What's in it for me?

Staying physically active can provide much more than what meets the eye... My hope is to motivate myself and others to stick with it in spite of all the competing priorities and all the fresh excuses I am able to come up with on a daily basis. Maybe even inspire others to get started. I learned it is never too late to get started, but no good reason to delay it!

You may be like me, past the age of high stakes athletic competitions, or maybe even more like me, never been there. And if not already engaged in some sort of regular physical exercise, you are likely to immediately think: “I am a very busy person, I do not have time for exercise”. OK, I have news for you, the busier you are, the more you would need to make the time. Even if you would like to make time, you might wonder how could you possibly justify to yourself, to your family, or to your boss taking the time to exercise. Indeed, all could legitimately ask: “what’s in it for me?!?”

I will try to exemplify in my future posting some of the benefits I derive beyond physical fitness and health. Let's quickly mention a few that come to mind:

• Make room for deep breathing and thinking
• Extract valuable life and business lessons
• New opportunities to get to know yourself better and to become a better person
• Create a brand for yourself
• Connect with like-minded people, forge life-long friendships
• Look and feel your best
• Enjoy a fair competition
• Create an opportunity to do something you have always dreamed of
• The best way to spend the midlife crisis or an empty nester surge of extra energy and time
• Inspire others, help them realize a dream

I hope you found something you would consider worthwhile. While you may well relate to these, my own perceptions have been likely shaped by my choice of sport and my own individual situation. Yep, just in case you were wondering, I am a gal. I would like to believe the verdict of a personality test I took a few years back was accurate. After having answered many of those twisted, forced, multiple choice questions, this stated that I was a “sporty girl”. I was relieved, actually pleased, it sounds even better for someone of a “certain age” like myself.
So, I am counting on getting help with additional perspectives from those of you, guys and gals, who have already enjoyed the benefits of regularly engaging in some kind of athletic endeavor, in spite (or should I say rather to support) an already very active life. You might be doing yoga or lifting weights, cycling, running or playing team sports or golf...

What’s in it for you?