Starting a business is hard enough in and of itself. Studies have shown that about 90% of startups will eventually fail.
So starting a business and staying fit at the same time? Well, that seems like it would be pretty much impossible. Who in their right mind is going to be able to do both of these things simultaneously?
We’re here to tell you that, while it’s not going to be easy, you can run a business startup while also taking care of your overall well-being. There are plenty of healthy entrepreneurs out there who can testify to that. You just have to be strategic with how you go about doing it.
Today, we’re going to talk to you about some of the ways in which you can make staying fit a top priority while also starting a business. Find out about them below and then get out there and give them a try.
Find Different Forms of Exercise That You Enjoy
Do you love getting onto a treadmill and spending an hour running? Do you look forward to taking part in fitness classes with a group of people? Or do you rave about the many benefits of Krav Maga to anyone who will listen?
If you’re going to have any chance of staying fit, you’re going to have to figure out which forms of exercise that you genuinely enjoy. It’s going to be slightly easier to exercise when you’re routinely doing something that brings you pleasure.
If you hate, say, running and you attempt to get into a running routine, it’s not going to last very long. You’re going to begin to tell yourself that you’re “too busy” to run on most days simply because it’s not something that you want to do.
But when you find forms of exercise that you like, you’ll be less likely to skip workouts. It’ll make staying fit feel fun as opposed to making it feel like a chore.
Try to Get Into the Habit of Working Out Early in the Day
Many of the most successful people in the world have one thing in common: They all wake up at the crack of dawn (if not earlier!).
If you’re not waking up early already, you should start doing it ASAP. You’re going to struggle to turn your business into a success if you’re waking up at noon every day.
You should also make it your mission to get into the habit of working out first thing in the morning. It’ll get your blood pumping and your brain moving in the right direction right from the very start each day.
You’ll also find that you won’t be tempted to skip workouts once you get into a good routine. You won’t have many business-related issues that pop up at 5 or 6 in the morning when you’re supposed to be working out.
Look for Ways to Incorporate Your Work Into Your Workouts
To be clear, we are not suggesting that you jump on a treadmill and knock out a stack of business reports every morning. You’re going to burn yourself out fast if you immerse yourself in work while you’re working out.
But a lot of people tend to get some of their best ideas while they’re in the middle of a workout. You should use this to your advantage and try to do a bunch of your business-related brainstorming when you work out each morning.
If you’re having a hard time figuring out an issue that you’re having with your business, you should table it and then revisit it while you’re in the middle of a run or a fitness class. You might come up with the perfect solution to a problem when you least expect it.
Set Fitness Goals for Yourself and Strive to Reach Them
If you’re just working out for the sake of working out every day, you might have a tough time figuring out what the point of it is after a while. But if you come up with some fitness goals for yourself, it’ll keep you motivated to continue working out and make staying fit so much easier.
It doesn’t matter if you’re running on a regular basis, lifting weights, or participating in one of the other workouts for busy people. You should create a list of goals for yourself from the start and do everything in your power to reach them.
The fact that you’re a business owner pretty much proves that you’re already a goal-oriented person. So why not use that to your advantage while you work out?
Use Working Out as a Means of Eliminating Stress
When you own a business, you’re going to spend your fair share of time feeling stressed out. One recent survey revealed that the majority of business owners admit to worrying about their business way more than they should and suffer from stress as a result of it.
Unfortunately, there isn’t going to be a way to eliminate all of the stress that comes along with owning and running a new business. But you should make every effort to get rid of at least some of the stress that you feel as a business owner.
Working out and staying fit is one of the most effective ways to stop stress from taking a huge toll on you. You’ll notice an almost immediate change in the way that you feel right after finishing a workout.
As we mentioned, that isn’t to say that you’ll suddenly be stress-free or anything. Stress will still rear its ugly head once you get back to work. But you can stop stress from maintaining a stranglehold on your life by exercising at least a few times each week.
Encourage a Close Friend or Even a Business Partner to Become Your Workout Buddy
Do you have a close friend who is also trying to make exercise a bigger part of their life? Or better yet, do you have a business partner who is also struggling to find time to stay fit right now?
You might want to team up with one of these people and make them your workout buddy. You’ll be able to hold each other accountable for working out and prevent each other from falling off the workout wagon.
Many studies have shown that having a workout buddy can provide these benefits to you:
- It’ll keep you motivated when it comes to working out
- It’ll make you more open to trying new forms of exercise
- It’ll ensure that you don’t take too many days off
Your workout buddy can also help you celebrate the goals that you’re able to hit, and you’ll be able to do the same for them. It’ll be beneficial for both of you in the end.
Remind Yourself About What Might Happen If You Don’t Get Enough Exercise
Let’s say that you don’t do anything that we’ve talked about here and you don’t make staying fit a big part of your life. What do you think is going to happen to you?
There are actually all kinds of health issues that could creep up and cause problems for you. You might be forced to deal with everything from high blood pressure to high cholesterol to a heart rate that is out of control.
In the short term, these things might not hurt you too much. But over time, you’re going to start to feel lethargic because of them. You’ll struggle to keep your energy levels up, and your business will suffer because of it.
You don’t want that to happen, do you? Of course not, which is why you should make staying fit an important aspect of your life. It’ll benefit both your health and your business in a big way, and it’ll put you in a much better position as far as your professional life is concerned.
Starting a Business Doesn’t Have to Stop You From Staying Fit
If you were to ask most business owners why they don’t try staying fit, they would tell you that they just don’t have enough time to do it. They’re so busy doing a million and one other things each day that they can’t find the time to work out.
But as we’ve shown you here, you can maintain a regular exercise routine without having it affect your business. You just need to take the right steps from now on.
It all starts with figuring out which types of exercise you like. From there, you should be able to come up with a workout schedule that you can stick to over the long run. It’ll have you feeling better than ever before in no time and provide you with the boost that you need to take your business to the next level.
Would you like to find some more tips for fitness for busy people? Look for them in some of the other business-related articles that we’ve put up on our blog.