I used to have the same belief. Have neglected all these aspects of life for my business, for years. The whole focus was on making the business successful. I was lucky. Minoo stuck by me. Despite my giving very little time to the kids, they still consider me their role model. I didn’t lose friends but hardly fulfilled my role as a good friend.

My entrepreneurial journey was not all about money. At some point, money becomes irrelevant. It becomes mere numbers. The drive at that time is to build something great. Endorphin ran every time when I got out of brainstorming discussions and meetings. That made me brush other things aside. Now I realize it was a mistake. That’s why today I care more about my exercises and hobbies than business. It’s not easy though.

I have a growing business. Over 150 families’ livelihood is largely dependent on our business. We serve over 30 medium and large corporations across continents. Their business depends on the products we manufacture for them. The ultimate responsibility of on-time delivery of best quality products lie on me and that demands a lot out of me. Like most entrepreneurs, my daily to-do list ends up having 10-15 very important matters that need immediate attention. Needless to say, countless mails to read and respond. Oh, and not to forget the meetings. And yet each and every week I spend more than 10-12 hours on my fitness, completely focused.

I have found that over the last few years if there is a clash of schedule – a client meeting or a travel happening which means I have to skip gym, I choose to reschedule my client meeting or travel time, whenever possible. I do this because I have realized, I and my business can survive the consequences of rescheduling that meeting. But if I start pushing off my workouts instead, I will start skipping them. If I start to skip my workouts I am close to stopping workouts altogether. If my exercise stops my health goes down. With that my productivity. And with that my business. I have learned from my experience that excelling in one aspect of life rubs into others too. Impact of exercising is measurable and the easiest to control. When I do exercise, I boost other aspects of my life, including business.

People and society around me made me believe that if I was not doing Business First, rest all is useless. I was not a good husband, son or father. But I am convinced they are wrong. I have realized that it doesn’t matter if it’s 2nd or 3rd priority in my life. In fact my business’ in the last three years have been better than previous 17 years, when Business was my one and only priority. After I started regularly exercising, I feel I am excelling in all my roles – as a entrepreneur, father, husband, son and friend. Putting exercise  on top of my priorities has created a win-win situation everywhere. I have never been this healthier … and happier. All my medical reports are normal. I know I am doing justice to my family by being healthy.

I see lot of my friends, colleagues in similar trap like I was.The whole idea of sharing my experience is to make everyone reading this blog, re-look at his/her lifestyle and re-prioritize. If you spend few hours a week on your fitness regime, you may have few hours less at work but you will have more productive hours, fulfilling life and an overall ‘feel good’ aura around you.

Let’s get fitter and healthier together!