Why do you think our best ideas often come in the shower, in the middle of the night, in the infrared sauna (where the idea for this post came to me)?
When it comes to PHYSICAL FITNESS, for our muscles to thrive and gain strength, we must exert them (technically speaking, we injure them), and then give them recovery time before we do it again. Without recovery time there is no muscle repair, and in turn, our muscles wear down instead of readying themselves for our next, great training session. Without rest, our muscles cannot perform at our best.
And it is the SAME when it comes to our MENTAL FITNESS. Every day we go, go, go, and do more and do more in what seems to be an endless TO DO list in our brains. We rarely give ourselves the space to recover from the nonstop use and pressure.
MENTAL FITNESS and the DISCIPLINE OF SELF-CARE is critical to vitality. It is critical to being able to step forward with our best foot ahead. It is critical toward:
thinking creatively
executing meaningfully
communicating effectively
being a great leader and teammate!
As though it is a part of our job, we must become disciplined in making time to fuel and reinvigorate our brain cells so that our next effort is impactful, instead of just reactionary or so-so.
As individuals, it’s up to each of us to take it upon ourselves to set boundaries that allow us to take a break – no matter hard it may seem. Because without it, we can’t possibly perform at our best – even if we think we are. (I have been there)
Over the years, having experienced workaholic parents over so many years, I became practically religious about leaving my laptop at home while on vacation. I felt that my investment in vacation from work was also an investment in my being better for my company and the people I worked with when I returned. It was my responsibility to give my brain a good rest when I took vacation. More regularly, I find moments in each day, and opportunities during the week to escape, to slow my brain down, to remove myself from the rigors of the world, whether by taking mindful walk in nature, heading to a local infrared sauna, meditating or doing a yoga class.
For individuals:
What you choose can be unique to you
The criteria is merely to SLOW DOWN and give your anxious brain a rest. It’s called tapping into the parasympathetic nervous system: the network of nerves that relaxes you after stress or danger.
For companies:
Leaders must proactively and mindfully give our employees space daily, weekly, monthly, annually (all of them, not just some of them).
Leaders must take the responsibility for clearly communicating the WHY to employees, so they understand that taking time away from work-related projects for mental fitness is opportunity to reinvigorate creativity.
For everyone:
Try the 15-day Challenge I recommend in this video – be consistent! I’d love to hear your outcomes!