Choice 15
Enhance Your Emotional Fitness Through Physical Fitness

One fundamental way to improve the way we feel, and to increase our capacity to withstand emotional challenges, is to build and maintain our physical health. In my university classes I assign a term project to my students asking them to apply self-leadership strategies to work toward a personal improvement in some aspect of their life. A primary criterion for selecting their personal challenge topic is that it should be something that they view as significantly important to them. One of the most common areas students select to work on is their health, especially through nutrition and exercise. And by the end of the semester many of them report impressive results including lower stress, improved stamina, increased confidence, and in general feeling better about their lives.

As part of a new push to encourage fitness in the United States, a three-mile race was recently organized for 400 White House workers. President George W. Bush (55 years old) came in 26th place with the surprisingly brisk time for his age of 20 minutes 27 seconds. After the race he commented, “It’s important for those of us in the White House to live how we talk.… If we’re going to say we’re going to live a healthy life, let’s do it.” And he went on to say to Americans in general, “I know you’re a better worker if you exercise on a daily basis… you’ll help keep the health care costs down… your life will be more complete.”⁶⁰131

Indeed, health and fitness are now widely viewed as primary ingredients for a high-quality life, including, and perhaps especially, our work life. The Wall Street Journal recently published an entire section on health and fitness that proclaimed in large letters on the cover page: “Fitness isn’t an option in today’s sedentary lifestyle. For the first time in history, it’s a must.”⁶¹ The list of executives who make fitness a key priority reads like a Who’s Who, including Tom Monagham (founder of Domino’s Pizza), Charles O. Rossotti (Commissioner of the IRS), Julian C. Day (CFO of Sears), Michael Magnum (President of the Magnum Group), and President George W. Bush.⁶²

Most of us recognize that over time exercise can strengthen our bodies and help us to feel better. In fact, the documented benefits of exercise include improved circulation, more efficient functioning of the heart, strengthening of the respiratory system, enhancement of immune function, improvements in digestion, and facilitation of the body’s elimination of metabolic wastes. It also stimulates the release of endorphins that fight depression and improve mood, neutralize stress, and promote relaxation and sounder sleep.⁶³

Beyond exercise, we are also aware that our eating habits can have profound impacts on our quality of life. The common saying “you are what you eat” really drives this point home. What we eat can affect not only important physical factors such as our weight, heart health, blood pressure, digestion, susceptibility to allergies, and immune function, but also our mood. In her book Food & Mood, nutrition expert Elizabeth Somer describes in detail how food can have far-reaching impacts on the way we feel and, like a drug, can even act as a form of self-medication.⁶⁴

So what are the basics of a good personal health plan? Dr. Tedd Mitchell, health columnist for USA Today Weekend Magazine, prescribes straightforward ways for building better nutrition and exercise into our daily lives. The specific advice he offers may sound familiar, but it provides good practical guidance on yet another powerful choice for increasing the power to choose how you feel.⁶⁵132

To make nutritional improvements, create your own eating program with input from a spouse or friends who know you and can help you make sure your plan is realistic. Whenever possible, seek the advice of a registered dietitian. Include lots of vegetables and fruits, and emphasize low-fat high-fiber foods. Dr. Mitchell quotes a frequent statement of Dr. Kenneth Cooper, his colleague and founder of the prestigious Cooper Clinic, about the desirable number of daily servings of fruits and vegetables, “Five is fine but nine is divine.” Mitchell also suggests keeping a daily log of your eating habits to track your progress (a favorite strategy of my students, by the way).

In terms of exercise activity, Dr. Mitchell prescribes a regime of moderate exercise for 30 minutes 5 days a week. The key is consistency. Exercise is something that should become a scheduled priority but kept realistic. Moderate exercise Monday through Friday is much more beneficial than overexerting a couple days a week with an intense workout. Again, Dr. Mitchell says keeping a log of your exercise activity is important so that you can track what you have, and have not, done on your exercise plan.133

Probably one of the most helpful suggestions that Dr. Mitchell makes, because it frees us from trying to be a health perfectionist, is to follow what he calls “the 80/20 rule.”⁶⁶ In its simplest form it suggests that we be “good” during the week but let our hair down on the weekend. He especially applies this rule to nutritional habits—eat well-balanced low-fat, high fruit and vegetable meals during the weekdays but starting Friday night, enjoy! He does suggest, even on the weekends, that we eat slowly with plenty of fluids but allow ourselves to (reasonably) indulge, even with an evening dessert and a glass of wine or mixed drink if we like. Then shift back to the healthy eating mode with the Sunday evening meal. And the same 80/20 rule could easily be applied to exercise as well—put in your daily 30 minutes of exercise during the week and then take the weekend off if you like.

Dr. Mitchell also prescribes good emotional health habits. Some of these include enjoying regular humor and laughter (more on this strategy in the next chapter), sharing your experiences with and helping others, being realistic about your goals at work, and finding a compelling purpose in your life that may have nothing to do with your job (art, travel, a hobby). However, those who have enjoyed the benefits that good healthy eating and exercise bring to their lives will confirm that these benefits in and of themselves go a long way toward building our emotional fitness. When we make the emotional discipline choice to eat well and exercise, we tend to feel good physically. And when we feel good physically, we tend to feel good about life in general.