Transform Your Life — and Business — By Focusing on Health

What’s your daily schedule?

I usually wake up around 5 a.m. so I can get some reading or writing done before my four kids get up. From there, it’s pretty much what you would imagine. A mad scramble to get everyone dressed and fed before they’re off to school or daycare.

But after that, I don’t immediately start working. Instead, I head to the gym. I usually get back around 10:30 or so, down a protein shake, and then get to work around 11 a.m.

You might think my schedule seems a bit off. People sometimes ask “How can you start work at 11 a.m.? What about your clients, don’t they want to talk to you?” Yes, they do, but I normally don’t take any client calls until 2 p.m.

I’ll explain.

Sure, I could go to the gym later on, let’s say during lunchtime. But I tried that in the past, and far too often something would come up that caused me to miss my workout. I’d feel guilty about missing my workout and annoyed that I had to skip it for something that wasn’t on my schedule for the day.

As a result, I now prioritize my mental and physical health by scheduling work around my workouts and of course, my family obligations.

And as you’ll discover during the most recent episode of the Launch Your Business podcast, prioritizing your health and wellness can become a competitive advantage for your business.

Our guest, Dan Go, is a high performance coach for entrepreneurs and the CEO of High Performance Founder. After the early death of his mother, Go left a cushy corporate job to become a personal trainer and eventually brought his message of taking health seriously to entrepreneurs. Go’s theory is that taking care of your health is a way to transform your life — and your business.

During our interview, we discussed:

How he’s making time to work out with a newborn, and how you can eliminate excuses as well.
Why water is your greatest ally when working towards health goals.
The surprising reason why doing less can actually help you achieve your goals faster.

I’ll share a few of my key takeaways below.

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Working out is not a frivolous extra activity

It’s easy to think of exercise as an add-on that you’ll get to when you’ve accomplished your other goals for the day.

Here’s the problem with that: If you leave exercise in the “maybe” category, you will constantly find other things that are more urgent or feel more important.

“The biggest misconception that entrepreneurs have is the fact that they need to trade their health in order to make more wealth,” Go says. “From my perspective and from my experience, I found that if you neglect your health, you’re actually leaving some major monetary gains on the table.”

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For consistency, start small and focus on the essentials

When you’re getting started with exercise, building the habit is the first goal. So before you go out and buy a ton of workout gear or invest in equipment, start small.

“The thing that I say to my clients all the time is, ‘You don’t even have to work out — just cross the door into the gym,'” Go says. He noted that high achievers usually show up (even when they’ve set low expectations for themselves) and get a few reps in.

Even after you’ve built out a more robust exercise routine, you may need to cut back due to different life circumstances. When we recorded the interview, Go had just celebrated the arrival of a newborn, which meant he was adapting his routine to suit that season of life.

“I’m doing the minimum effective dose at this very moment,” Go says. “I’m appreciative of the fact that I put the work in before that because there is something called maintenance and I’m not trying to gain a bunch of muscle or anything like that. I’m just trying to maintain my sanity and my body all at the same time.”

Related: How to Start a ‘Million Dollar’ Morning Routine

Drink more water

I know this seems basic, but there are a lot of grown adults — particularly entrepreneurs — who run on coffee, soda or tea. If you’re feeling run down, it’s worth considering what your water intake has been recently.

“Energy is currency,” Go says, “and a lot of people would be surprised at how much energy they can gain by being more hydrated.”

Another perk that comes with drinking water is that you can use it to replace the habit of mindless snacking.