Exercising Your Most Important Assets

I've talked about how your mind and health (body) are more important than money. With them, you can always get more money and enjoy life in the process. But without them, life can be miserable no matter what you own -- and all the money in the world can't buy good health and a sound mind.

This piece from Market Watch agrees with me and discusses how you need to exercise your most important assets (your mind and body). Their summary thoughts on this issue:

Your most valuable assets -- unquestionably and by far -- are your mind and body themselves.

The piece contains tons of facts, quotes from research, etc. on this issue. Here are my favorite takeaways:

• Scientific evidence increasingly points to the fact that you can take immediate and effective steps now to enhance these assets -- to keep your mind and body functioning at peak pitch much longer and better than we had previously thought.
• A lot of this has to do with exercise -- regular, hard, varied, determined and challenging exercise. The more of it we get, the better we stand to perform well mentally and physically, and the longer we stand to live.
• Medical scientists now are talking about much more than the simple old truism that exercise makes us stronger and fitter. What they are saying is that purposeful physical work and mental challenge (as when you tackle a difficult crossword puzzle or even a new dance step or other intricate movement) create actual physical changes in the body and brain.
• Says Shari Roan, a Los Angeles Times staff writer who has extensively studied the subject: "Movement appears to enhance memory, learning, attention, decision-making and multi-tasking, among other mental functions. It may slow or even reverse age-related decline."

They conclude with this thought:

Bottom line: You almost certainly can enhance your most important asset if you invest your time in a personal program of challenging physical and mental exercise.

I couldn't agree more.

On the body side, I train four times a week for an hour either on a bicycle or an elliptical machine.  This will bump up as the weather gets warmer and I can ride outside once again.

On the mind side, I have challenging work, am involved in numerous charitable projects which are fun and exciting, and I play chess when I find the time (I play blitz chess -- all moves are made very quickly -- so a game doesn't take that long). I've also studied Russian a bit lately, but haven't found the time to keep up with it. And I've read that learning new computer skills helps as well, which is something I certainly do running this blog.

What do you do to keep yourself physically and mentally fit? Please share your thoughts with us all in the comments below -- perhaps something you say will help someone else get started on the path to good physical and mental health.

Comments

[Dale]

I have a suggestion for fellow parents. If your child is learning a foreign language in school, join in. Invest a little money in a textbook and a dictionary and learn right along with your child. Obviously, this approach works best if your child is just starting. My son will be starting to learn German next fall (or at least that was his first choice for a foreign language). I'm going to study right along with him.

[Dave]

I lift weights four times a week and do some cardio at least three times a week (run, hike, kayak). A big part of taking care of yourself physically which many (most) people neglect is their diet. It has taken me a while, but I've completely changed mine. I used to eat out all the time and thought nothing of eating a whole pizza by myself, but now I'm strictly a low fat, fruit and vegetables kind of guy. I have never gotten into crosswords, but to keep myself mentally challenged I like to read (150 books last year) and my job as a software engineer keeps me on my toes.

[FMF]

Dave --

Good for you! Diet is my biggest challenge. In fact, that's why I rode 4,000 miles on a bike last year, so I could eat more ice cream. ;-)

[Blaine Moore (Run to Win)]

I read voraciously, write voraciously, and lift weights and run constantly. I keep myself busy. My job also requires a lot of creative problem solving.