Unlocking Your Potential: Mental and Physical Exercise Essentials

The economy is reopening. Workers are returning to the office after a year of remote working and furlough, reigniting our normal schedules and getting careers back on track. However, you may find it difficult to adjust from our lockdown routines and back to a world of work and socialising.

We all want to do well at work. Ensuring that we unlock our true potential is important for our careers after all. But what is the key to becoming the best version of yourself, both at work and with your friends? Here, we explore some core mental and physical exercise you can complete to help you meet your personal development goals.

Rise and shine

We understand – working from the kitchen with our sweatpants on has been a unique experience. We all got to enjoy clambering out of bed and straight to our makeshift offices. Working from home was welcomed by many. But for our working lives, it is perhaps not the healthiest routine to get stuck into compared to the many benefits of a proper morning routine.

From making a big breakfast to ironing our chinos for a productive day in the office, our morning routines have a bigger impact on the day than we think. Morning routines set the mood for the day, giving us subconscious time to think about the tasks in front of us. A morning routine helps build skills of time planning and prioritisation, ultimately improving our productivity.

Morning routines also help reduce stress. Waking up early to properly prepare yourself for the day allows us to relax both our minds and bodies. Sleep is an exercise in itself. Recovering from it just as important.

Mind over muscle

While good exercise can keep us physically healthy, did you know that it’s also a great tool for improving our mental health? Regular exercise can have a positive impact on depression, anxiety, and ADHD. Even simple exercises, such as walking, running, or at-home stretches may help you feel happier, more confident, and focussed.

Furthermore, exercise is key to improving stress, memory, and sleep – further helping to unlock your true potential. In turn, regular exercise helps to improve your mood. When returning to our workplaces and seeing friends again, we want to feel happy and rested. It can only boost your experience.

Attending a gym, now that they’re reopened, can also help with your mental health. An exercise routine coupled with the escapism of leaving your home or the local area can help you in times of unpredictability, uncertainty, and stress. And if the past year has been anything, unpredictable would be a suitable description.

Don’t overdo it

Unlocking our true potential and expanding our mind can be achieved by creating new experiences. After a year of lockdown, there’s no shortage of experiences that we want to enjoy again. But in an equal sense, it’s important to not overdo it. Seeing your friends and enjoying a cold one in your local is, of course, long overdue. But be sure that your social obligations do not overwhelm you. Exhaustion can be problematic.

Social fatigue is a real thing. This is because when we’re enjoying ourselves, our brains respond to dopamine, the chemical that makes us feel good. But overexposure to this chemical and feeling means that it can become ineffective. In the end, going out becomes unenjoyable – even for the most seasoned extroverts. For this reason, a night in should always be on the cards. We know you have a lot of people to see, but giving yourself time to recover is essential, and it can help boost your other experiences.

Try reading a book, doing sudoku, or just watch the TV. Giving yourself a night off is essential to unlocking your potential. It can help your working performance and ensure that you’re never too tired for a last-minute soiree.

Getting back to work and socialising, we must have the physical and mental capacity to keep up with our busy lives. Achieving good mental health through exercise and rest is key to reigniting our lives after a difficult year, and starting again with a positive routine and working life can help improve our other experiences.

Melanie Stockman