If you’re a dedicated business owner or manager you probably rate reading, research and education as top priorities for improvement. That’s good, because exercising your mind and sharpening your skills is paramount to business success.
But how often do you exercise your mind and body in the physical sense? Do you regularly reschedule exercise to get more work done? If so, you could be sabotaging your chance of success because “the greatest benefit of physical exercise is not fitness; it’s what it does to your head and your self esteem.” – Dr. Stephen Covey.
Below are five excerpts from audio (and print) publications that have recently done the rounds at SNOBS HQ. Each title was purchased because it fits the category: ‘recommended reading for personal or business success’.
But, guess what? They all hit on the importance of good health and regular exercise for achieving your goals – in one case dedicating a whole chapter to it!
EXCERPT ONE
The Dr. Stephen Covey quote, in the intro, is pulled from his world-famous book: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It’s actually from ‘habit no.7′ which Covey refers to as “sharpening the saw”.
It so brilliantly hammers-home this entire concept. So instead of a text-excerpt, kick back and enjoy an 8-minute audio excerpt from Covey himself. Click to hear about ‘sharpening the saw’.
EXCERPT TWO
In The Big Moo, Seth Godin presents stories, advice and ideas from 33 of the world’s best business minds. Here’s what one of them had to say:
“Imagine a pot-bellied, nervous, cigarette smoking salesmen pacing back and forth outside his office building. He’s puffing as hard as he can, anxious about getting back to work. This guy’s focused on solving the urgent problems in his life… he’s not focused one bit on giving up cigarettes, losing weight or understanding how tense he is. He figures there’s time for that later.
Right now, he needs to panic about the sales figures that are due tomorrow. He’ll have time to panic about his health when he’s in the hospital having bypass surgery.
“The time to panic about his health, of course, is right now while he can still do something about it. Taking action today on a long term problem is easier, cheaper, more effective and far less time consuming than waiting for it to become an emergency.”
EXCERPT THREE
Real estate man John McGrath dedicates an entire chapter to health in his 2003 book: You, Inc. (How to Attract Amazing Success into Your Life and Business).
From Chapter 4: Are you fit for business?
“Are you wondering why I’ve included a section of health and fitness in a book about creating a successful business? You might be tempted to skip over this chapter and go straight to the sections on sales and management.
“If you did, you’d be making a big mistake because the simple fact is, you can’t run a successful business without good health and lots of positive energy.”
EXCERPT FOUR
Even as far back as the 1930’s, successful people understood the benefits of good health. Napoleon Hill was America’s pioneering motivational author, who taught the ‘17 Principles of Personal Achievement’ in his book Think and Grow Rich [published in 1937].
From Principle no. 15: Health
“Sound health begins with a sound health consciousness, just as financial success begins with a prosperity consciousness.”
[NB: SNOBS’ recommends the revised and updated version of the ’17 Principles’, presented in Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Success. It includes exercises for self-analysis and advice with a more contemporary slant.]
EXCERPT FIVE
In the book Focal Point: A Proven System to Simplify Your Life, Double Your Productivity, and Achieve All Your Goals, motivational speaker Brian Tracy also gives good health a plug:
“Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.”
