What is your Word for the Year

As we wrap up 2022, many of us are in ‘review’ mode.

How did the year go? What did we achieve? What could have been better?

The next step is the planning mode. What can we do this year? What are the tasks we can accomplish in 2023 and what are the plans to achieve them?

As you think about the plans for next year, I would like to introduce you to the concept of “Word for the Year”

What is the Word for the Year?

Quite simply, it’s a word you choose and commit to live by throughout the year.

For instance, my word for the year in 2022 was COURAGE.

I get to define courage and what the word means to me.

For me, COURAGE is not only absence of fear.

COURAGE to me is standing up for what I believe in.

COURAGE to me means saying the right things and sometimes, remaining silent.

Throughout 2022, COURAGE to me also meant moving out of my comfort zone, doing things that were new to me. Things I had not done before. For example, traveling alone, half way across the world.

Overall, I got through this last year far more confidently because I knew that I had to follow through on my word of the year.

Your Word of the Year

You can obviously choose any word as your word of the year. It could be LOVE, JOY, HAPPINESS, DISCIPLINE, HUMILITY, SERVICE, TRAVEL, HEALTH, LEARNING.

There really are no rules. You choose a word based on a quality you want to inculcate in yourself. Or you may choose a word based on a habit you want to develop. Your word may also be based on a life area you want to improve in 2023.

Here is an exercise. Start alphabetically. and pick a word that resonates with you from each letter. In some letters, you may come up with more than one word. In some cases, you may not come with any. That’s fine.

Once your have some words, review them and identify the 3 that are most important for you in 2023. and from this list of 3, zero in on your WORD of the year.

How to Work with your WORD of the Year

You have chosen your word of the year based on certain goals you want to achieve.

The idea to adhere to your word of the year every single day for the entire year. And you will notice that following this principle helps you make decisions more easily.

Read on to see how exactly to put your Word of the Year into Action

Your Word of the Year in Action

1.Take Actions in Alignment with your Word of the Year

This very simple action ensures that you remain on the path to achieve your goals. This is because you have chosen your Word of the Year based on the goals you want to achieve.

For example, if you have chosen ‘DISCIPLINE’ as your word of the year, every time, you are tempted to slip back deeper into the covers, instead of going for that run, your word of the year will push you to wake up and be disciplined.

And there you have it, you have inched closer to your physical fitness goal.

2. Make Decisions in Alignment with your Word of the Year

All of us struggle with decision making at one time or another.

Should I take this trip or save money for a rainy day? Should I decline the social invitation because I know would not enjoy myself at the party or go just to be seen at the evet though I will be miserable?

At varying points in our life, we have different priorities.

If in this season of your life, you have prioritized travel and TRAVEL is your word of the year, it just becomes easier for your to take a decision. Likewise, if your word of the year is SELF-LOVE, TIME (in the context of being in control of how you spend your time), the second decision just became easy

But it is possible that in 2024, your life circumstances change, (Maybe you have become a new parent) and MONEY or SAVINGS is your word of the year. At the time, your decision would be different.

Having a Word of the Year can help you make decisions more effectively and efficiently, saving you loads of time.

3. Word of the Year to Deepen your Relationships

So so often, we take the people we love for grated. We need a constant reminder of why they are important to us. This will remind us to put in the effort the relationship deserves.

Viewing your relationships and working on them through the lens of your word of the year can be a game changer for your relationship.

The Term of your Word of the Year

It is the Word of the Year. So, its term is one year. Come 31st of December 2023, you will identify a new word for 2024.

As you review 2023, and how the Word of the Year in 2023 shaped you, it really would be worth the effort.

To available a future benefit, the work has to be put in now.

I am excited to live my Word of the year for 2023. What about you.

The Universe has no Extras

My friend,how are you today?

Are you battling with feelings of not being good enough?

Are you concerned that you are not meeting the expectations people have of you?

Are you plagued by doubts and insecurities of where you are at and where you thought you ought to be.

Calm down. Take a deep breath. Repeat the following 5 words- 3 times- looking yourself in the eye in the mirrior

“THE UNIVERSE HAS NO EXTRAS“

Has that sunk in now? Can you imagine what those words mean.

The Universe has No Extras

Seriously, the universe makes no duplicates.You are here in this universe, in this world, in yourlifetime to be exactly YOU. There is no one else who can be as much YOU as YOU.

And YOU have a specific purpose in this universe, beacuse as you know now, there is no one else who is YOU.

Appreciate the Power of Being YOU

Being who you are, you bring certain qualities, ideas, input to the table. And that is eaxctly what the world needs at this point.

If you try to be someone else, it’s a waste of your time, energy and resources. And it’s a complete waste of your innate gifts and abilities, which you were meant to share with this world.

Each of us has a purpose to serve here. We are all cogs in the infinite mechanism of the world. We all work together, fulfilling our part, the way we are meant to. This ensures the correct interlocking of the cogs to propel forward motion of the world, as we know it.

So do not give up the power of you, becaue YOU, just as you are, have a role to play.

Self Development and Being You

A word of caution. While you have to apreciate being you, it does not mean you do not evolve or change during your life time. A rolling stone gathers no moss. If we are adamant about not changing, we will obviousy be left behind.

Invest in self development. Learn from mentors, create routines and rituals to achieve your goals. hone your creative skills. Pursue your hobbies.

All these activities are only helping you become the better version of yourself, with every passing day, so that you can better fulfill your pupose in this universe.

Remember, competition is never with others. It is only with one person- the person that you were yesterday.

Best of luck!!

Apply the 3D Formula in your Life for Unlimited Success

Success comes from focus. Create the mindset to single mindedly focus on your goals. In a previous post, I talked about investing in the process that ineveitably leads to success. And by carrying out the processes conisstently day after day, you are bound to achieve your goal.

Now, here’s the catch. We may spend time in identifying the process. We know what we need to do in order to achieve our goals. But do we actually do it?

Just knowing what to do is not the answer. Unless you actually ‘do it’, success will elude you. One of the biggest reasons you fall behind on ‘doing’ what you are supposed to do is ‘DISTRACTIONS’. As a society are surrounded by distractions.

Distractions Sneak up On Us

How often, we sit to research on a project. A notification pops up from YouTube, and the next thing we know, we have spent an hour scrolling cute (no doubt) cat videos.

We need to be aware of these distractions and build the discipline to stick to what we want to do.

I have already given away the 2 D-Discipline and Distractions out of the three Ds in the title.

What is the thrid D?

Devotion.

Well, you have to be devoted to your goal. Just having a ‘fling’with your goal is not enough. You have to be in a committed relationship with your goal. That’s where the devotion comes in.

Devotion is when your ‘WHY’ is very clear. Let us remember that many times we create our goals and in some cases goals are thrust on us – by our bosses- (“I need that report by EOD”), or by our parents (“I want you to be a doctor”). In either case, look inwards your personal ‘why’ for the goal.

What is the ‘Why’ for your Goal

Why is achieivng that goal important for you. In the latter example above, the answer to your ‘why’ could also be that you want to please your parents. That’s alright too. The nature of the ‘why’ is secondary, having a ‘why’is crucial.

When you dont have a strong ‘why’, you are just flirting with your goals. It is not a relatioship.

A strong ‘why’ creates devotion towards the goal. You have the mindset to achieve the goal, come what may. This mindset is the game changer.

From Devotion Comes Discipline

From a place of devotion comes the discpline of first identifying the processes and next sticking to the processes for achieving your goal.

And once you have the discipline, distractions don’t matter.

So the next time your friend turns down an invitation to hit the bars in favor of catching up on a good book or attending a webinar, do not call him a kill-joy. Appreciate that he has the discipline to keep away from distractions in order to reach his goals.

What are the goals you most want to achieve in your life? What is the strong ‘why’ behind those goals? Ponder a while on this. Start with one goal. Bring in the discipline to stick to the process and see how the distrcations melt away.

How to be a Winner Each Day

We all know the feeling of dejection and disappointment when things don’t go our way. Often, we have that end of the day moment when we wonder “What did I do the entire day. I do not see any visible progress towards my goals.”.

Know it’s not just you. Most of us experience these thoughts. And such thoughts are demotivating and depressing. They rob us of a sense of accomplishment for the day. And these thoughts also decrease our motivation for the next day or the next task. Thus, you set yourself up for failure for what is next. And again the cycle repeats.

However, there is a simple way to break the cycle. I am about to introduce to you a simple hack that makes you a winner each day. Goodbye to negative thoughts. End each day on a winner’s high and become super charged for the next day. Thus you will reverse the cycle in a positive way.

Curious? Read on

How to be a Winner Each Day

Most of us associate winning with achieving of goals. We start out with a specific goal in mind-for example a target weight of say XX kg by end of a specific time frame. When the designated time comes, and you have not reached your goal, you feel terrible. You are in such a negative mental space that you decide to binge eat and promise yourself not go on the weight loss path ever again. After all, you justify to yourself, it never works.

Get Ready for a Paradigm Shift

Stop for a moment. Think about this.

Your ultimate goal was to lose XX kg by 90 days. Weight loss is the end result. From the day you set up the goal to the day of the deadline, what were the processes you followed to achieve your goal? What were the actions you took.

And herein lies the paradigm shift in your mindset that I am recommending.

Winning is About the Process

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, success is not revolutionary, but it is evolutionary. You rarely succeed overnight. It is always a result of hard work and incremental improvements made over time.

When you decide on a weight loss goal, the next step is to write down the action points of every day in the direction of achieving your goals.

1. Are you going to walk for 1 hour, 5 days a week?
2. Are you going to sign up with your local running group? And run with them?(just signing up with the running group won’t help you lose weight, will it?)
3. Are you going to join your gym and workout 6 days a week?
4. Are you going to have soup for dinner thrice a week?
5. Are you going to avoid eating out for the next 90 days?

Once you have chosen the specific actions that will support your goals, all you have to do is implement them

Thus you are identifying various processes to carry out everyday. And each day that you take a predetermined action towards your goal, you area winner.

Track Your Action for Better Benefits

What we pay attention to, increases and what we track, increases manifold. Get into the habit of tracking your actions. Make a simple tracker,and mark the days off against each activity. As the ticks on your tracker become visible in a continuous line, you will not be happy to see a gap in your tracker and you will continue.

Thus you get momentum towards your goal.

Breakdown Every Goal into Specific Processes

Once you break down each goal into specific processes and actions you need to take every day, nothing else matters.

Here are some examples, I can think of right away

For becoming the most successful sales person in your organization, create an internal process(or action point) to call 12 prospective customers everyday. If everyone else is calling 12 prospectives, you increase your target to 15. Make sure you achieve this number every single day.

The results will follow. It is inevitable. And each day that you have done your 15 calls, you are a winner.

Are you a student? Do not stress about your exams. Create a process for studying every day Allocate specific number of hours each day. Once your study hours are up, you have the rest of the time to pursue other interests.

You will notice that if you are consistent and determinedly stick to your study schedule (the tracker would obviously help), you find that exams are a breeze. You will feel no stress at the onset of exams.

Again, each day that you completed your study schedule, you were a winner. That your exams went well, is just an inevitable by- product or result of the system you created.

Be a Winner Everyday

Put your processes in place. Once you start taking everyday actions and track them, you are winner for that day.

You studied 4 hours today, as you had planned…yaayyy… that’s a tick mark.

You called 15 prospective today (irrespective of whether you were able to make an appointment on not), you are a winner.

You hit the gym today despite a late night.You are a rock star.

Change the way to talk to yourself. Appreciate your winning ways. Once your mental language changes, you find that motivation soars.

And sets you up for success each day

You are a winner each day. And days compound into weeks,months and years.

What processes would you create around your goals? Leave a comment and share.

5 Reasons Routines are Important for Success

Each day, each of us is looking for simple hacks to success. What is the one little thing that we can change which would make our lives enormously better?

A simple answer to that question is routines. The more routines we include in our lives, easier becomes the process of living, setting us up for success.

Here are 5 reasons why routines are important and how they contribute to your success.

1. Routines Eliminate the Need to Think and thus Save Time

Brushing your teeth is routine. Washing our hands has become routine. The activities we associate with routine are activities we do without thinking. Thinking takes up time.

Imagine if you were to wake up each day and spend 10 minutes thinking whether you have to brush today or no! That’s unimaginable, right? This is because we have been in this routine since we were young and it’s a part of us now. So we brush our teeth without thinking and thus save time!

Likewise, if we create routines for our regular tasks, we eliminate thinking time and thus save time that we can use for productive purposes.

Something as simple as your attire for the day (or the week) can be crafted into a routine. Your breakfast routines can be set up. With routines, you save an enormous amount of time on mundane things.Here are some highly successful people who have the same ideas.

2. Routines Help Create the Right Behavior To Achieve Our Goals

When we set up routines for actions that lead to our important goals, we are setting ourselves up for success. For example, for a physical fitness goal, set up a routine to walk for 1 hour everyday. Thus the routine helps create a behavior for walking everyday. And sure enough the results come through.

Let us consider another goal -money saving. Set up a routine that you’ll track your expenses at the end of each day, just before you go to bed. The routine helps create a behavior to track your expenses. As a result, this helps to make better decisions about spending habits, leading to greater savings.

3. Routines Build Consistency

Consistency is the key to success. Success is never the result of an overnight transformation. One of my favorite quotes is “Success isn’t revolutionary, it is evolutionary”. As James Clear says in his hugely successful book Atomic Habits, it’s the small changes in your routine, carried out consistently that provide you the BIG results.

When you have a routine, habits are formed, because it is effortless to follow routines. Habits build consistency.

And consistency is the precursor to transformation and change.

4. Routines Reduce Efforts

When something becomes a routine, there is a sense of automation to it. The effort required for that activity goes down significantly. For instance, if you create a routine of writing in journal, for 5 minutes before bed time everyday, you just do it. You don’t have to think about the activity- what to do, how to do, where is my journal whether to do it or not.

Decision making fatigues our brain. When we make decisions (small or big), we are utilizing valuable resources. When we routinize certain actions of our day, we are freeing up our brain resources to be available for the key decisions that really need all the resources they can get. Thus our exhaustion level also goes down.

5. Routines can be Customised

A common complaint against routines is that routines make life boring. That is not true. You can have fun with the routines you create for yourself. Customize your routines as you see fit. Link your routines to one another. For instance I have a routine to have a glass of warm water as soon I wake up. You could create a routine to listen to a podcast on your commute. The options are endless.You can customize and have fun with routines. And along the way, get closer to achieving your goals.

What routines do you already have in place? And what routines would you like to start?

Book Review- The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Author: Mitch Albom

Maintenance Eddie is dead. Hs job was to maintain the rides at Ruby Pier Amusement Park. An accident with one of the rides causes Eddie’s death. This book about the five people Eddie meets in Heaven after his death.

What Happened

Eddie shows up for work that day just like any other day, little knowing that this is his last day on earth.

There is a malfunction in one of the rides. Eddie manages to get it sorted. But there is a little girl in the wrong place. Eddie realises this and rushes in (with his bad knee) to save her. He feels her little palms in his hands and that’s his last memory on earth.

Eddie’s After-Journey– and the Lessons For us

Next scene, Eddie is in heaven. He is moving through varied landscapes, and simultaneously through his entire life.

Initially he feels no pain in his legs, which is strange as he has suffered from a bad knee and hip for the last so many years. Slowly he realises he is back in his childhood- he’s a young boy now. And from there on, he sees his own journey through various ages and stages of his life- as a  boy, a  young soldier, a married young man, a widower and finally to his last days on earth.

In each of these stages, he meets a person, who explains to him the meaning of his life at the time. Eddie comes to know the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ of his own life. In a way, he is able to make sense of the life he lived.

The book says for each person who dies, there are 5 people waiting to meet him/her in heaven and explain their life. These 5 people may be people you know, or even strangers. And therein lies the first lesson in this book-

Nothing in unrelated. Everything is connected and everything happens for a reason. As the first person tells Eddie, “there are no strangers, only friends/family you haven’t yet met”.

Eddie’s second person talk about sacrifice. How sometimes, one person needs to die to save the life of many.

The lesson I inferred here is it’s ok to suffer some personal losses for the greater good. Or in a corporate scenario, it is necessary to put the team’s success above personal success.

As Eddie meets his third person, he mends the long standing rift with his father, though his father has been dead many years. Eddie now sees his father with new eyes. And is closer to understanding why his father acted the way he acted.

The lesson here-let us not judge others’ actions. There may be things we don’t know. And let us talk to people we love, let us communicate, we never know how long they will be with us.

Eddie’s fourth person is the love of his life-his wife. Marguerite went too early- a victim of cancer, leaving Eddie all alone.

From this encounter, we learn about love, how love is all we need. How love makes us tender and love always keeps us together, despite major upheavals a couple may face in their lives.

As my 14 year old daughter would say Eddie and Marguerite are #couplegoals.

How it Ends– the Purpose of Life

Who is the fifth person Eddie meets in heaven? And what about the little girl? Did he save her?

The short answer is it all ends well for Eddie. He finally finds the meaning in the life that he lived on earth. For someone, who thought of himself as ‘just a maintenance guy’, and who was not happy with what he did, Eddie comes to realize that he had an important job. He kept hundreds and thousands of people and children safe by regular maintenance of the rides. And that was the purpose of his life.

And now Eddie is light as a feather. Waiting for the person, for whom he is one of the 5 five people they would meet in heaven.

We Matter

So as we go about our everyday life, let us remember we matter. What we do matters. So let us be intentional about what we do, how we do it.

Let us take time out for the people we love. Let’s learn to forgive. Let us live life to the best of our ability each day.

Let us hold on to our true loves (or only love) with a tenacity that ferocious as well as tender.

The Productivity Hack No One Talks About – Forgiveness

All of us would like to have more productive days. Productivity means being able to efficiently manage our time and complete important tasks within the set time.

This in turn give us more free time in which to do more of what we love and spend time with the people we love. The extra time we get also helps us think better and plan better, thereby improving the overall quality of our life.

Conventional Productivity Tool and Techniques

There are tons of tools and techniques to enhance your productivity. A simple google search will reveal pages and pages of results. These productivity tips range from complicated mathematical models that analyse your habits and tasks to simple tips that advise you to increase your productivity by waking up 15 minutes earlier to begin your day.

However, there is one productivity hack no one talks about. It may be seem strange, but the fact is”forgiveness is a little known trick to enhance your productivity

Connection Between Forgiveness and Productivity

When you do not freely forgive, the corollary is that you are holding on to some negative emotion within. The negative emotion could be anger, jealousy,, unpleasantness ,revenge (perhaps), hatred (hopefully not) or any other similar. What we don’t realize is these emotions take a toll on us and our health. And thereby reduce our productivity.

How Forgiveness can Increase Producitivity

1. Improves your Focus

Focus is all about giving your 100% to the task at hand.

Lets take an example. Suppose you have machine. And due to some reason, the machine is not performing at 100% capacity. Would that be acceptable to you? No, I think not. You would look for solutions to resolve the issue and get the machine up and running at 100%.

When sub-optimal performance is not acceptable in your machines, how can you accept the same in your most valuable asset-viz yourself. When you have bottled up resentment and/or other emotions, a percentage of your innate capability is not available for productive thought and focus. You are not functioning at 100% capacity.

Once you forgive, you are avilable 100% to focus on the task at hand. And you can see your productivity soar.

2 .Helps Utilize your time More Efficiently

Your schedcule defines your day and your success. Sucess never comes overnight. It is always the result of utilizing your time effectively and efficiently on things that matter the most.

The negativity created by lack of forgivesness tends to pull your thoughts (and your time) towards what happened, what might have happened, or how you could have acted…and endless other scenarios. Why waste valuable time in thought processes that do not directly add any value to you or your work.

Forgiving gets rid of the burden on you and your time is all yours to utilize most efficiently. No wonder your productivity soars.

3. Keeps you in Positive Mindset

It is a special person who can forgive. Hence everyone cannot do it. You know that. Once you forgive , you know you are special. That in a way boosts your opinion of yourself just a little bit and of course that helps.

Feeling good about yourself instills a special kind of confidence that helps you sail through your day a winner. Along the way, as you find yourself light and unencumbered by past wrongs done unto you by others (real or imagined) you become absolutely unstoppable.

So really, is it worth holding onto resentment?

Forgive quickly and easily- it is the secret to productivity and you have now unlocked this powerful secret.

Asking the Right Questions

Many times, we are unhappy that we don’t have the right answers. But the question we need to ask ourselves is:

Are we asking the right questions?

When we don’t know what to do, we are stuck. The best solution to becoming unstuck is to ask the right questions.

Why asking the right questions is important

1. Prods you Towards Action

Asking the right questions helps you take action. Thomas Edison, one of the most famous innovators said: I have not failed 10,000 times. I have found 10,000 ways that don’t work.

So when he encountered failure, he surely did not ask himself ” Why did this fail?” He probably asked himself- “As this is method #X that does not work, what should I do next to fix this problem”.

While there can really be no good answer to question 1, question 2 will lead you to good answers and corrective solutions.

2. Gives you Perspective

When something unpleasant happens, the tendency for most of us is to get into self pity mode. We tend to ask ourselves “Why me?”. And the answers to this question are generally not pleasant. The answers can range from statements like ” I am just not lucky”, “It always happens with me” I shouldn’t even bother” etc. which will lead you down a negative spiral.

Instead, change your question. How about ” Now that this has happened, what do I still have I can be grateful for?”. For instance if you lost your job, asking yourself, why you were laid off will give you an unproductive answer. However, asking the question- “Now, I don’t have to be part of the rat race, how can I utilize the time for bigger and better opportunities?”, is a very productive question. Productive questions are those that provide you answers that change your perspective and prod you towards action.

Asking the right questions gives you the correct perspective. It makes you realize that the problem you are in is the not the end of the world. There are opportunities hidden there. And this problem may well turn out to be best opportunity you have.

3.Helps you Achieve the Desired Results

When you are faced with a huge task or achieving a fairly complex goal, asking the right question at each step helps you move forward at a faster pace and achieve your results.

Break down your goal in to smaller tasks and simply keep reapeating this question as your mantra:

“What is the next thing I must do?”. It really is that simple.

For example, you want start running, just put one foot in front of another. That’s all the next thing you have to do to get your results.

Let’s take an example that one of your goals is to write a book. How will this process work:

what’s the next thing I have to do	Get an idea for the book
To get an idea for the book what’s the next thing I have to do	Wake up early to brainstorm ideas
Once I have my ideas, what’s the next thing I have to do	Write consistently every day for 1 hour
And so on..

What’s the next thing?

You get the idea, right?

The fact is our brain is very smart. Our brain is programmed to give us answers, no mater what questions we ask. If we ask ourselves, why do I always get stuck in traffic- we will receive an answer. The answer may be -you are unlucky.

If we ask ourselves, now that I am stuck in traffic, what can I do, we will receive an answer. The answer may be – you can listen to your favorite radio station longer.

You can see for yourself, which is the better answer.

The answer changed only because you asked the right question.

The One SMALL Secret for BIG Wins

There are many things we want to achieve in life. But as the days and weeks roll by and tun into months and years, sometimes, we find that we have not made much progress. Or as much progress as we’d like.

There is ONE small secret that can help you score those BIG wins. I am talking about Consistency.

4 Reasons Being Consistent is Important

1. Consistency Helps Create Habits

We know habits are difficult to break. We often carry out a habit mindlessly, without even aware of it.

With consistency, we can build good habits that help us improve. For example, if you want to get up earlier each day so that you can have more time to plan your day, you have to get into the ‘habit’ of waking up early. You don’t build a habit by waking up early once a week. The consistency in waking up early every single day is what gets you there.

2. Consistency Builds Motivation

Being consistent means you are making progress every day. With each day, you have come a step closer to your goal than you were yesterday. This awareness gives you a sense of motivation and pushes you forward.

Consistency teaches us the lesson that progress is better than perfect. Consistency does not demand giant steps of you. Let’s take an example of exercising. Consistency does not mean you run 10 k today. Being consistent means you run your 3 k or 4 k or even a 2 k every single day. You are building a habit that will serve you well and motivate you to continue the habit.

3. Consistency Takes away the Fear

With consistency comes confidence. Think about it. Something as simple as music or sports. If you practice everyday (or regularly), you get better at it.

Let us say, you want to come up with more ideas for increasing your customer database. My recommendation would be to set aside some time everyday to brainstorm on this. You may set aside 15 minutes or 1 hour, depending on your schedule. What is important is that you consistently spend that time on that topic. You will be amazed to see how the ideas flow. And naturally, this builds your confidence in the area.

Being consistent take away the fear that you have to do something gigantic today to achieve your goals. With a consistency approach, you need to take small doable steps everyday and you will reach your oal.

4. The Compounding Effect of Consistency

Things rarely change overnight. Changes occur as a result of things we do over a period of time. This is called the compounding effect of consistency.

Eating healthy one day won’t make a difference to your health. But when you are making healthy food choices consistently, you can see and feel the difference.

Working on one weekend won’t end your marriage. But consistently prioritizing work over family may well spell bad news for your relationship.

Yes, consistency does have an impact on your life. You can choose the impact to be positive or negative.

Choose wisely.

Four Hidden Benefits of Exercising

The benefits of exercise are well known. There is nothing new I can contribute to that topic I racked my brains and then came up with an idea to write about the hidden benefits of exercising. What could they possible be?

Hidden Benefits of Exercise

Remaining physically fit offers a plethora of direct benefits, However, maintaining a steady fitness routine provides several indirect benefits that improve our life and living in general. Here are 4 of the hidden benefits of exercising.

1. Exercise Helps Increase your Confidence

When you meet your day head on with a 5k run under your belt or an intense 45-60 minute workout, you might have noticed that your confidence is way higher. There is a difference between ‘jumping” right into your day from the bed and “entering” into your day in a calm and measured manner after a work out. In the latter case, you have given yourself enough time to prepare yourself for the day. You are already starting your day on a high. You know that exercising is an important task and you have already ticked it. All of us know the confidence and pride that comes from ticking off the tasks on our to-do list.

2. Exercise Improves your Self Discipline

If you are exercising regularly, kudos to your self discipline. There are a thousand excuses to remain snug in the rug. But the fact that you push away those excuses and show up everyday to keep that commitment to exercise indicates that you have great self discipline. And self discipline is a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.

Once you build your self discipline muscle with exercise, you find that it helps you in your work day as well. You have the self discipline to be more focused on your most important task of the day rather than getting swayed by distractions. Self discipline helps you focus on your priorities better.

3. Exercise Helps Improve your Productivity

Exercise helps improve your energy levels, concentration powers, ability to learn faster, all of which are directly related to your productivity. As each of us steps in to work each day, the aim is not to just spend our 8 or 9 hours there. The aim to make those hours matter and ensure that we achieve the results we are aiming for. And as we know, activity keeps us busy, while productivity sets us free.

4. Exercise Gives you More Time

Exercise really helps you understand the value of time. When you have to hold a plank position for 60 seconds, you realize and feel each of those burning 60 seconds. When you have to do 32 shoulder presses, you are amazed that only 45 seconds have passed by at the end of it.

When you exercise regularly with these time frames, a period of 10 minutes will seem like a lot of time. While a non-exerciser, may not understand the value of 10 minutes, as an exerciser, you realize that this time is sufficient to take care a task on your to-do list. Thus the time gaps in your calendar, those lose 10 minutes here, 12 minutes there start becoming activity filled and you achieve more in your typical day.

Have you observed these hidden benefits in your day/life due to exercise?