At this point, you simply can’t ignore the current state of the economy. And while everyone is focused on how it’s affecting the financial bottom line, they are missing a much more important impact. Many of us right now are faced with some of the toughest challenges of our lives. As a business owner myself I know that that I’m having to work as hard as ever to take good care of clients while also making sure to keep my business healthy.
Now more than ever it is essential that people are exercising and eating right. This is for many reasons. Here are my Top 5 Reasons that now more than ever, people need to make sure they are eating right and exercising.
1. Mental and Emotional stress are at an all time high, and exercise is one of the best medicines for this ailment.
A landmark Gallup-Healthways poll was published this week. As reported by USA today writer, Marilyn Elias, it's one of the largest of its kind. It was performed nearly every day in 2008 and is still ongoing. The survey of more than 350,000 people is believed to be the largest, longest, and most thorough poll showing how emotional well-being shifts with economic changes.
The survey produces a so-called Emotional Health Index (EHI), which is a measure that weighs problems such as depression, worry and stress against the positive feelings a person experienced the day before the survey.
The results?
As reported in the USA today, A state's EHI correlated with high rates of death from ailments such as heart disease. States with a lot of open space or sunshine - Hawaii, Alaska, Wyoming - had some of the best emotional health even as the economy sank. Many poorer and Rust Belt states — West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky - were worst off.
It turns out that people's moods are ultra-sensitive to economic news...
2. Levels of depression have increased, and this means more drinking, smoking, and other unhealthful habits. Depression also discourages exercise. And once again, exercise is one of the all time greatest cures for mild depression.
3. People can't really afford to get sick and be unproductive right now. Job markets are tight and competitive, and it is essential that we are all maximizing productivity in our work. If you're not operating at full capacity, your productivity suffers, which hurts your bottom line, and ultimately may leave you looking for a new job that doesn't exist!
The Gallup survey shows that those of us in our prime earning years between the age of 30 and 55 are suffering the most from bad economic news and bad economic times. This means that once again for those of us who are busier than ever with our careers, raising families, and working hard to thrive, the challenge of maintaining our health is even greater. At the same time, the amount of time energy or space in our lives to exercise and plan meals is probably limited or almost non-existent.
4. Job markets are tight and health care costs are rising. Like it or not, or legal or not, if you're employer thinks you are a greater health risk to the company than other candidates competing for the same job, who do you think they will ultimately hire.
5. Taking just a little time for yourself every day to nourish the body with good healthy food, exercise, yoga, stretching, and stress management is a choice you can make every day to grant yourself a quick and healthy dose of positive energy. This will help not only help you feel better, but will also likely spill right over into your life so that your kids, your wife, your colleagues and everyone else around your can share in this wealth. Because exercise will not only help you fight stress, depression, anxiety, and all of the other ailments described above and that you might already be experiencing, but it will make you rich in spirit in a way that money can't!
1 comment:
Great post! Exercise and healthy eating are essential, now and always. Put that with a positive attitude and you are on your way to accomplishing what you want.
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