Health awareness, an aging population, need for a time-efficient workout, increased government support, and corporate fitness programs are major factors driving the global fitness industry.
Beautiful People Earn More
Our body has become an investment. We almost perceive it as ‘work in progress’ and a form of capital. Today looking healthy and attractive plays an vital part in most people’s life. Not surprising, since the right appearance equates to success – in securing the right job, the right partner – and even in some people’s estimation of personal worth and life insurance. For beautiful people might also earn more money than their plainer peer group.
Sex And Looks
A survey by V.E.N.U.S. and German magazine freundin back in 2002 found that 42% of 20-29 years respondents said that looking good is important when being sexually intimate with another person. Not good news for fulfilling sex lives, since an estimated 56% of all women in Germany are unhappy with their looks. The shocking part is that we haven’t really moved on.
Perfect Me
This quest for outer beauty means more time on the treadmill. During the past decade, the need for an active lifestyle and increasing health awareness has resulted in the growth of the fitness club industry. Memberships numbers are still expected to rise despite global financial turbulence as the quest for the perfect me increases with the competition on the job market.
Fast Forward
We are working more than ever, which means we are constantly under pressure or exposed to stress. A competitive peer group and a ‘fast forward’ mentality rule the day in our working lives and the women who display the right attitude will get to the top of the pile. Never mind that the projects and assignments employers give their workers are getting more complex and with less time to complete them satisfactorily.
Stress Resistant
Life has become a personal game and as Sonja Ehmer from Nike Women says: “To survive in today’s performance society women have to be both mentally and bodily fit. A strong and stress-resistant body is an asset.” She adds: “Many women look upon life as a competition: It is not about winning or losing but about scoring “good” points.”
Play The Game Well
However as I futurist I can only give women one fantastic advice: Life does not consist in holding good cards but playing those you do hold well. How you play your game is what really counts – be your own role model when building your Body Capital.
IMAGES
1. Beauty center in Oslo
2. Girls in an Icelandic hot spring
3. Petra at the dead sea in Jordan
4. The London Marathon
