Interestingly, when it comes to personal development, people’s minds tend to think about reading good books, attending seminars, getting an advanced degree, hanging around good leaders, becoming more spiritual, getting better at public speaking, or developing new skills to become more valuable to your employer or business. However, what fails to make the top of the list is physical health. Why do you think that is? Let’s discuss this a little deeper and at least put this on the talking table and begin pondering how this aspect of personal development may be the one of the most powerful forms of personal development.

Who is it that gets to determine which is the most important aspect of personal development? Is it the government? Heavens let’s hope not. Is it your employer? They have a vested interest in creating more valuable skills for you to perform your job better, so they will give their .02 that’s for sure. Is it society? Is it telling you that you must get a college degree in order to be successful in the working world?

You see, there’s lots of influences out there telling us what we need to do in order to simply get better at life. As a health and fitness professional, I do believe that your personal health and fitness is at the top of the list when it comes to personal development and becoming better at life. I do not think it’s number one, I believe that one is spiritual development. That’s a post for another day, but if you’re not asking, understanding, and figuring out why you’re here and where you’re going when you’re not here anymore, than you’re not human.

It’s difficult to ascribe which aspect of personal development leads to the best outcomes. Of course all of them are important, so how do we attack all of them? Do we chip away at all of them at the same time? Do we get pretty darn good in one area and then shelf it so we can move onto the next? Do we ignore some of them while pursuing others? Is it ok to just pursue one? These are all some pretty good questions off the top of my head when it comes to beginning on this journey. Maybe if we begin with the end in mind we can gain some better clarity on where we should be placing emphasis? 

As humans, eternity and longevity is wired in us. Whether you’re a believer or not, you probably are interested in living a long and vibrant life. In fact, if interest in living a long and vibrant life isn’t part of your interest, then personal development as a whole isn’t even worth discussing in the first place. So if we can all agree with starting there, then health and fitness is probably the area that most determines longevity and vibrance. In fact, without longevity and vibrance, it sure makes most of the other aspects of personal development a moot point, right? And in that question we may have stumbled upon a massive problem in our culture in America. If our health is suffering, which it irrefutably is, than is that negatively impacting all other facets of personal development? I think it is. To be fair, could someone be an absolute baller in all the other areas and be failing in the health and fitness sector? Yeah, that’s certainly a possibility, but even that person is intimately aware of the ramifications of the shortcomings in their longevity and vibrance of life by failing in the health and fitness department.

So, where do we go from here? I’ve long said that health and fitness has such a profound spill-over effect into all other areas of one’s life, and if you also agree that is also probable, then it is with much anticipation from my end that we prescribe health and fitness as the area of priority (second only to spiritual development). Just imagine the amount of discipline, delayed gratification, empowerment, grit, toughness, energy, and productivity is gained from attacking this vein of personal development!? That alone will raise the tide on the other areas of personal growth. If you’re an employer, think about the ROI on this investment with your staff!? It’s immeasurable!

Make health and fitness your priority for the next year, and watch it turn you into the best Well Built Human you’ve ever been.

Here’s some metrics/behaviors to focus on: