How does fitness fuel confidence? It breeds self-worth and self-confidence.
Whether you are working, in school, or have your own business, time for yourself is mission-critical to any other goal.
If you cannot ‘afford’ the time to take care of yourself now, can you afford to burn out later? Your business, your family, your friends, and your workplaces all deserve the best of you, not merely what is left of you. Fitness and wellness routines do not have to be complicated or time-consuming. It simply comes down to showing up for ourselves and finding ways to make ourselves a priority.
Exercise has meditative qualities in that it boosts mental resilience at the same time and can help us get into “flow” where even momentarily, we lose track of time and get really present (fully immersed in the activity).
The sense of accomplishment from hitting fitness goals is empowering. I find it also gives me a sense of control over my life, if I can control my health, nothing else seems insurmountable. Regardless of the magnitude of the problem or crisis, this gives me a leg up in terms of mindset and it may work for you as well. How? When you feel mentally strong, due to the time you spend on your physical strength, you can overcome daily challenges (big or small) with more ease.
I find it can help people not lose focus on their own vision and life priorities, I find fitness makes people less easily distracted so that when they are working on whatever they are working on, they are more productive due to being mentally replenished through the benefits of physical activity (which can range from walking, all the way to lifting weights, it does not matter, choose what works for you). Having a powerful “why” around fitness also helps.
Here are the reasons for my own fitness obsession:
- I enjoy competing with myself and I never get bored of fitness.
- To me, fitness is self-love and resilience in action. This mindset takes away the perceived difficulty behind exercise and nutrition. It also helps my anxiety. How? Fitness doubles up as thinking/planning/business idea/problem-solving time for me.
- If taking care of myself inspires others to do the same, I did my job on this planet.
Overall, I think that refilling our cups should be a daily ritual (even for a few minutes only), not a thing that should wait for the next vacation. We cannot perform at our best at work without feeling replenished and in a way, physically exhausting myself is exhilarating.
Fitness leads to confidence merely by making ourselves a priority and thinking more clearly because of this time spent on ourselves.
What is your why, other than avoiding the dangers of running on empty and lacking creativity from not putting self-care on your list?