Mental & Physical Fitness to be a Better Professional

***If you have specific serious health issues like a broken wrist or damaged kidney or HIV, this article is not for you. This article focuses on a regular person who does not have that much pressing health issue(s).*** 

To be a better professional, to progress continuously, what should we do? All we know this answer. We should do courses, do extra work, study a lot over internet, attend conferences and so on. But often, not often, always, we ignore one very much important factor. And that is fitness. By fitness, I refer to both mental and physical fitness. We never see slogans like do weightlifting to be a better project manager or do breathing exercise to be a better software developer etc but it should be. Yes, some of us are aware of the importance of physical fitness, but mental fitness is always hugely neglected, even more, many a time, we do not know what "mental fitness" denotes. If you care to notice, I put mental fitness before physical fitness. If you can maintain your fitness (mental and physical), it will greatly help you to achieve a great success in career too along with other spheres of your life. 

Benchmarks of Fitness 

We have some idea about physical fitness, something like guys with 6 (six) pecs and big biceps are fit and guys with big belly are unfit. This may not necessarily be entirely true but up to many extents, this is not wrong. 

But in real world, it may not be possible for you to achieve big shoulders with diamond shaped calves and achieving that may be one of the sweetest and proudest things on the earth but  this is not a precondition for being successful in corporate world. To be successful in corporate world, "normal" level of physical fitness is enough. Now what does this "normal" level mean? 

This normal level means that

1. Immune Capability: You don't fell sick easily. Of course, every human being has to fall ill sometimes, but if every season change makes you take bed rest for one week, then you are not fit.

2. Pain: You should not be enslaved by various pains like back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain, migraine etc. You should be able to move your limbs and bones as normal as a human being is supposed to. You should find it easy and smooth to do your daily activities like climbing stairs, sitting on chair, standing for hours, walking for hours etc. And if you have chronic pain like lower back pain, then you need to keep it under absolute control through proper medicine and exercise. In a word, whatever pain you have, keep it under control.

3. Digestion: You should have enough digestion ability. If you need to take pills for gastric and to digest your food very often, then you are not a fit person.

4. Sleep: You should be able to get good sleep. If you suffer from insomnia or if you need to take pills for good sleep, then you are not fit.

5. Long-term disease: If you have any chronic or long-term diseases like high blood pressure, high sugar, heart problems etc, then your these diseases should be under complete control and your these diseases should not be able to affect your daily business. Like if you have high cholesterol problem, then you must follow the proper diet and do regular exercises and take proper medicine to bring it under safe border and not let it to create blocks on your heart vessels.

6. Exercise: You must be able to do normal exercises like 60 minutes fast walk, playing cricket or swimming etc. 

7. Controlled Weight: Your weight should be under complete control, your waist circumference should be ok. A slim and lean body do not only look attractive but also this a great indicator of your overall fitness.

8. Energy Level: By energy, I am not talking about energy required to run 20 miles. I am talking about energy required for day to day life. People usually feel weak and tired at work place. If you do not feel energetic and fresh, at least not weak and not gloomy, then you are not fit. When you come to office, and when you leave office, and the time span in between these two, if you feel weak and gloomy, you can not produce great result even if you want to and even if you are capable of doing so. 

9. SexLife: You should be able to enjoy a normal and enjoyable sex life without medicines. If you are a guy, then this is far more important for you than gals. For various reasons, in today's world, guys are hugely suffering from various sexual weakness. Performance on bed hugely affects your overall confidence as well as overall performance of every sector of your life including your career. So if you are facing this problem, do not worry, do not feel shy, may be your teammates or even your boss are facing the same problem, go consult a doctor, take proper treatment and if possible, take psychotherapy so that this problem can not ruin your life. Believe me, that little performance on bed is much more important for your whole life than you think. 

10. Confidence: You must feel confident. If you find yourself having less confidence to express yourself to your boss or team, presenting your ideas, handling the pressure or etc, then you are not fit and you must get rid of it as best as you can. You should get psychotherapy or counselling or whatever you need. You need to feel confident at your workplace. 

So. I have mentioned some points that are crucial for the fitness of a regular guy or gal. If you can remember more points to add, please let me know, I will add.

Another important point I have not mentioned intentionally and that is "feeling of happiness". This is really very important but that is really very difficult to achieve and there is no black & white way to achieve it. If you manage to get this, then you are one of the luckiest persons in the world and you will get benefit in every sphere of your life including your career. And if you do not have this feeling, then also it is ok. You can just do fine without it.

I am not saying that you need to be 100% perfect about the points I mentioned above. Just keep these under control as much as you can do. That will be quite enough.

And yes, like you I also know, there are many successful professionals who do not have these all these things under control. Actually, there is no such single virtue that can be an omnipotent factor for success or failure. Despite having all these mentioned and not mentioned factors on your side you may fail. And also in the same way, despite having none of the factors, you may win. There are lots of factors behind any success and failure, there is absolutely no black & white way. When we talk about some factor for success and failure, it means that that factor will not bring but increase the possibility of success and failure. So we can safely say that by having these nine factors on your side, you can increase the possibility of your success.

How Physique and Mind should be in Harmony 

So, now we understand what are the benchmarks of fitness. So is it mental of physical? I would say, it is both. Because your immune capability, digest, sleeping, sex life etc can be achieved by the combination of mental & physical soundness. Well, we understand that proper diet, medicine and exercise can help us in these regards, but also your mental well-being has a very strong effect on your sex drive, your energy level, work stamina, your weight and even your ability to maintain a proper diet chart and every single factor you can think of. I am not going to overwhelm you with boring examples of scientific research and papers. If yu are an enthusiastic guy or gal, just google it "effect of mind on digestion or pain or sex drive" or etc and you will get the answer. Without being mentally fit, we can not maintain, I repeat, we can not maintain our overall fitness. Long term depression can cause cancer too. So it is pointless to have big biceps if you have cancer, isn't it?!!  (just a metaphor, don't take it seriously!) And I am not clear why but this is a fact that these modern days present with much greater challenges than ancient days to be mentally fit. 

And also this almost impossible to have a sound mind without having a good health. Your weak muscles of your leg do not only make you struggle while climbing the stairs, this is also a great obstacle to be mentally well. Not being physically fit will make you not being mentally fit too. Again, I am not going to overwhelm with boring data. Just google it something like importance of physical fitness for mental fitness and so on and you will get your answer :). 

So, we see, both physical and mental fitness are just complementary of each other and without one, we can not achieve other. Even if we somehow manage to achieve one without other, then also it will be very little fruitful. To have a fruitful fitness, we have to be both physically and mentally fit. So when we talk about fitness, we should talk about both physical and mental fitness. 

How Mental and Physical Fitness will be Helpful for Career

Mental and physical fitness can be helpful for career in a number of ways. I am just mentioning some of them:

1. Confidence: It will give you a lot of confidence. Confidence, leadership, being alpha male of woman etc may sound very charismatic but in reality, these are all the results of some hormonal balance. Abundance or lackings of certain hormones make you bold or afraid, leader or not leader etc. By being fit mentally and physically, you will be able to keep your hormones in balance. By keeping your hormones in balance, you will simply be more successful and earn more. 

2. Brain Function: By being mentally and physically fit, your brain will function better. You will be a better problem solver, your thinking capability will be enhanced, your ability to estimate and making decisions will be improved and so on.

3. Work Stamina, Concentration & Productivity: By being mentally and physically fit, your work drive and your concentration at workplace will be greatly improved. Like me, I believe you can remember so many tiring days at office where you wanted to but could not be that much productive. And we know too, the more we can concentrate in our work, the more productive we can be at the lesser time.

4. Controlling Stress and Anxiety: By being mentally and physically fit, your stress and anxiety will be at your mercy. This will not just improve but skyrocket your performance at workplace. 

I can make a miles-long list of the benefits of being mentally and physically fit for your career. But I do not want make my article more boring than it already is! I believe you have already got a picture :)

How to Achieve Physical and Mental Fitness

Diet 

Yes. you knew it, this is diet. If I am to mention one single step towards physical and mental fitness, that is diet. What is healthy food and what is not, you should study, you must know what should be your daily intake of calorie, fat, carb and so on. I recommend muscleforlife.com to know about diet and meals. There are lots of other good stuff too. Anything good will do just fine. Whatever you do, just nail down your diet. What you eat does not only have effects on your waist measurement and body weight but also have effects on your mood, your sex drive, your sleep and even your concentration in your office work. So do as much research on internet as you want and then make & maintain a good diet as much as you can. In modern days, being able to maintain a proper diet is one of the biggest challenges we have. Having late night pizza party will not only make you fatter but also harm your level of happiness. 

Meditation & Breathing Exercise 

Meditation, as well as breathing exercise, have become a popular trend to beat stress. And yes, this is true. In our modern life, where stress is must, where our jobs are killing us, our lifestyle is haunting us, where we are slaves to so-called success run, where these stress and anxiety are just destroying everything from heart to bed performance to kidney, here meditation and breathing exercise can be the savior. But be realistic, no matter how much hours you meditate, you can not wipe out your anxiety totally but you will be able to keep this great enemy under control and this is enough. Besides controlling stress meditation has several other health benefits too. So to achieve mental and physical fitness, you should manage some time for meditation and breathing exercise.

Physical Exercise

Yes, we all know about it. You must manage 30 to 60 minutes for 5-7 days a week. Physical exercise does not only give you a nice physique and help you to control your weight but also help you to fight stress, anxiety and depression, makes you feel good, help you sleep better, increase your concentration and so many other must-to-have benefits. Now, what type of physical exercise you should do? Anything that suits you, just make sure you can make your limbs & muscles work as much hard as you can do. You can play football, swim, do weightlifting etc as you like. Just do it.  

Treatment 

This is pretty basic. We all know about this. Never ignore any disease, no matter how simple it looks. Seldom back pain can drive you into chronic back pain and this is true for all diseases. Do health check-ups, consult physicians, take medicines, take physical therapy and psychotherapy whenever applicable, make your doctor happy to be happy :). 

Rest

No matter how much weight you lift in the gym or how much hours you meditate, you need to have adequate rest and sleep to be mentally and physically fit. How much sleep or rest a man requires - there is no certain measurement for that. It varies from man to man. So first find out how much rest you need to properly function, then make sure you are getting that. If you want to lessen your need for rest, then do it step by step in a slow manner so that your mind and body can be habituated with it. 

Conclusion 

I am not vouching for physical and mental fitness for the purpose of soul searching, body-mind synchronization or some spiritual benefits or to attract beautiful guys or gals by being more "kool". I am vouching for it for very basic demand of us and that demand is a better position and salary. If you can manage to achieve and maintain mental and physical fitness, it will help you to have a better position and salary than you have in your unfit stage. So be fit, be successful! Cheers!  

**All images have been collected from internet, nothing is my proprietary**