The Relationship Between Physical Fitness and Financial Success
[content field=”callout1″ format=”true” class=”calloutwide”]Each January, gyms fill up with New Year’s Resolutioners, eager to work off the pounds. As the year goes on, some of those gym members will fall away, their high aspirations of weight loss long forgotten. Yet research shows that excess weight may have an impact on more than your waistline. It could indirectly affect your wallet, as well.
A study published in 2013 about physical fitness and young students found a link between physical fitness and school performance. Could this same link exist in adults? Some experts believe it does. Here are three reasons physical fitness could boost a person’s financial success.
The Mental Benefit
The study of students found that those who were physically fit were better able to absorb and retain new information. Similar benefits have been seen in adults. Multiple studies have shown that exercise increases blood flow, thereby delivering more oxygen to the brain and improving cognitive ability.
By starting out the day with a brisk run or a stop at the gym, an entrepreneur can show up for work with a sharp mind, ready to start the day. Workout time also gives professionals time to think through their projects, possibly coming up with a great idea that will make the next campaign a hit.
General Mindset
Whether someone is maintaining his fitness goals or working toward achieving his career dreams, the concepts are similar. Those New Year’s Resolutioners start the year off with the best intentions but they don’t have the perseverance to power through week after week. The world is awash with aspiring entrepreneurs with countless ideas but many of them never open the doors on a new business.
That said, there are plenty of entrepreneurs who aren’t the most physically fit people in their social circles. Long hours and stress can lead an entrepreneur to skip the gym and dine on junk food. The difference is that if these entrepreneurs had a motive to set work aside each day to go to the gym and eat healthy, they’d likely attack their health goals with the same vigor that they use in their day-to-day business dealings.
Missed Work Days
As Kiplinger’s Vera Gibbons pointed out, one reason healthier people achieve more financial success is that they’re present. Physical fitness builds immunity and reduces many major health risks, which means less absenteeism. Gibbons points out that physically fit people also make more money and stay in the workforce longer than their less active counterparts.
Chronic absenteeism due to illness can severely hamper a person’s earnings over the course of a lifetime. Not only will a person’s pay be docked once his sick time allowance is spent, bosses often look unfavorably upon those who are frequently out of work. Management needs to know it can rely on an employee and those who prove that reliability are usually first in line for promotions and raises.
For anyone who needs additional motivation to continue going to the gym and eating healthier, the long-term financial benefits may help. If a professional puts the same dedication into meeting his health goals as he does his business goals, he’ll benefit by being more productive and having greater cognitive function, which will also help him perform better at work.
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