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5 Reasons You Should Get Fit To Improve Success In Your Career!

"You have the mind, but you have not the body, and without the help of the body the mind cannot go as far as it should. You must make the body."

- Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. speaking to his future great, Presidential son, Teddy

Through all of my years working as a fitness trainer, I have worked with people from all walks of life. As far as careers of those I have worked with, they have been just as diverse. I have worked with people who are medical doctors, entrepreneurs, at home moms, architects, insurance salesman, teachers, realtors, software salesman, et cetera, et cetera. Now bear with me on this, as I have a reason why I am telling you this.

When you start a fitness program, at first, the usual thing you are concerned with is improving health and improving self-image. Both are valiant and very good reasons. You want to be more attractive. You may want to improve your sex life. You want to feel comfortable walking down the beach or going to a party in a nice outfit. Maybe, you want to decrease your blood pressure or decrease your chances of developing diabetes. Either way you look at it, what you want to change is how you "feel" about yourself. You want to improve energy and vitality. Once again, those are very good reasons.

However, what you may not think about is the impact it has on your ability to improve work-related performance. That when you look better and feel better, you begin to think clearer. You have less sick days. You become more organized. Your self-esteem improves, therefore, you sell better.

So, why am I telling you this? Well, considering that the majority of Americans are overweight, don't exercise regularly or eat right, there's a good chance that you may fall into that category. If you do fall into that category, why don't you do something about it?

Well, it could be that of what I hear as the number one excuse why most people don't incorporate a wellness program… "I don't have enough time!" Does that sound familiar? Maybe, it is something you have said before?

I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard it. "I can't go workout, because I am too busy." However, my appeal to you is this…

If you want to Improve Self-Esteem, Improve Relationships with Customers, Improve Your Ability To Sell Better, Improve Mental Capacity, and Decrease Stress, you absolutely have to incorporate a fitness and health program in your life. Stop making excuses and start doing something about it. I'm hoping that I might give you something else to motivate you. If you understand the potential that it actually may lead to more wealth and success in your life, you might just do it. Let's go into more detail on each one of these reason:

Reason #1: Improve your Self-Esteem- When you look in the mirror, what do you say to yourself about the way you look? If it is not positive, what do you think other people may say about you? I'm not trying to be mean, but as Dr. Phil McGraw say, "let's get real about it." There is no question, that you exude and project how you feel about yourself onto others. Now, keep in mind, that if you are overweight and are perfectly fine with it, then none of what I am about to tell you applies.

Study after study shows that if you are overweight or obese, you are more likely to suffer from depression and be less likely to want to go to social events. Frequently, I have prospects calling me to help them get into shape for an event such as a wedding, a vacation, a reunion, or work related conference. While sitting in front of me, I see them in tears crying out, "I can't be seen like this."

If you have similar thoughts and feelings, I guarantee that it has in impact on your career. When you feel great about yourself, you don't care about what people think about you. You don't care because you are already operating at a high level. When you have that thin waistline as you wear your suit, you walk into your place of work with confidence.

You don't have to look like a fitness model to improve self-esteem. You just have to accept who you are and do the best you can with what you got. When you exercise regularly, eat right consistently, get plenty of rest, et cetera, it becomes more about how you feel on the inside more than the outside. It just so happens, that when you focus on the benefits of wellness on the inside, you will improve the way you look. Therefore, you have a higher self-esteem. If you don't believe me, just ask that one person you know you think is a "fitness nut" in your office.

Reason #2: Improve Your Relationships with Your Customers- Yes, I said to improve your relationships with your customers. Think about it. Obviously, when you have a higher self-esteem, people are going to like you more.

When your customers talk about you they say things like:
"You can depend on George, he's got a lot of energy."
Or, to be politically correct, "Susan is a little firecracker, she gets it done."

If you're out of shape, they may say nice things about you but it's more like this:
"I like ol' George. He's a good guy."
"Susan? She, uh she's really nice and sweet."

Between the "in shape" George or Susan and the "out of shape" George and Susan, which do you think makes the referred prospect feel more comfortable.

Being fit and feeling good for your customers is not much different than that of the relationships you have with your friends, family, and the intimate relationship with your partner. When you look and feel you best, you are more reliable. You get more things done. You become the "go to" guy or gal. People just like you better.

While being fit, you are less likely to be negative and you'll have a healthy, positive attitude. No one wants to be around someone who seems to always have issues with health and have (though they can be mild) complaints about aches and pains. I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm just stating the truth.

Once again, who would you most likely rely on or feel comfortable with? Using the services of someone who had zest, or someone who seemed slow and melancholy?

Reason #3: Improve Your Ability To Sell: This is a no brainer. When is the last time you seen someone 50 pounds overweight advertising a product. Not even Lane Bryant goes that far. What's ironic is I have yet to see a McDonald's commercial with an overweight, tired looking individual promoting a burger, fries, and a Coke. As a matter of fact, they do quite the opposite. They go as far as hiring athletes (who should be ashamed of themselves) who are in peak condition promoting their products.

If you don't accept this, then you simply don't accept reality. Studies have proven that when people make decisions as to who they want to hire, select as their representative, or even their friend, they tend to choose the fittest looking of the bunch. It puts new meaning to "survival of the fittest." Now, is this solely based on looks? I don't know, because I haven't found any info to validate that. However, there is no question that when you feel and look your best, you approach situations with vigor and confidence.

Think about it beyond skin deep. In her book Take Action, Susan Bixler talks about how body language has a lot to do with one's ability to get the deal. Your posture and the way you carry yourself is observed at the subconscious level. As it said, more than 70% of your communication is non-verbal. By looking your best, you can send a message that you are the top dog for the job.

Reason #4: Improve Mental Capacity- More scientific studies have been done to prove this. I guess because it is less a societal issue, but more at the individual level. Therefore, it is easier to measure.

Anyway, what studies have shown is that when compared to their non-exercising, unfit counterparts, people who exercise have better memorization, take less time to answer questions, and are more decisive. They also talk about how much more focused they seem to be.

When you are trying to improve your ability mentally, there is a good chance that you read and go to seminars. Those are things that you should do to "exercise" the mind. However, to help your mind "exercise" itself better, you must exercise the body. And, of course eat right. Doing these things increase blood flow to the brain. It is so powerful that exercise is being used as an excellent form of treatment to slow down the progression of Alzheimers.

In his famous book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Stephen R. Covey goes into great detail in his seventh habit about the importance of physical activity. In case you don't know, the seventh habit is "sharpen the saw." He explains that you can have all the other habits of 1-6, but if you don't sharpen the saw, you can't maintain the other habits in balance. You will keep slipping.

Reason #5: Decrease Stress- Decreasing stress is beneficial from both a physical and mental point of view. Most likely, you are stressed because if organizational and time management issues. These are issues that are covered in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. So, if you're stressed because you "just don't have enough time," how in the world are you going to fit in exercise and eating right.

Well my friend, I already told you. You must organize and find the time. No matter how hard you try, there will never be more than 24 hours in a day. So, what it is about is creating a mind that can get more done in a shorter amount of time.

In the article "The Making of the Corporate Athlete" (Harvard Business Review, 2001), by Jim Loehr and Tony Swartz, states that "emotional and mental recovery" can only be achieved by incorporating the elements of weight lifting, cardiovascular exercise, eating right, and getting plenty of rest. They find that by incorporating physical activity, participants "work fewer hours and get more done."

This is an article not written by a couple of joe-shmoes. They are highly educated individuals trained at improving what they call the Ideal Performance State of an individual and company level. They won't even work with you unless you have a program to improve physical activity.

To Conclude:
If you believe that anything that I told you was just conjecture, well, there is documented proof that those who weight train and do cardiovascular activity are "fit" to succeed. A study of members of Chambers of Commerce in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky demonstrated that those who are actively involved in a physical wellness program are 14% more likely to make more money than their non-exercising counterparts. (This is only one modern study, there are many more.)

What you've just read is a very brief explanation behind why you should incorporate physical activity; eat right, et cetera, to improve your career. This subject has been written about in books, magazines, and other little reports such as this one. However, out of all the self-help facets you are preached to about, you are least likely to develop your physical capacity to get things done better.

Instead, you spend hours behind the desk and at home, relentlessly marketing, scheduling, going to seminars, and going to meetings. By the time you're done with all of that, you feel tired and unmotivated to do anything else. Especially go exercise. Most likely, you are interested in looking and feeling better, improving health, and decreasing stress. However, you're simply not doing anything about it. I strongly urge you to seek the services of a fitness professional today. Whether you use my services or not, it could very well be the best thing you could do for yourself.

If I can be of any assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me. You can visit me at www.KellyHuggins.com or www.FitnessSandySprings.com (if you reside in Sandy Springs, North Atlanta area). You can also call my office at 404.303.8305 or cell at 404.936.3480. E-mail is Kelly@kellyhuggins.com.