Why Prioritizing Fitness is Good for Your Career

How to carry on the physical fitness mindset throughout life

According to a recent survey by Statista, half of Americans are hoping to exercise more in 2023 than they did in 2022. But if history repeats itself, most people have already given up on that resolution by the time this article gets published.

While there might be a wide variety of reasons people don’t achieve their goal, I think there are two big ones. First, the goal is unrealistic. I’m all for big, hairy audacious goals. But don’t put so much pressure on yourself that it’s crushing.

Second, there isn’t a strong enough “why” informing the goal. Let’s be honest, there are days when things get hard, you want to quit, and you need really strong motivation to push through. And simply “wanting to look better” isn’t a good enough reason for most people to get out of bed to go running at 5 am.

I’ve heard people say “ask why until you cry” – which is to say, keep digging down to understand your true motivations until it reveals something so profound it brings you to tears. While I don’t think that tears are necessary to help you succeed in life, finding those deep motivations can make a huge difference.

My undergraduate degree was partially paid for by my ability to shoot hoops. I’m a regular at my local Orange Theory and I have a “favorite” marathon. Fitness is not something I do, it’s who I am.

My “why” for prioritizing fitness? Simply put: it makes me a better human.

And no matter what your current “why” for prioritizing fitness might be, I’d like you to consider another one: it’s good for your career.

Both research and personal experience tell us that sports are a multidimensional, multiplicative, and dynamic interaction of performance, psycho-social, and educational practices. In layman’s terms: it’s complicated.

Being a college athlete helped me take a holistic approach to developing skills and values that have fueled success in my career, separate from any success in sports.

As a young kid, I had a one-track mind: play college athletics. That meant I had to grow as a player, learn to be a great teammate, and eventually earn a spot on a college roster. That was all I wanted.?

Now as an adult, I have realized that being a college athlete brought me so much more than memories, records, and even friendships. Playing sports in college was the perfect catalyst for learning significant skills and values needed in the workplace. It has enhanced my career potential by teaching me how to improve leadership as a skill, use team dynamics to reach a goal, reap the benefits of passion and hard work, and manage a winning mindset!

In other words, what I saw as a destination as a child turned into a part of the journey as an adult.

Upon reflection, I have asked myself, how did the coach model the behavior and expectations needed for our team to succeed? How did it help drive my passion and enthusiasm for the game??

And when the playing days are over … how can the average person carry on a physical fitness mindset for the rest of our life?

1 – It All Starts with Trust: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

It doesn’t matter how good the individual members of a team are if there isn’t trust. I’ve played on many teams, and one of the most important things you learn is how to build trust with each other. Without trust, there isn’t cohesion. Things just don’t work the way they should.

Ever watch an all-star game? Or the US Olympic team sports like basketball or baseball? These men and women are undoubtedly among the best in the world at what they do. But pull them away from their usual teammates and they just don’t perform the same way. The trust hasn’t been built. There isn’t an understanding of how each person functions on the team.

The best teams are comprised of individuals who are excited about the role they play. They understand how their role fits into the overall goals of the team. They aren’t simply looking out for themselves.

The team needs everyone doing their best at their assignment to come out on top. Not everyone gets to be Steph Curry. But even Steph Curry can’t win a game on his own. Sure, some people might pull their weight more than others. But even players who were placed on injured reserve took home rings after the LA Rams won the Super Bowl in 2022.

In the workplace, there are a wide variety of roles on a team, and people are “playing” at multiple levels. Marketing has to work with the sales team. HR must play nice with IT. Senior staff work with junior staff. In a healthy and effective company, though, everything ladders up to the company vision and goals. One team, one dream.

But let me be clear, this doesn’t mean that everyone has to be best friends. Or that they even have to like each other. Sports taught me how to be kind and work with everyone, even if I wouldn’t pick them for my team if I had the choice. Being a genuinely collaborative team player is an often overlooked superpower and will help you go far.

As a player, these team dynamics were lived out during our two-a-days and 4 am wakeups. We demonstrated responsibility, accountability, and commitment, not to mention hard work and discipline. We felt it if team members didn’t show up, or didn’t bring their best selves to practice.

These teamwork principles can be applied to your career as you push and encourage those around you. But when the crowds are gone and you find yourself running alone at 5 am, it’s your personal motivations and discipline to value your physical fitness that keep you going.

2 – Failure is Part of the Process: Sometimes You Have to Dig Deep

In the 2022 regular baseball season, Jeff McNeil was the batting average leader at .326. That means he hit the ball in 1 out of every 3 at-bats. Wilt Chamberlain, former forward for the Warriors and considered one of the best basketball players of all-time, has a career field goal percentage of 54%. As great as he was (and he was great!), he missed half the shots he took.

We expect this in sports, but we don’t give each other the same freedom in life. Consider how we view failure. Most often it comes with great embarrassment or shame. We are conditioned to avoid failure at all costs.

But failure is not inherently bad. It shows you what works and what doesn’t. It’s a natural part of the learning process.

The key is learning from the things that don’t go the way you want. Just like you need timely and thoughtful feedback on how to improve your free throws, you need the same type of feedback in the classroom and workplace. Especially in the online classroom and remote workplaces, where feedback is too often delayed.

So embrace your inner Chamberlain. Expect to get things wrong. And expect to use feedback to get better.

Sometimes the failure seems more prevalent than the success. You apply for more jobs than you can count and still no interview. You study all night for a test that you don’t pass. After 6 months of crossfit and you still can’t do a pull-up.

That’s when you have to dig deep.

Our culture has us believing that things should be easy. That a fitness journey or playing sports is flashy, glamorous, or otherwise results-guaranteed. But what you don’t see are the countless hours of grunt work. The grit. The perseverance.

Few things in life are effortless. Especially not the really good ones. Being a fitness fanatic like I am, I have a lot of experience “practicing” things. Failing. Being unfazed when I don’t get it the first time. Trying again. I got to where I am today by not giving up.

What about you? What could prioritizing fitness do for your career this year?

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Dr. Kristin Bledsoe is a leadership educator currently serving as an Academic Dean for the School of Leadership and Interdisciplinary Studies at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee. She is also an associate professor, teaching in multiple programs from associate to doctorate level, with a strong understanding of online learning, teaching, and engagement. Kristin is committed to enhancing the student experience and overall student success. She recently co-authored and published an article on Mentoring New Online Graduate Teaching Assistance in Taylor & Francis' Online Journal. Kristin's most recent certifications have been as an Emotional Intelligence Practitioner and Cognitive Behavioral Life Coach. Currently, she is going through Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association's (TICUA) Executive Leadership Institute.