There are a lot of things we tend to with care — family, career, cars and bikes, books — the list can go on. But the main cog in the wheel that makes taking care of these things possible, is the one that is tended to the least and taken for granted the most — our body.
In a manner of speaking, body is nothing but a machine; a complex, complicated piece of equipment that needs to function in a synchronised manner at all times. If we were to internalise this reality, the way we treat our physical self might dramatically change.
All about the fuel
This is not about avoiding smoking or drinking, although they are not the best things one can do to themselves. I would like to talk about an even more basic aspect of managing our physical self — to keep it functioning in a proper manner, with the proper fuel.
Imagine if you forgot to fill your bike or car with fuel or engine oil, and kept driving at a high speed. The machine would abruptly stop when the last drop of fuel gets burnt and the momentum of the vehicle might cause serious harm to the engine and the vehicle. In the absence of engine oil, the moving parts of the engine would overheat and jam.
Fortunately our body is better programmed to handle the lack of fuel; in such situations, it tends to dip into the inbuilt energy reserve of fat which is stored in the body.
But this is unfortunate because several people don’t know when the body is switching from the main fuel to the reserve. Unlike a bike or a car which has reserve indicators and warning lights, the only signal our body gives is hunger.
Again, this is unfortunate because our body cannot differentiate between good fuel and bad; the signal shuts down the moment we feed it anything edible.
Unlike a car or bike which would not start at all if we were to pour kerosene, water or any other liquid, our body is far more flexible. Whether a person fills in good and balanced fuel in the form of a mix of fibre, carbohydrates and nutrients or unhealthy food, the body-machine keeps working.
Dangerous habit
The pressure of a business school schedule and subsequently, corporate life often leads a person to compromise on various things, starting from sleep. Most people tend to make up for lack of sleep by waking up just in time for a class or other schedule and in the process, skip breakfast.
Hunger pangs are invariably quietened with whatever little is available and can be consumed easily and quickly. To say that this is one of the most dangerous habits that a person can adopt is an understatement.
Eat to succeed
Enough has been written about having a proper and sumptuous breakfast including the old adage; have breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. But while most of these inputs are in the context of a healthy lifestyle, I would like to emphasise on a far more basic and practical aspect — the connection between missing breakfast and your aspirations in life.
Imagine trying to enter a race with a beat-up car or bike, the engine of which has been used and abused with adulterated fuel and lack of proper maintenance and service. That is how you will be if you start your career after having deprived your body of proper fuel, especially breakfast.
It would be a safe assumption to say that anyone studying in a management programme has lofty ambitions and aspirations to grow quickly in their career. Apart from the degree and industry exposure, a person requires the physical capabilities to pursue these aspirations. Even though the programme is aimed at creating managers and intellectual capital for any organisation, the initial phase of anyone’s career involves a fair amount of physical effort.
This is especially true for anyone planning to treat the sales and marketing career path. In such a situation, your body should have enough reserve to manage the rigours of the job. You body should function at the peak time efficiency and that will be possible only if you have cared for it — fed it proper fuel and done it on time.
Remember, you are what you eat. So you must eat to succeed.