Women's Corner September 2007
FIT and POWERFUL Executive Women
YES…You DO have the TIME
~Just carve out a slice for yourself~
Work/Life Balance can clearly be a daunting task. Just as it is in business, time management for your health
mirrors the same challenges executive women face daily in pursuit of maximum efficiency within their
professional world. There are seemingly endless responsibilities on all fronts. Each day at work you may
inherit a rambling to-do list, often carried over from the day before. The fact is that enjoying peak
productivity in business has always required establishing and committing first to your greatest priorities.
Your health and fitness mandate the same set of rules.
As women, we have been role set as care givers from the time we were very young. It actually becomes a
well-established habit to take care of our loved ones before prioritizing our own needs. Does that feel
familiar to you? Why even today, the younger of our two children, my son Max, just about to leave for
college had a friend spend the night. I had planned a bike ride to the gym and a wonderful Back, Chest and
Ab work-out. At the last minute, I reprioritized my work-out and opted to create for my son and his buddy,
a breakfast feast for a king. Realizing that my days of playing Max’s Mom, the morning after sleep-over’s
were numbered. The maternal pull was so great that it relentlessly tempted me away from my essential
needs of self-health. But…only for this morning. I conscientiously applied Action Step #3 stated below.
Read on.
While the no-time-for-me attitude can create poor habit choices pulling you away from a healthy active
lifestyle, it need not be that way. I would like you to face head on this Dirty Little Secret, we all have the
same 24 hour day. This hard cold truism in life is that, all FIT and POWERFUL Executive Women, have to
manage most of or more than, the same issues and obstacles you do, within the same given time frame. I
currently train a working woman, Teresa, that doesn’t have the maternal commitment to just the two
children that I had, but is committed to provide enrichment and quality of life to FOUR children. She
manages to fit in her work-outs consistently 4-5 days a week. She is a wonderful model for many.
The key to becoming a FIT and POWERFUL Woman, is to not just learn how to organize your time, but
more important, how to position it. Apply these six Time Management Strategies for establishing your own
Smart Food and Fitness regime..
Action Step #1: Prioritize Yourself. You will never move forward on this important initiative if you do
not put yourself at the TOP of your to-do list. It is imperative that you realize your capacity to give back to
others both professionally and personally is maximized if YOU are FIT and POWERFUL! Give to yourself
first and you will have a greater capacity to enhance the lives of those you love.
Action Step #2: Begin by keeping a log of your non-work schedule. Assuming that you have not one
spare minute in your non-work schedule, do as you do astutely at work, delegate. Ask yourself what
tasks can be delegated to an older sibling, a spouse or caretaker. You can also delegate the task to an
alternative time block, possibly this responsibility can be suitably fulfilled over the week-end.
Action Step #3: Reschedule DO NOT cancel your work-out. Sometimes we just need to punt. I realize
on occasion we all have those unavoidable pulls that we feel committed to, even if they interfere with our
high priority fitness goals. The key here is to never delete your work-out from your Palm or day-timer
without rescheduling it into another spot. That means, if you are scheduled to exercise 3X a week (a
perfect minimum), the rescheduled time will still hold you to that 3X a week pledge.
Action Step #4: Make it a habit. We are much more likely to prioritize what simply put becomes a habit.
Commit to your fitness with that goal in mind. It typically takes 12-16 weeks to firmly establish a new
discipline as a daily habit. Select a task that represents a logical fit into your lifestyle. Be consistent,
persistent and patient. You will come out a winner!
Action Step #5: Come prepared to sieze the moment. Always come prepared with a gym bag in your
trunk or athletic shoes in your desk. That way if a colleague suggests a power walk over lunch, you are set
to jet. If you are in a rescheduling situation or you find a spare 30 minutes, even on the spur of the moment,
you will always have what you need conveniently on hand for fitness at any time.
Action Step #6: Exercise videos can be a lifesaver. When all else fails, it is extremely rare to not have at
least 15-20 free minutes during the entire course of your day. You may find time before going to work or
taking the kids to after school activities, to pop in a video just for a exercise quickie. Something is better
than nothing on any given day of the week. Perhaps, while you cannot manage a 30-minute block time for
fitness, you can squeeze in two 15-minute slots. Be creative and be determined.
Recognize that you absolutely deserve the time you wisely invest in your own health and well-being. Apply
the time management proficiency you apply at work. Reapply these familiar skill-sets. Now you just need
to know and believe that becoming FIT will make you a much more POWERFUL Woman.
Ilene Gershberg a former NBC executive that transformed from FAT to FIT, is author of the 2007 book release of “FIT and
POWERFUL Professionals”, now available at www.FITandPOWERFULcom. To view Ilene’s before and after pictures visit
http://www.ileneonhealth.com/ilene-physical-transformation.htm or click on http://www.ileneonhealth.com/subscribe.html to register
for FREE Health Smart e-Tips. Ilene provides corporate wellness solutions for fiscally fit businesses through powerful keynote
addresses, corporate seminars and management retreats for C-Teams, VP’s and high level executives. Additionally, Ilene consults
businesses on creating FIT and POWERFUL Teams in their workplace and at their conferences.