It's character building

"Training gives us an outlet for suppressed energies created by stress and thus tones the spirit just as exercise conditions the body"
Arnold Schwarzenegger

Sometimes after a very hard and stressful day at work it can be easy to climb into the car and head home rather than going to the gym. But I know that if I can get beyond the fact that I am mentally tired and drained, and "make" myself go and exercise I reap the benefits in more ways than one.

The first of course is that my body is changing shape. Yes I know that round is a shape, but I would prefer you to consider that toned looks better!!
The second benefit is that the exercise helps to bleed off the stress that has ground me down. Not only does the endorphin rush reward me for a job well done, but I can pat myself on the back and reward myself with the fact that procrastination hasn't won.

Mental toughness and strength needs to be cultivated just like any other character trait. And those character traits are those things that determine whether we will put in the miles on the bike, or the pavement. It means that we will sit down and write the 2 pages or whatever we have determined is out word output to get the novel finished. You see it is easy to do a little less than you know you should, it takes a great deal of strength to do more than you were supposed to do.

Going just that little bit further, that little bit harder may mean the difference between a promotion or not. Or whether you make the amount of sales calls that you know you should make. It means that you don't take rejection personally, but that person was not the right prospect for whatever you had to sell to them. It means that you are willing to acknowledge that what may have worked for you in the past, may not be working for you now and be willing to do certain things in a different way to see if you can make a difference to the way your life turns out.

As we mentioned yesterday, everything impacts on everything else that we do or don't do. Once you begin to do just that little bit more, and begin to see the changes - be it in your shape, the numbers on the scale, or the amount of prospects that become clients. Then you will want to pick up the momentum and do more, but until those changes start to happen it comes down to your character traits. Do you have what it takes to stick in there until natural momentum takes over? Of course you do. You are an amazing person - and you should tell yourself so, on a very regular basis. No-one has your skills and abilities - except you.

So remember as you go about your weekly tasks, make time for exercise, even if you don't want to do it. The benefits are enormous, but the payoffs in other areas are astronomical.