gym, I feel productive. I feel that I have overcome temporary things like exhaustion in order to invest in myself long-term. Everyone struggles sometimes, it is part of human nature. By working out on a regular basis and developing that perseverance, I feel that these skills I am developing can help me for the rest of my life. These skills can be applied to more than just my physical health. They can be applied to my academic career, my professional career and any other area of my life.

Reason #2: It builds self confidence and self esteem. Earlier this afternoon, I was actually talking about this very topic with a friend of mine. We both agreed that when we take the time to work out or be active in some way, in combination with eating healthy, we both feel a HUGE impact in the way we feel about ourselves. That is not because we feel that we look better than before, it is because we feel that we did something with our day. I did at least one thing to make myself a better person. I did one thing to develop habits that I will thank myself for tomorrow. That is a pretty great feeling to have.

Reason #3: It activates strong will. Running on a treadmill for 20 minutes straight is not always the easiest thing to do, especially after a difficult test or a late night of studying. But I continually push myself to keep going, one foot in front of the other. Why? Because running on a treadmill is a very small challenge in comparison to the challenge of life. So if running for 5 more minutes than I want to can help me strengthen my will and ability to push through the hard times, why wouldn't I?

Reason #4: It keys us into goal setting and achievement. My experience with fitness has been one of my main sources of accomplishment. I have set goals for myself, made plans to achieve those goals and then achieved them. That feeling of achievement is indescribable. Experiencing that feeling has helped motivate me to push towards achieving my career goals as well. My fitness goals have been small but still challenging. The sense of fulfillment is so great when I run that 9 minute mile, I cannot imagine how great a sense of achievement one feels after receiving a promition or being asked to speak at a conference! My experience with fitness has given me the drive to achieve both of the goals mentioned above, and hopefully in the future I will feel the sense of accomplishment that comes with those goals as well. After that, I shall move on to new goals!

I have discussed this in previous blog posts, but even our smallest habits can say a great deal about our selves. What are your hobbies and what draws you to them? How do you spend your time and what does it say about you?

#motivate #skills