3 Reasons Why You Should Prioritize Health (Especially for You Busy People)
Health is your number one priority. There is nothing else that comes close.
Provided your basic needs are met and you’re not living in abject poverty, health should be your number one priority. Everything else we chase is irrelevant if we lack the health to enjoy those things.
And no, you won’t have more time when you’re more successful.
In fact, you may have even less time with more success.
You’re a busy person, you’ve got a lot to contribute to society. Society needs you. Health allows you to be a contributing member of society for much longer if you make health a priority.
3 Negative Consequences of Ignoring Health
- Physical Consequences: Neglecting your physical health can translate to diseases of lifestyle later on. This includes metabolic disorders like: hypertension, insulin resistance, and eventually, diabetes. Bad stuff.
- Mental Consequences: Your physical health translates to mental health. The healthier you are physically, the healthier you are mentally. Researchers at UCLA found that people who exercise have, on average, 3.4 fewer poor mental health days per month compared to those who don’t exercise.
- Professional Consequences: Physical and mental health affect your professional growth. There is a direct correlation between health and professional development. This is one reason why physical fitness is such a staple in the military. Healthy people make better decisions and perform better under stress.
3 Reasons Why You Should Prioritize Health
- Enhanced Energy Levels: Regular exercise and proper eating increase energy levels. You can operate for much longer if you’re healthy.
- Improved Mental Clarity: A healthier person thinks more clearly and can maintain a flow state for much longer.
- Increased Resilience: Stress is given if you’re a successful person. Staying healthy allows you to shake off the stresses of the job much better.
Strategies for Busy People to Stay Healthy
- Effective Time Management: For those just starting out, consistency should be your top priority. Develop an exercise habit. Start with 15 minute workouts. Increase when you’re comfortable doing so and when your schedule allows.
- Healthy Eating on the Go: Plan. Plan. Plan. Your focused present self can really help out stressed out future self. Plan for the times when your future self is just going to reach for anything in sight because he’s stressed out. Have some healthy snacks in your desk drawer for those times.
- Prioritizing Sleep: This is a whole series of articles on its own. With sleep, it’s better to adjust your sleep routine little by little. Fix one thing. Then move onto the next thing.
Jeff Bezos is a busy man. He’s also more successful than 99% of everyone on Earth if we’re measuring this by wealth. He noticeably more muscular than his younger self. He’s figured out that his enormous wealth is nothing without his health.
His health has allowed him to contribute more to society (although many would debate this).
You Don’t Have More Time.
We don’t know how much time we’ve got. The best time to start prioritizing health was yesterday. The next best time is NOW.
Thinking we’ve got more time feeds this unproductive, and dangerous, cycle.
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