This morning I was working with a new client and she had the chance after her lesson to talk to a few of the other gym members and hear their experiences. She is a new mom and recently started her own insurance business. One of my clients, a 58-year-old woman who has scoliosis told her to consider the gym as “paying yourself first”. I immediately had to go write that down. What a phenomenal way of thinking about going to the gym!!!  If you own your own business one of the most important things you will learn is to pay yourself first. There is even a great book written on the subject called Profit First, by Mike Michalowicz if you are interested. The whole idea is that when you invest your time and money and heart and soul into a business you can’t go years without income so that the business survives. I have a lot of first-hand knowledge about this because I made that mistake myself. So when you set your business up, you pay yourself first – even if it’s just a tiny bit in the beginning. It sets a precedent and it builds upon itself and eventually turns into the goal you set for yourself.

Going to the gym is similar. You work all day and take care of the people in your life and you put your time and money and heart and soul into everything you do – but what about taking care of you? Well, pay yourself first. Set aside some time and money to just take care of the most important thing in your life – you. Now, I already know some people will think that is selfish, but have you ever heard the stewardess on a plane tell you to put the air mask on yourself first before assisting others in the event of trouble? This is the same kind of scenario… if you don’t take care of yourself first, then you are worthless to take care of those around you whom you care about. Not to mention… they are watching you! Those little eyes and ears to whom you are espousing the importance of eating well and exercising and taking care of your self and being healthy… they will do what you DO. So if you don’t take care of yourself, then they probably won’t either.

It’s a really difficult concept for many of us to understand, but the truth is that you are your number one priority. Not your children, not your spouse or your parents. Definitely not your friends. Just you. Because what happens to them if there is no you? Besides, you deserve to be healthy and feel great after all the hard work you have done! So take the time and go take care of yourself. It will feel like another chore at first, but very very soon it will feel great! After all, no one ever regrets a good workout!