One of the greatest lessons of my life came from my mother. Almost three decades ago, I encouraged her to join the YMCA, and what she did afterward left a lasting impression on me. For nearly twenty years, she woke up at 5:30 every morning, five days a week, to go exercise. It didn’t matter if it was cold, dark, or inconvenient—she simply got up and went. Watching that kind of quiet discipline taught me more than any speech ever could.

My mother eventually lived to be 92 years old, and I’ve often believed those thousands of early mornings at the YMCA played a role in giving her those extra years of life. Her example shaped the way I live my own life. Even today, I still believe that taking care of our health—showing up day after day, year after year—is one of the greatest investments we can make. Whenever I think about discipline and longevity, I still picture my mother walking out the door at 5:30 in the morning while the rest of the world was asleep.