Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, knows the key to success… desire.
If you want something bad enough, you’ll do whatever it takes to get it.
That’s true in all walks of life – personal, professional, physical, spiritual, and financial.
But how do you get to that point?
The key lies in knowing WHAT you’ll get once you get it!
And that’s what this article is all about.
Below, you’ll find eight key motivators for why you should consistently strive to live a healthier life day-in and day-out.
Whether you’ve yet to seek out a more healthy lifestyle, or you find yourself in a slump, reading the following reasons will give you that “kick in the rear” you need to start living your healthiest life ever.
Key Motivator #1: Avoid Sickness
Exercise has been found to provide your body with several immune-boosting benefits, including:(1)
- Help fight bacterial and viral infections.
- Decrease susceptibility to cold and flu.
- Send white blood cells throughout the body at a quicker rate.
- Help prevent bacterial growth.
- Slow down the release of stress-related hormones.
Key Motivator #2: Better Mental Health
As we just mentioned, exercise can significantly slow down the release of stress-related hormones in your body, which can positively impact your mental health.
But that’s not all it can do…
Researchers at Duke University made two exciting discoveries in regards to exercise’s effect on depression:
- Just 30 minutes of exercise, three days a week can help approximately 60% of patients treat their depression symptoms without the use of anti-depressant medications.
- Patients who continued the exercise were much less likely to have a future bout with depression (only 8% of patients in the exercise group saw their depression return).(2)
Key Motivator #3: Better Sex
Regular exercise can drastically improve your sex life (for both males and females). Here are a few ways how:
- It increases blood flow. That means stronger erections for men and increased arousal for women.(3)
- It boosts testosterone. A man’s testosterone levels are believed to be higher 48 hours after a moderate workout.
- It makes you feel attractive. A natural by-product of exercise is a more attractive physique… which leads to more confidence… which carries over into the bedroom and leads to better sex.
Key Motivator #4: Live Longer
Did you know that when combined, regular exercise, a healthy diet, conservative consumption of alcohol, and not smoking can add an additional 14 years to your life?(4)
Need we say more?
Key Motivator #5: More Confidence
We touched on this briefly in Motivator #3…
The better you look (and the better shape you’re in) the more confident you’ll be in your overall appearance.
But that’s not all…
You’ll also receive an additional confidence boost from completing your workouts and staying committed to a healthier diet and daily exercise regimen.
Key Motivator #6: More Energy
Although it might sound counterintuitive at first, researchers from the University of Georgia found that low-intensity exercise can actually help decrease fatigue.(5)
Their study found that of the group that performed the low-intensity exercise, 65% experienced a drop in feelings of fatigue.
Even moderate exercise is better than none (49% of those performing moderate exercise also felt less fatigued).
Key Motivator #7: More Time With People You Love
If you have younger children, then you have already experienced the insatiable need to witness all of their major milestones (driver’s license, graduation, marriage, etc.).
And if you have older children, that need has now transferred to their children (your grandchildren).
The longer life (see Motivator #4), a healthy diet, and exercise will increase your chances of experiencing all of the life’s greatest moments with those you love the most.
Key Motivator #8: Save Money
What motivation-based list is complete without mentioning money, right?
But it’s true… a healthier life almost always leads to more money in your accounts.
Being healthier means fewer trips to the doctor, lower insurance rates, fewer prescription medications, fewer cosmetics, and so on.
And before you know it, you have a nice chunk of change sitting in your savings, retirement, and/or investment account.
(Which, now that you’re living a longer life and spending more time with loved ones, will help pay for your child’s milestone of going to college!)
Do you have anything to share? Please leave your comments below.