Whether you are working or looking for work, it can be difficult to fit time for exercise and healthy meal planning into your day. But if the physical and mental benefits of good health are not enough to motivate you to pay more attention to exercise and diet, maybe the boost it could provide your career will do the trick. Believe it or not, the better shape you’re in, the better shape your career will be in as well.
Exercise Does the Body – and Mind – Good
We’ve all heard a million times how important exercise is to our physical well-being, but did you know that as you improve your health, you’re building brain power with exercise as well? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that regular physical activity can help keep your learning, reasoning and judgment in shape just as it does your muscles and cardiovascular system. Your ability to learn new skills, to think fast and to exercise good judgment are all important to your career, so regular exercise should be part of your career building plan. Moreover, most studies conclude that getting regular exercise increases your motivation in other areas of your life. If you feel stuck in your job or your job search, getting more exercise may be just the thing to get you out of your rut.
Eat Smart for Brain Smarts
If you’ve ever felt sluggish and slow after burger, fries and large soda lunch, then you have experienced the immediate results of poor nutrition on your brain. Fernando Gmez-Pinilla, a UCLA professor of neurosurgery and physiological science, dedicated years to the study of food, exercise and sleep on the brain, and concluded that diets high in trans fats and saturated fats resulted in poor cognitive function, adversely affecting learning and memory in particular. The results of his study were enough to make Gmez-Pinilla eat fast food rarely. Gmez-Pinilla recommends a balanced diet high in Omega-3 fatty acids for a brain that’s quick on the uptake.
Count Sheep, but Try to Sleep
When you’re trying to work AND improve your diet and exercise, you need more hours in the day, not fewer, right? Wrong. Sleep is just as important to your health as a balanced diet and regular exercise. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke warns that when you lose sleep, your brain runs down just like a battery, with impaired memory, difficulty concentrating, and a reduced ability to carry out calculations as the result. If you want to succeed in your career, make sleep a priority – it’s what you need to be on your toes during your workday.
Improving your health AND your career are two perfect New Year’s resolutions! Staffing Partners is here to help you whip your career into its best shape in 2016, so give us a call to see how you can get on the right career path right now!