We often hear about the physical benefits of exercise, which range from weight loss to cardiovascular fitness to better sleep quality. But exercise has plenty of other effects.
Ranging from basic psychological facts, like improved mood and more energy, to serious lessons about life. Let’s take a look at three of those lessons for personal and professional success that you can learn from working out.
Lesson 1: Hard Work Is A Necessary Part of Success
There’s no way around it, working out in any effective way is hard. This difficulty is one of the main reasons people avoid exercise; even though we know that exercise is going to be good for us in the long run, actually doing it can be incredibly tough, especially when you’re just starting out.
Add in muscle soreness, time spent pounding the pavement or logging hours at the gym, and the mental strength needed to get through the last few reps in a tough set, and it’s easy to see that exercise is hard work.
But as you do it, you begin to understand that if you want to see results, you have to put in the work. Cutting corners won’t get you anywhere. Not exercising won’t help you slim down or build muscle. The only way to get the results you want is to work hard.
Lesson 2: The Journey Isn’t Just Important – It’s Enjoyable
Many people start out seeing exercise as a means to an end, assuming that the hard work that they put in is all going to a final result. Over time, though, people who exercise learn to enjoy the hard work and the process of doing something that is good for them.
This can invoke an attitude that’s more patiently focused on the present, rather than what might happen in the future, or failure to currently live up to long-term expectations.
Exercise can also help increase your ability to sustain motivation and build good habits over extended periods of time.
Lesson 3: You Can Do What You Put Your Mind To
Once you stick with your exercise regimen for a while and truly get to enjoy the process and, most importantly, start to see results, you’ll realize an interesting thing: you can get through hard work and you can achieve success.
In fact, you can probably do just about anything you put your mind to, no matter how difficult it is. And because exercise can boost your energy, you’ll have more to put into whatever you set your mind on doing.
With these three lessons, you can quickly turn your exercise routine into fodder for success in other areas of your life. Maybe you’ll tackle bigger projects at work with the confidence gained from exercise; maybe you’ll learn to enjoy the process of navigating the difficult parts of relationships. Whatever the case, you’ll soon begin to see more than just physical benefits from working out.
What lessons have you learned from working out? Share your experiences with us in the comments section!
sources:
- https://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/12/exercise.aspx
- https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676/NSECTIONGROUP=2
- https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-health-a-z/E/exercise-mental-health/
- https://www.appliedsportpsych.org/Resource-Center/health-and-fitness/articles/psych-benefits-of-exercise