Conor Delaney and his 5-year-old daughter, Blake

As the regular work day begins for most people on April 17, Conor Delaney, financial advisor and CEO of The Good Life Companies, will be making his way to the starting line of the 121st Boston Marathon.

He hopes to finish this, his first marathon, in about three hours and 20 minutes.

After watching both of his parents die young, partially because of bad health habits, Delaney always has defined himself as an athlete, but last year he decided to enter the ranks of elite athletes by qualifying for the Boston Marathon and finishing in a respectable time.

“I would be a hypocrite if I did not make good decisions in business, as well as outside business,” says Delaney, who ran 23 miles the morning he did this interview. He trains six days a week, doing different kinds of workouts each day.

“You have to be doing something different each day; something different than sitting at a desk,” he says. “You have to trick your muscles into doing something they normally would not do.”

Delaney, 31, grew up as one of the fattest kids in school and health and fitness became a priority for him as an adult. Now he would like to pass that down to his two small children as they grow up.

“My wife is a soccer player and she keeps me on track to make good health decisions,” he says.

Delaney and his partner, Courtnie Nein, founded Good Life Advisors in Wyomissing, Pa., in 2012 to provide financial advice to individuals, as well as to provide support to advisors in training, technology and infrastructure. Good Life Advisors also has an insurance firm.

Today the companies have more than 200 representatives or insurance agents nationwide, some 15,000 clients and $2 billion in assets under advisement, Delaney says. It is an affiliate of LPL’s broker-dealer network and one of LPL’s fastest-growing firms.

“I’ve been in financial services for 12 years and I have been relatively healthy, but I’ve thought about this a lot. People are entrusting me with their money. They had better see discipline in their financial advisor; they had better see someone who takes care of himself,” he says.

Although he was in relatively good shape before, Delaney lost 50 pounds in his run up to the marathon and now weighs a trim 151. Likewise, he encourages his employees to stay in shape. “You are a better employee to me if you are taking care of your health first.

“Whether it is financial planning, exercise or diet, if you don’t do something with passion, you will not do it well,” says Delaney.