

Always Finish - scottbrit
http://www.venturebent.com/2011/07/always-finish/

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galdosd
Actually, I have an alternative theory to explain what happened. There is a
lot of research documenting the mental benefits of exercise, especially on
aspects like focus, planning, discipline, etc. These are just the sorts of
aspects the author found began to wane.

Therefore, I theorize that actually it was the decrease in regular exercise
that caused the change, not a vague changing habit of "completing things."
After all, finishing what you set out to do can often be beneficial, but it
can also be foolish when it later turns out that what was begun was unwise or
low-priority.

Something doesn't seem quite right about the "always finish" theory to me,
since I know many very successful people make a point of being able to
stoically change priorities when necessary rather than getting mired in
pointless completion of no-longer-useful goals.

The hard thing is that although we ARE ourselves, we do find ourselves reduced
to theorizing as to why changes in ourselves are happening-- looking around to
find a cause.

How would one test the "finishing things" theory against the "exercise
increases focus" theory? No problem-- try going back to a better exercise
schedule but letting things slide as needed in non-health related areas. I
predict it'll be fine, suggesting it's exercise/health specifically that is
affecting habits, not some sort of "getting into a bad habit of not finishing
things" effect. If it's not, that suggests I'm mistaken and provides evidence
in favor of the author's theory.

I'd be interested in the results.

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joelg87
I'm glad particular attention was given to the gym example in this article, or
more in general "health".

These days I'm generally quite disciplined with sleep and exercise, but I've
been down that path of "if I skip the gym this time I'll have more time/energy
to work". After a few days I find I'm much less productive than I am when I'm
consistently going to the gym 5-6 times a week. It's a nice reminder.

I wonder how many successful entrepreneurs are highly disciplined about their
exercise/health?

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scottbrit
When Richard Branson was asked how to be more successful in business his
response was - "Work out"

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ashcairo
Thanks for the motivational reminder. I've been getting hardcore into my
product development and sacrificing the time I'd usually spend going to the
gym and other activities. I've found that I can mix social occasions with work
by bringing my laptop, but with gym I can't really do that. So I better hit
the gym now and get it out of the way.

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imjk
For me, the gym, sleep, and work all tie together literally; when I don't get
the exercise I need, I can't sleep as well (or get to bed as early), and
hence, my performance suffers the next day.

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stevenp
I find that it's really easy to fall into the trap of skipping the gym because
of work demands, until it gets to the point that I'm not going at all. It's
really hard to get to the point where you value your own health as much as
your work -- it requires constant conscious effort (for me, at least).

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ulisesroche
This may sound a bit frivolous but, I've found that the quickest way to change
your life for the better is to develop a nice set of abs. No better anti-
depressant. I do get the urge to skip, of course, but I can usually convince
myself not to by putting on workout clothes and running shoes and waiting
until I feel like exercising.

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stevenp
That's only EVERY MAN'S DREAM... and the reason that Men's Health manages to
stay in business. Any tricks you can suggest on the ab front? :)

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ulisesroche
Sure. The trick is to get to 10-12% body fat, which takes a little bit of time
to get to, but it's easy to maintain once you're there.

First, a standing desk. I always get fat when I'm sitting down for too long.

Then, as soon as you wake up in the morning, eat scrambled egg whites, a can
of beans, with a splash of olive oil. Take a multivitamin, and a garlic pill.
Drink a lot of water.

Then workout, repeating a circuit of exercises for 25 minutes. I do 4-day
splits, (out of habit, mostly) so 4 days in a row I'll exercise, and on the
5th, I rest. I just steal circuits from the 'net every two weeks or so. The
key is intensity. The more intense you make the workout, the better you'll do.

Here's a sample circuit:

Pullups x 5 | Ab Wheel Rollout x 10 | Pushups x 15 | Squats x 20 | (no rest
between circuits)

The rest of the day, I eat as much as I want of meats(yum), vegetables, and
legumes, and I drink a lot of water. I pig out when I'm out with friends,
which is every once in a while. Opt for liquor instead of beer, though.

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nickpinkston
As a complete non-exercise guy, I'm still trying to find ways (like a solid
walk through SF hills) to try to get some exercise in - is there a good site /
idea for working out "for the rest of us"?

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xbryanx
Sounds like you need a FitBit - <http://www.fitbit.com/> I've got friends who
literally won't go anywhere without theirs now. Their website is pretty great
for tracking other health data as well.

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SmartFone
This is great advice, but I think it could be rephrased slightly:

Make sure to always do and finish that which you'll say you'll do. Especially
regarding exercise, as without that, your productivity can drop. And if you
can't finish, then you'll learn to be more reasonable.

Anyways, quite solid advice.

