Working on a healthier you
Leading a business is hard work. Looking after your health increases the energy you bring to work, but doesn’t need to overwhelm your to-do list. Chris Desmond explains how to […]
Leading a business is hard work. Looking after your health increases the energy you bring to work, but doesn’t need to overwhelm your to-do list. Chris Desmond explains how to get strategic about your health.
Dave was five years into running his own business. There had been bumps along the road, but it was going well. Unfortunately, Dave wasn’t doing as well as his business.
He had put on eight kilograms, and wasn’t fit.
His stress levels were elevated and he found it hard to switch off and relax.
He lacked energy and it was hard to concentrate.
Most annoying of all, that old shoulder injury from rugby had somehow got stirred up. Dave noticed it was harder to perform at work. He’d also noticed that he wasn’t the husband or Dad he wanted to be. He knew his health wasn’t good but he wouldn’t classify it as “bad”.
Dave isn’t abnormal. Many of the people I work with are leaders in business. They have busy lives. There are always important priorities at work and at home. With a full schedule, investing in health is often at the bottom of the to-do list. On the odd occasion the opportunity arises, people describe a feeling of guilt that they “should” be doing something on the business or with their family, instead of selfishly looking after themselves.
Your average health impacts your business performance
As a leader, your performance has a direct impact on business performance.
Over the past decades the way athletes prepare has evolved considerably. Performance science has expanded and we are more knowledgeable on what it takes to show up at our best.
The All Blacks spend a significant amount of time working on rugby related skills and tactics.
They also invest in their health. They work with trainers, mental skills coaches, dieticians and a range of other health professionals to improve health and performance. We know that athletes who don’t invest in their health restrict their ability to perform on game day.
Performance in business is the same, when our health isn’t good we experience; lower energy levels, difficulty concentrating and problem solving, more frequent aches and pains, higher stress levels, and have a higher likelihood of developing mental and physical illnesses.
When we don’t look after our health we add another layer of difficulty to our life. We restrict our ability to show up and do our best work. Driving a business is hard enough without having to do it with our “average health handbrake” on.
Good health should be simple, but that doesn’t mean it is easy
Making health changes can be difficult. Approximately 90 percent of people who set New Year’s resolutions to improve their health stop within six weeks.
Some common reasons are
- Lack of time and energy – We have so many other life priorities that it can be difficult to find the space to invest in health.
- Too many gurus – the internet is a wonderful thing, we have health information at our fingertips. Unfortunately the amount of information and its frequent contradictions can be overwhelming. Like in business, it’s better to have a few trusted mentors than to take advice from everyone.
- We want quick progress – health is the ultimate long game, the actions we take impact our health until the day we die. There are opportunities for quick wins, but when the actions to get those wins don’t fit into our life we can’t sustain them.
- We often think of health as a “should-do” rather than a “want-to” – we pick activities that aren’t fun or meaningful and our inner rebel “flips the bird” and we stop.
- We fall into the trap of “all or nothing” thinking – we start with good intentions to take healthy action, but life invariably throws up barriers. Instead of finding a different path to our health goals we throw up our hands and do nothing instead.
Looking after your health doesn’t need to be a big thing
Many people try to make big health changes, but science tells us that this approach is nearly always unsustainable. Improving your health trajectory by a couple of degrees today and keeping that consistent over time leads to significantly improved health and performance outcomes over the long haul.
Walking an extra 1000 steps per day adds years to your life. It’s as simple as walking during a 10-minute phone call rather than sitting.
Doing 30 seconds of controlled deep breathing, dampens down your stress response and keeps you calmer.
Eating one extra fruit or vegetable adds nutritional benefits to your life.
Switching off your phone 30 minutes before bed makes it easier to fall asleep.
Small actions when performed regularly compound into big changes in health and performance.
Getting strategic about your health
The majority of people I see don’t approach improving health deliberately. They try a bit of this, and then a bit of that, which doesn’t create lasting improvement. They get frustrated and stop.
Just like business, developing a deliberate strategy improves outcomes. Investing in developing a strategic plan for sustainably improving health and performance makes success more likely.
Here is how you can do it.
- Start with good in mind – Defining what good health looks like is imperative. Health is individual to you, and the way you do it will be unique. Think about what the healthy version of you does and how that feels across each area of your life.
- Identify health opportunities – This might be an event you want to participate in, a new behaviour you want to adopt, an old one you want to drop, or just the way you want to feel.
- Identify the first principles – The overarching concepts of pursuing good health – for example, getting strong requires moving heavy things around, and eating enough quality food to build muscle.
- Outline tactics that support principles – Develop a buffet of tactics for each principle. Tactics are always context dependent. You’ll end up with one or two that are your favourites, but have back-up options when the situation changes – for example, to get strong you could; lift weights, do Pilates, bodyweight workouts, or buy kettlebells and find workouts on YouTube.
- Fit tactics to your life context – When health actions don’t fit with the reality of our lives they aren’t sustainable. Where does this tactic fit your life? It’s better to modify the tactic than to force it into a place it doesn’t fit.
Identify possible threats and strategies to manage, mitigate, or minimise them. Look for places you’ve tripped up in the past, or you might find challenging and plan for them.
It’s time to put your strategy into action. Like in business, experiment to find out what works well for you and repeat it over time.
Remember, the simple solution is usually the most effective. As you make these changes your body, your performance, your loved ones, and your employees are going to thank you for it.
Chris Desmond is director and physiotherapist at Health Mentors.
He works with leaders to make health simple and applicable for their busy lives. Visit https://www.healthmentors.nz