A lot of companies brag about work-life balance, but the facts are that when deadlines are pressing and bottom dollars are spread too thin, your work-life balance goes out the window. I loved reading this article about how one man makes exercise his priority and why, because I constantly get the "look" when I mention that I am taking my lunch break to go to the gym. Yes, I'm taking the break that I am legally entitled to have. And yes, I'm going to go exercise and not do more work! Read on.
Excerpts from the article...
"There’s a prevalent attitude among entrepreneurs that the business, whatever that business is, comes first. It is the high priority that trumps everything else, including family, friends and especially health... I schedule my workouts during the workday and prioritize exercise over all my work activities. There is some flexibility, but if there is a conflict between a trail run I need to get in, and a meeting with a client, I’ll reschedule the client meeting first. I do this because I and my business can survive the consequences of rescheduling a client meeting, even if it means losing that client. But as soon as I start pushing workouts off, I’ll start missing workouts, and once I start missing workouts, I’m close to stopping workouts altogether...
Exercise must come first, or it’s unlikely to happen at all. If exercise stops, then my health goes downhill. With the loss of physical health my productivity at work goes down. I become depressed. I lose motivation to do the things that makes my business successful. I’ve learned firsthand that excellence in one area of my life promotes excellence in all other areas of my life. Exercise is the easiest area of my life to control. It’s easy to measure. Either I get it in, or I don’t. When I do, it lifts up all other areas of my life, including my business.
For example, when I exercise, that makes me better in every role I have, whether it’s as a husband, father, friend or entrepreneur. If I were to stop exercising because I felt that being a good business owner was a higher priority, then ironically I would end up a worse business owner than I was when it when it was a lower priority. Putting exercise first creates a win-win..."
PS) The formatting in the post is driving me bonkers!
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