Are you so busy trying to earn more money so you'll be happier, that you haven't got time for exercise?
If you are, you might need to rethink your priorities.
I've just read some fascinating research that found freedom and personal autonomy are more important to people's wellbeing than money.
The study looked at data from 63 countries, involving 420,599 people, that had been published by the American Psychological Association.
The researchers were asking the question -
What is more important for well-being, providing people with money or providing them with choices and autonomy?
What they found was that providing individuals with more autonomy appears to be important for reducing negative psychological symptoms, independent of wealth.
Although money leads to autonomy, it does not add to well-being or happiness.
Previous research has shown that the effect of money on happiness plateaus. Once people reach the point of being able to meet their basic needs, more money leads to marginal gains at best, or even less well-being as people worry about "keeping up with the Joneses."
More autonomy and freedom however, is associated with greater well-being.
So... what does all this have to do with exercise and fitness?
When talking to individuals or groups, I emphasise that the real benefit of exercise is that it gives you greater capacity to do the things you want to do. And that means greater choices. The older you get, the more significant fitness is in maintaining autonomy and choice.
The thing that stops most people from doing what they want as they get older, is not lack of money but lack of fitness. For some this shows up as poor health, but poor health is often the result of poor fitness.
If you are struggling to find the motivation to exercise regularly, think about the things you want to do in 5 or 10 years from now.
If are so busy trying to earn more money that you can't find time to get fit, perhaps you need to rethink your priorities. The money will be of little value if you aren't fit enough to use it.
If you are motivated to exercise but just can't seem to get the results you want, we're here to help - drop me an email at askcalico@calicohealth.com. A personal session to come up with a strategy that works might be what you need.
Getting your priorities right is important for long-term health and happiness.
Article Author: David Beard, Calico's Exercise Physiologist & Healthy Ageing Expert
