When I first purchased my Fitbit fitness tracker, I wrote about how it was a great motivational tool in anyone's effort to get out and exercise more. Several months down the road now, I find myself in the situation where I have observed a "falling off" of sorts when it comes to the amount of steps and miles I walk daily. Perhaps I was a bit 
overzealous in the beginning with my lofty goal of 10,000 steps per day, which at the time seemed easy enough to meet. Upon a closer look at my own fitness tracking charts, I discovered the real culprit was actually changes in my recent business and personal lifestyle.
In an effort to expand my stake in the trucking industry and follow my personal business plan, I recently made the jump from being a single truck owner-operator into the world of small fleet operator. Although the rewards have been as anticipated for all of the extra trouble and strife, one of the underestimated pitfalls of this expansion was an increase in sedentary time completing business related and tasks. By doubling the number of trucks, I essentially doubled my workload and cut the time I used to exercise during in half.
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| When Fitbit Was First Purchased Recent Months Since Expansion |
As I was caught up in the shuffle of hitting the ground running with the second truck, I started to fall slightly behind in some of my other routine obligations, including getting out and walking more. I found myself trading "step time" for things like sitting in my office or cab and talking to customers and brokers. Identifying this negative trend was good because it got me actively thinking of how I might be able to incorporate more walking and exercise into my newfound busy schedule. This blog article can be considered one small step of many that I plan to make to incorporate active exercise back into my routine, since I am actually writing it using "speech to text" while catching up on my weekend step goals!
The path to success as an entrepreneur often means spreading yourself thinner and thinner, as I have witnessed in my own career. One of my mentors once told me, "You will know that you are doing something right when you are spread more thin than you ever thought possible!" The important thing is to not let the increasing tasks that you take on consume your ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Make sure when you observe this happening that you take every step possible to re-introduce new ways to find time to stay healthy. Success through working hard is great, but without your health all is truly lost!