A successful career is an important part of people’s identity in today's hustle culture.

In an attempt to achieve professional milestones, many drown themselves in work to the point of neglecting their health and skipping key habits like exercise. Thankfully, you can achieve success without compromising other essential areas of your life.

Understanding the Mind-Body Connection

Everything you do for your body has ripple effects on your mind. One recent study found that this unique link is built into the structure of the brain. This intricate connection explains how the worries of the mind drive physical actions. For instance, anxiety makes you want to pace back and forth.

Scientists didn't fully understand how this phenomenon happened until discovering that the mind-body connection is a built-in fixture in the brain through complex interconnected networks. Parts controlling movement are tied into networks that regulate thinking, planning and body functions, such as blood pressure and heart rate.

This is why people who exercise have a more optimistic outlook on life than those with a sedentary lifestyle. They are generally in a better headspace to plan, make decisions and achieve their goals.

Leveraging the Mind-Body Link to Grow Your Career

It takes a healthy body and mind to achieve professional growth. Exercise is an important component of this. Fitness is a key formula for any success equation.

Engaging in movement activities promotes a stable mind-body connection, which helps you maximize your mental and physical resources efficiently. How can you advance your career without sacrificing your fitness needs?

Master Time Management

Every hustler’s dilemma is to fit exercise into a busy work schedule. Time management is a crucial soft skill for maintaining a work-life balance and increasing productivity. Those who manage their time effectively receive a positive performance review at work and have better well-being.

How do you optimize your time? Create a schedule. Plotting what you must do for the day guides your focus like a compass. Planning your workout is another strategy. If you struggle to fit in an hour of physical activities, opting for time-saving exercises like HIIT or a quick power yoga flow is always an option.

Fitness doesn't have to take away time from major responsibilities. Plan, schedule and prioritize to incorporate it into your day.

Embrace Active Rest

Rest is as important as exercise for optimal health, especially if you do intense training. It ensures there's a period for recovery after you tire the body out with successive high-intensity routines.

Doing strenuous activities without a break can lead to physical and mental burnout, which may result in trauma or developing a negative attitude toward your workouts. Active rest integrates low-intensity routines without placing stress on the body. You're still moving, but not at the same intensity as your usual activities. This allows your strained muscles to recover and enhance your overall performance, including at work.

Learn to Manage Stress

Keeping the pressure levels at bay benefits your professional life by developing tolerance to distressing job situations. For instance, if a colleague makes a mistake, the response will be finding a resolution instead of blaming.  

Exercise is one way to relieve and regulate stress. Completing a cardio set gives people a sense of achievement, reduces their stress levels and allows them to cope with frustrations. This much-needed personal time can prevent depression and other mental health disorders.

Some may find stress relief in painting, gardening or other hobbies. Do whatever it takes to make you happy and diffuse tension.

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Practice Mindfulness

Like the tide, fitness motivation ebbs and flows. Some days, you’re pumped to run for another mile, but other times, you don’t feel like leaving your bed. Experts recently found that sitting and focusing on your breath can support motivation and a healthy relationship with exercise.

In this study, researchers found mindfulness — which is the mental state of being attuned to the present moment — is associated with heightened levels of exercise self-determination. Between participants who performed low and moderate exercise activities, the latter had decreased levels of mental distress during exercise, perceiving the activity as less stressful. They’re more active as a result.

To increase your self-awareness, try meditation, breathing exercises or body scanning. Alternatively, incorporate mindful movements like yoga, tai chi or qigong.

Build a Support System

Humans are social beings. The people around you influence some of your decisions. For instance, you'll be more willing to go to the gym with friends than alone.

You gravitate toward those with the same values, goals and mindset as you. Scientists don't fully understand why this happens, but studies have found that some brain activities change when you’re surrounded by others, consequently affecting your choices and decisions.

People can leverage social support for positive gains, like adopting exercise and other healthy habits. How do you go about it? Networking is the way to find your tribe. Go out, join online and offline communities, and talk to people. Find like-minded individuals who can be your source of encouragement.

Set Goals That Complement Fitness and Career

Balancing work and personal life is possible by setting realistic goals. The trick is making incremental changes rather than massive strides and sacrificing your well-being. The idea of getting 1% better every day perfectly encapsulates the steady growth and improvement in your profession.

Surpass expectations, but avoid slipping into detrimental routines like skipping your workout. Frameworks like SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) can help you create realistic goals. More importantly, celebrate small wins. A pat on your back for every job well done boosts self-esteem and trust in yourself to accomplish things.

Overcome Mental Barriers

Fear of failure, self-doubt and perfectionism can stop you from prioritizing fitness alongside your career. These mental obstacles stall your growth, keeping you from moving forward. How do you address them?

There's no tangible cure for self-doubt or perfectionism. The only way to overcome them is to reprogram your beliefs. Engaging in therapy is a good starting point. During sessions, you'll learn to replace self-defeating beliefs with optimistic ones, increasing your confidence in yourself. Some may find journaling useful in regulating negative thoughts and emotions.

Cultivate Resilience

Resilience is the ability to adapt to any professional setting and bounce back from adversities. One of its pillars is self-regulation, which encompasses self-motivation, self-discipline, self-control and stress management. How do you increase your resilience?

Self-care is vital in mental toughness and you can express it in many ways. Exercising is one. It can teach you discipline, help you regulate stress to prevent burnout and elevate your self-motivation. Eating a balanced diet can nourish your body. Everything you do to care for yourself is important in a successful, long-term career.

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Prioritize Health While Pursuing Career Growth

Real career success is only possible when you achieve it without health compromises. After all, a sound body echoes a sound mind. You make better decisions when your physical and mental well-being are both in good shape.

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