4 Reasons Business Success is Strongly Correlated to Fitness
Eating well and exercising aren’t just about looking good and improving your health. Regular workouts are key to operating at peak performance, and perhaps even success as a business leader. Exercising also reinforces your consistency, which is key to startup success, and overall business success. When you participate in a routine fitness program, you are instilling habits of follow-through and commitment that carry over into your business.
Being fit and healthy does more than just boost someone’s looks. Exercising is scientifically proven to make you happier. Exercise combats depression and anxiety. Happy people are also known to be about 12% more productive. Even moderate physical activity offers BIG benefits, including better immunity, healthier body weight, improved sleep, and even a sharper mind. Combined, these benefits can add up to individual and business success. People who exercise, sleep, and eat well also have better mental sharpness, drive, focus and performance, boosting efficiency in their businesses. While brain power is boosted, stress is reduced and work performance is improved.
A fit leader is a better leader.
Here are four key reasons that I believe health and fitness drives our business success at BridgeBuilder Education & Investments:
Boosts Energy and Productivity: Being an entrepreneur or business owner is hard work. To keep charging forward, it’s important to fuel those efforts. Maintaining a regular fitness routine provides more energy throughout the day. Leading a small business or an entire company is tough enough. Make sure you have the energy to do so effectively. When you have more energy, you are able to face the challenges of the day aggressively and confidently.
Provides Confidence and Creativity: A fit leader will have more confidence and solve problems more creatively. Our cognitive ability to be creative increases with even moderate levels of exercise. Try exercising the day prior to a speaking engagement or an important presentation.
Increases Ability to Face Challenges: Approach your fitness routine by always pushing beyond your existing comfort zone. Doing so increases your stamina and mental ability to endure physical and mental suffering. As a business leader, you must be able to face tough challenges every day while maintaining mental focus on your priorities.
Elevates Mental Wellness: By solely focusing on your body’s motions for a period of time, you focus less on the day’s stressors. When you exercise, your body releases an endorphin that promotes a sense of clarity, allowing you to think more clearly, which can result in better responses to business challenges. When you are performing a high intensity workout (such as our BridgeBuilder Bootcamp), it clears your mind completely, giving it a valuable time out from something difficult or unpleasant. Additionally, the sleep one gets tends to be deeper and more restful when he or she is eating well and participating in a fitness program.
As a business leader, what are you currently doing to ensure happiness, good health, and productivity?
Succeeding as a business owner and an entrepreneur isn’t easy, but it doesn’t have to be hard either. A lot of our perceived success comes down to finding ways to establish healthy fitness habits and consistently reinforcing them.
DeWayne Johnson, PMP (dewayne.johnson@iamabridgebuilder.us) is a Co-Founder and Business Management Consultant with BridgeBuilder Education & Investments, which provides consulting for businesses interested in ways to improve process, strategy, leadership, and staff development. For more information, please visit www.bridgebuilderinvestments.com.
You can ‘like’ the company on Facebook: www.facebook.com/iamabridgebuilder and ‘follow’ them on Twitter: @BBEInvestments. You can also connect with DeWayne Johnson on LinkedIn.
