Are you leading a healthy lifestyle allowing you to lead effectively or is your unhealthy lifestyle limiting your abilities?
Hard work, innovation, and efficiency are necessary qualifications for a good leader. In addition, persistence, the ability to create and manage relationships, and dedication are required. Your ability to lead, on the other hand, may suffer if you are making unhealthy lifestyle choices.
Unhealthy lifestyle choices can limit creativity, lower productivity, increase absenteeism, and negatively impact our relationships. Let’s look at how a poor diet and lack of exercise affect the talents and qualities required of every leader.
Reduced Productivity as a Result of an Unhealthy Diet
A leader must be productive, otherwise, your concepts will languish for a long period. So, what can you do to increase your productivity? To begin, limit your intake of unhealthy foods.
High-fat foods, such as burgers, provide more energy but make our digestive system work harder. This causes our brain’s oxygen levels to drop, making us fatigued and worn out. Therefore, we’re not able to work as efficiently as we could.
This may result in lower profits and the need to work for longer hours. In turn, this may mean less time for planning ahead and other important activities. According to the World Health Organization, sufficient nutrition can boost national output by 20%.
Fruits, vegetables, and foods high in healthful fats, like nuts and fish, are the best choices. These will give you the nutrition you require for increased energy and cognitive efficiency. In addition, these foods will stimulate a better overall mood.
Lack of Exercise Causes Lack of Creativity
A leader’s ability to be creative is crucial. Leaders must come up with fresh ways to solve problems. In addition, they must concern themselves with advertising their product or service and motivating their workforce.
Unfortunately, your creativity suffers when you’re sick. Thankfully, you will notice a difference right away if you change your habits and begin a regular exercise plan now. Individuals’ inventiveness spikes after aerobic activity, according to studies.
However, for the best benefit, you should exercise regularly. This means at least four times each week. According to one study, those who regularly exercised creatively outperformed those who did not.
Unhealthy Foods Negatively Affect Your Mood and Relationships
Most people, especially leaders, value their relationships. Therefore, they must be able to mentor, network, and collaborate with others in good and useful ways. People will lose respect for you and avoid being near you if you are frequently in a sour mood.
You may not realize it, but eating has an impact on how you feel about yourself and others. According to one study, eating processed foods can cause anger and irritation. This is because nutrient-depleted bodies are unable to create the hormones and neurotransmitters necessary for clear thinking.
Therefore, being in a foul mood has an impact not just on your relationships but also on your productivity. When you’re in a terrible mood, you’re likely to feel unmotivated and take longer to complete tasks. A high mood, on the other hand, can help you focus, work more enthusiastically, and deal with stress more effectively.
In addition, a positive attitude is also useful for those who must juggle multiple jobs at once. Further, it can be helpful for those who manage logistical challenges, according to research. Clearly, a poor diet can have a variety of negative consequences for your productivity and relationships.
So, instead of French fries, grab a handful of tiny carrots. Avoid fried foods, and those heavy in sodium, sugar, and saturated fats. Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are your friends when it comes to a healthy lifestyle.
Increased Absences and Expenses From Unhealthy Lifestyle Choices
A leader must be there in order to accomplish their job. People look to leaders to complete their tasks and to provide guidance to others. Increased absenteeism and financial costs may result from unhealthy lifestyle choices.
Chronic diseases are enhanced when people eat unhealthy meals and are inactive. When you’re sick, you’ll most likely have to stay at home or have costly surgeries. Work may be left undone, or others may be forced to cover for you.
In turn, this can result in a bad reputation at work. Businesses need to know that the people they hire are trustworthy. Their business could suffer a great deal if they don’t have their leader.
Final Thoughts
In the long run, the cost of making unhealthy lifestyle choices adds up. In fact, the annual economic cost of obesity alone to businesses in the US is over $12 billion! This includes sick leave, insurance expenses, or other related charges.
Therefore, start now to do what’s best for you and your business. If you want to be a great leader, begin by leading a healthy lifestyle.
Image Credit: Nathan Cowley; Pexels; Thank you!
