Richard Branson’s Number One Secret for Top Performance

This is a gentle reminder that the only person dedicating to taking care of you, is you.

It’s easy to get caught up in the other people’s priorities – especially when life gets so complicated you can’t tell yours and other people’s priorities apart.

For a moment, just stop. Give yourself permission to pause everything you’re doing and relax.

Breathe. Focus inward.

• Have you eaten a responsible amount of food today? – Just missing one meal can seriously impact your ability to be creative, solve problems, and think outside the box. Eat breakfast!
• Are you drinking enough water? – Water is the universal solvent. You need it to flush toxins, lubricate your body, and conduct electricity in the brain. Drink more of it.
• Are you getting enough sleep? – If you don’t sleep enough, your reaction speeds are slower and it takes longer for you to adapt. Get at least 6 hours of sleep each night.
• Have you exercised three times or more this week? – Exercise is one of the only ways to grow new brain cells.

Trust me, your client will wait 20 minutes for you to eat breakfast, and your business won’t fall apart if you spend a few hours per week exercising.

When asked for his number one “secret” to greater productivity, Richard Branson answered with one word: exercise.

I wanted to see if this was true, so I went and bought a copy of Tony Horton’s P90X3 in-home DVD fitness program. It’s made such a big difference in my life, I’m doing it again. In fact, exercising daily has improved my abilities to be patient, focus on my priorities, be creative, and solve problems so well, I can’t see myself stopping – ever. In fact, I can trust that I will have some of my best ideas and solve some of my toughest challenges immediately following my daily workout.

Here’s my challenge for you: implement this one new habit and get 30 minutes of exercise daily for the next 90 days. For those of you who take this challenge on, please keep me updated on how it goes!

P.S. Stay tuned, because later this week I’m going to re-publish an article in which I explain how to link exercise to your values so that it happens naturally and you don’t need to force yourself to do it.