Fitness, a lifestyle choice for leaders

The New Year often brings with it a renewed sense of purpose and a desire for personal growth. As a budding entrepreneur, my mentors emphasised the importance of meditation and reading as essential habits. While many aspiring leaders focus on honing their business acumen, an often-overlooked aspect of leadership development is physical fitness. Could there be a deeper connection?

But do you also wonder, How do leaders despite their busy schedules have time to prioritise fitness esp if it through an endurance sport. Is it the leaders' ability to win over the mind to stick to a routine and practice moderation in diet? Or are leaders better at sticking to an exercise routine given grit is a key trait for leaders?

In my role as an agency head, I frequently interact with successful leaders, and a common thread I've observed is their remarkable fitness levels. This isn't merely a coincidence in my view. Beyond the obvious physical benefits, fitness profoundly impacts leadership qualities.

Fitness or an enduring exercise routine demands discipline, flexibility, focus, resilience. In return it gifts you higher energy/drive, better mental clarity and focus through the day and best of all you will see a more resilient self with better self-control to excel as a leader.

So this new year, how about you gift yourself a fitter self while boosting discipline, flexibility, focus, resilience, stress management and a higher energy/drive. For me the biggest gift is of the endurance and grit.

If you are game, below are tips from my personal journey to sustain an exercise regime:

The biggest problem is to start. Now is a good time, it is the time for the new. Give yourself forgiveness for all the months or years when you have ignored this and start now. Then to sustain be cognisant of the the typical blockers and work around them.

1. Time: Start with a small commitment but regular. Be determined to not break the streak.
2. Easing out Inertia: A bigger problem is to do it everyday. A small thing that helps is to ready your things ahead of time. If you are going to go on a run/ gym/ sport next morning, lay out your workout clothes the night before. Pack your gym bag. Schedule your workout in your calendar. So all you have to do when the alarm rings is to wake up, put on things and hit the track.
3. Dependencies: Consider finding an accountability partner to stay on course - could be a friend, a group or an event you train towards. At the same time pick an activity with least external dependencies for you. Eg. if a badminton court is too far from where you live don't start with that. It also needs 2 people to play. May be squash is better. If a good gym is a difficult dependency - may be start with something simpler at home with resistance bands and weights.

For me personally, I have done trekking, badminton, swimming, yoga and running over the years on a sustained basis. Of all, running has worked out really well across years. It is the most flexible on time (short 15 min runs are fine too) and has the least dependencies as you can run alone, in any place even when you travel. So you have no reasons to break the practice except for tiring travel days or waking up on chill mornings (Easing out inertia works as a hack). Another favorite of mine is suryanamaskara (sun salutation yoga - comprising of 10/12 moves). 12 of them in a row take less than 7 minutes, no dependencies at all and it is just perfect first thing to tick off any given morning.

Take the first step today. Download a fitness app, schedule a trial class at your local gym, or simply go for a brisk walk around your neighborhood. You'll be amazed at the positive impact it can have on your day. And of course, please stay on course for the larger influence on your leadership journey!