Why does your diet matter? Why do you need to go to the gym? Who do you need to impress, anyway?

How about your kids?

And actually, forget impressing them, how about just keeping up with them?

The reason we need to stay in shape, the reason we need to lift weights, the reason we need to go to a trainer or follow a regimen is so that we can meet the challenges of parenting. So we have the energy to say “yes” when they ask us to throw the ball, so we can carry them on our backs, so we can walk however many godforsaken miles are involved in a day at Disneyland, so we can still be present at the end of the day.

And not just now, by the way, but when they’re older and we’re older—or even, perhaps, someday when we have grandkids. It’s the work now—the health or lack of health we cultivate today—that is going to determine what we bring to the table later, what reserves we have to draw on later.

So do it. Do that work. Train like you’re training for the most important challenge of your life. Because you are.