In the business seminar my husband and I attended a couple of weeks ago, the presenter said that exercise is key to developing the right mindset for business success. However, when you’re juggling home life, family life, and running a growing business, how in the world are you supposed to find time to exercise? Are you one of those who joined a gym in January? How many times have you made it? Driving to the gym, working out, showering, then driving on to work or home equals a huge time commitment each day; and it’s so easy to subtract that from your busy schedule.
What if, though, you found an exercise that takes less time but still has good benefits? The presenter shared that he runs a mile almost every day. It takes him about 10-15 minutes, but then he’s done. (He also shared that, when he was in the Corps, he could run three miles in 18 minutes.) Slow is okay; it’s far better to be slow than not to exercise at all, and the slow mover is still making more progress than the couch potato.
I spend 30-60 minutes a morning, five days a week, doing stretches, resistance work, and toning; there’s absolutely no shortcut to that. Then I spent another 45 minutes 4 days a week walking almost three miles. That was before last Thursday. My trike showed up, all sleek bright yellow, 24″ wheels, six speeds, and a seat perfectly suited to my tushy.
Now I can bike those three miles in 20 minutes (I’m still building up speed), getting the heart rate up there, pushing the legs to firm up and get stronger. The calorie burn is roughly the same as walking, but it takes half the time. Pretty sweet, huh? On top of that, my knees have been feeling much more amazing, and on the weekends, I have time to add a walk onto that bike ride. Another benefit is, I feel exhilarated for a substantial period afterwards, but then I start feeling really draggy around 9:00, which means I crash into sleep quickly and sleep soundly through the night.
This week’s business take-away is, get out and exercise, even if it’s just for a few minutes a day. It’ll help renew and recharge your mind and body, making it easier to give focus to your business life. That time also allows ideas to fall out of the ether, which can spark some amazingly outside-the-box creative processes! Make it happen!
