When we have a family to care for, a career, and a busy life we pay a lot of attention to our assets, our financial goals and deadlines to achieve success and we can easily forget that our most important asset is our health and wellness.

But we need to take a minute to think about what is really the most important factor in our life. After all we cannot do our work and fulfill our goals in life if our body can’t support us.

In today’s busy world our self-care habits are the first to go. Even people that have the ability to choose how they spend their time – time put aside for a proper exercise program and to eat better are the most frequently missing practices.

It is not easy to change your habits, to slow down, to let go of projects that don’t truly serve your purpose, or to push some tasks down the totem pole of priorities. But when you don’t slow down, don’t take time to exercise, when you don’t stop for lunch because you are stringing deadlines together you are taking long-term risk with your health.

Someday, sooner or later, your health will be the single most important issue in your life. 

Your body is a well-tuned system and if you don’t make good decisions on your own behalf, you can bet that it will at some point. And when you don’t feel good nothing else matters.

Don’t ever think that you will not be the one, chronic modern lifestyle disease such as heart disease; cancer and diabetes are the big three that are currently epidemic in our world. Because disease creeps up slowly most people wait for a major health crisis before they are motivated to take action to improve their health or even begin to take any responsibility for it.

The problem with that however, when a “sickness” crisis occurs the human body has already arrived at a broken-down state and it may be well too late. How valuable does health become then, is it the “Give me all the latest tests, drugs, doctors, surgeries, whatever it takes man” or the “money is not an option I don’t want to die” scenario?

How much time, effort, money, grief, frustration etc is then poured into trying to save ones life? Isn’t it an easier option to at least do one of the major things like taking a little time out for exercise that could help prevent this situation? Good health does not just happen; it is something that must be worked at and maintained on a daily basis, and even more so in our busy but sedentary world.

Regardless, exercising seems to remain a low priority for many. People ask “How can I avoid all of these nasty diseases without actually having to exercise. Is there a way that I can get the benefits of this physical exercise without actually having to do the work?”

Unfortunately no, you have to actually do it if you want to get the benefits from it.

No one can do it for you, no prescription drugs can give you the same effects, and no surgical procedure can create the health that your body would create on its own when you take some time out for regular physical exercise. This is something you must pursue on your own if you desire to experience the positive health and long term wellness that results from it.

The global health situation has become so bad that health campaigners say we could be losing 15 -20 years off our lives through increased risk of cancer, coronary heart disease, obesity and stroke. First of all we need to change our attitudes to our own wellness. Experts say proper exercise needs to become a priority in the 21st century, and should be rated as important as family and friends, and our social and work lives.

Regardless of what your current health condition is right now, don’t wait for disease to set in, be proactive and improve your health everyday by taking a little time out to exercise and eat better. It is far, far easier to keep the good health you have rather than to try to recover it after it is lost. Remind yourself of this everyday and your efforts will be worth it.