{"id":7934,"date":"2019-03-01T17:12:14","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T17:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterindia.com\/career-advice\/how-running-can-help-you-go-that-extra-mile-in-your-career-7934\/"},"modified":"2023-03-27T11:12:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T05:42:54","slug":"how-running-can-help-you-go-that-extra-mile-in-your-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foundit.in\/career-advice\/how-running-can-help-you-go-that-extra-mile-in-your-career\/","title":{"rendered":"How running can help you go that extra mile in your career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Runners swear by their sport. Come rain or hail, you will find passionate athelets training hard in your neigbourhood park or on the roads. But did you know running is not just for the chosen few who love it, but is a good form of exercise with a multitude of benefits for everyone? Not only does running prevent health issues such as blood pressure, cardiac irregularities, diabetes, and obesity, but it also helps us feel good and healthy. What\u2019s more, it not only positively impacts our physical health, but also enhances our emotional and mental well-being, encouraging many people to take it up for good.
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Corporate stalwarts like Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra Group; Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC; Sajjan Jindal, Chairman of JSW Steel; Raghuram Rajan former RBI Governor; actors Rahul Bose and Mandira Bedi, several well-known influencers, and many others regularly run and participate in marathons. So why do so many successful people <\/a>run? Does this help their work performance? As it turns out, yes. <\/span>

Other than its obvious benefits, running can also work wonders for you in going that extra mile in your career. If you\u2019re still wondering whether you should make it a part of your everyday exercise regime, let us take you through how running can help us:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extra dose of energy and happiness<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is a reason runners wake up day after day to pound the pavement \u2013 it\u2019s to get that runner\u2019s high. Dr. Jesse Pittsley, former President of the American Society for Exercise Physiologists, and Professor of Exercise Science at Winston-Salem State University, believes that \u201cpsychologically, runners may experience euphoria, a feeling of being invincible, a reduced state of discomfort or pain, and even a loss in the sense of time while running.\u201d Long-duration exercise leads to the release of endorphins, which have a morphine-like effect on the body and are responsible for the \u201chappy\u201d feeling – the perfect way to start a working day!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Builds self-discipline<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

American track and field athlete and four-time Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens famously said: \u201cWe all have dreams. But to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.\u201d Running is considered as an intrinsic motivation and needs a lot of self-discipline. Getting up day after day \u2013 even when you don\u2019t want to – can train you to set goals, focus your mental and emotional energies, work hard and strive to do your best in every domain of your life. A runner\u2019s dedication towards reaching the end goal is a great habit to have in the workplace. Be it completing a project or reaching a certain sales target, running enhances self-discipline.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Makes you goal-oriented and a better planner<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All runners \u2013 especially those who aim to run marathons – need to prep and train themselves. Be it short-term planning or long-term goals, it\u2019s essential to hash out details so that you remain on the right track. Kelvyn Steggles, a leadership development consultant and facilitator and a 14-time marathoner, believes all runners have the \u201cstretch factor.\u201d \u201cIn running, we push ourselves pretty much every race to do a PB [personal best]. In the workplace there are parallels: do you push for coming in under budget or to deliver early, or can you do a bit more in some way? That’s a mindset; it’s about having a bit of self-competitiveness and self-efficacy,\u201d he says. The rhythm of running also facilitates clearer decision-making.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enhances brain activity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In his book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, the famous author Haruki Murakami writes: \u201cBut to hold to [such] repetition for so long\u2013six months to a year\u2013requires a good amount of mental and physical strength. In that sense, writing a long novel is like survival training. Physical strength is as necessary as artistic sensitivity.\u201d Dr. John Ratey, in his seminal work Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, wrote that exercise isn\u2019t just about physical health and appearance. \u201cIt has a profound effect on your brain chemistry, physiology, and neuroplasticity. It affects not only your ability to think, create, and solve, but your mood and ability to lean into uncertainty, risk, judgment, and anxiety in a substantial, measurable way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Develops mental and physical resilience<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first run is often rough. The next few runs can be brutal. But there\u2019s no better achievement than persevering when the going gets tough \u2013 when you have your running shoes on or when you\u2019re working on a particularly tough project. Running helps you build the mental toughness you need to deal with problems, mistakes, failures, difficult situations\/people and general career vexations. After all, if you can run when your legs didn\u2019t want to, why can\u2019t you work through a vexing workplace issue? Running helps acquire resilience, as runners tend to check in regularly on how well they are doing physically, mentally and emotionally. They learn to reflect, re-plan and constantly reset, according to the circumstances around them.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Network through \u201crunversations\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Running is a great leveler. Out there, pounding the pavement, CEO and junior employee are doing the same thing, and it\u2019s easy to slip into \u201crunversations\u201d that can lead to long-lasting relationships. Navneet Kapoor, Chief Transformation Officer, A.P. Moller-Maersk, believes that running makes it easier to \u201cbuild relationships that will help your career progression.\u201d Pankaj Rai, Senior Vice President Strategy, Wells Fargo, feels that \u201capart from marquee running events, even casual weekend runs lend themselves to networking.\u201d Meeting people without their suits on can change the image of networking as we know it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Prevent early-aging<\/strong>
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Age leads to changes in the brain\u2019s makeup, but research reveals that regular exercise can help combat the effects of aging. An active body is the foundation of an active mind. A May 2018 study published in Business Insider revealed that \u201cMany experts consider exercise to be the closest thing to a miracle drug in existence. As a form of cardio exercise that’s easily accessible, running is one of the easiest ways to get some of the most important benefits of exercise.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fatigue, stress and low self-confidence take a back seat when this exercise becomes a part of your daily routine. So, what are you waiting for? Slip on your running shoes and head out the door to a whole new world of health and success!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Runners swear by their sport. Come rain or hail, you will find passionate athelets training hard in your neigbourhood park or on the roads. But did you know running is not just for the chosen few who love it, but is a good form of exercise with a multitude of benefits for everyone? Not only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motivation-thought-leadership"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.in\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.in\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.in\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.in\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.in\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7934"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.in\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15964,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.in\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7934\/revisions\/15964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.in\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.in\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.in\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.in\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}