The power of the pause

If you’re not running your body like your business then you’re missing a huge opportunity to operate at your personal best.  Ultimate success requires clear thinking, a sense of calm and the ability to manage stressful situations are vital in leadership. All this should not come at the cost of your personal health and wellbeing.

A true Fitpreneur understands the role of taking regular breaks during a day to reboot mentally, physically and to create space for making great decisions.

This requires best practice daily – not on vision sheets and motivational statements shared out on corporate communications  – but as a leader that you demonstrate the power of blending your health/wellbeing and personal life with your business.

Switching off is just as crucial as being switched on. Most importantly you don’t need to spend an hour every day to reboot your hard drive. It can take just a few minutes to re-calibrate with the right approach. Consistency, clarity and conviction.

It all comes back to The Power of the Pause…

When we get tired we don't make great decisions, stress levels increase, our chemical make up in our body changes into a more acidic environment. Increased stress and lack of rest are the leading contributors to workplace burnout.   Sleep and rest is a basic human need. If you run your day on high octane without a chance to rest then chances are your evening sleep is going to be restless and limited.

Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke. Lack of sleep lowers our immune system, reduces our judgement and can be a personal and performance liability at work as well as at home.

If you’re pushing yourself and not listening to your body – chances are you’re going to get a wake up call you could have certainly avoided.

My suggestion is to use the power of a pause  (or what I call the NANO BREAK approach). It's an incredible gift to be able to ‘log off' for mini moments throughout the day so you can look after your body, mind and your soul.

How can you start right now to help your body cope with daily mental and physical demands?

1.The posture pause:

• As you are reading this pull your belly to your spine, adjust your posture. Soften your eyes and keep breathing through your nose.
• Lift your shoulders to your ears hold them there as you inhale then exhale and let them drop. Repeat this a couple of times
• Be present. Concentrate your breath to reach all areas of your body – from your head to your toes.

2. Put pen to paper – ditch the ipad and digital and write out key points

• Once you’ve read this, start getting the things that worry you off your mind and onto paper. Letting things circle around your head is not constructive. Writing ideas/worries and things that concern you down help make them transparent and you can start to see if you should action certain things that warrant your time – or just cross them off completely!

3. Use 1% of your day – every day – to disconnect

•  Practise the 1% rule daily. If you can’t do anything else other than spend 14.4 minutes a day on some quality breathing, creative ideas, a quick set of exercises, walk the office, step outside, stretch/yoga or a closed office door and no phone while you regroup on the day – then you might want to ask yourself why? You are a reflection of your approach to health and wellbeing and running a business. If you want you and your company to be healthy, wealthy and wise then YOU alone need to make some cognitive changes to put some actions into place and start practising some relaxation or exercises. Just 1% is all it takes – in 100 days you will be 100% better off.

Recap:

1. Focus on your posture
2. Release tension in your shoulders
3. Be present, breathe deep into your lungs and focus on quality breath
4. Write down your worry list – take an overview look and cross off the stuff that’s REALLY not that important (for things that are really key then make an action list – even if the first action is to get advice on what to do next)
5. Practise the 1% rule – take at least 14 minutes of your day – disconnect to reconnect.

Enjoy, it’s amazing how small steps can create a giant pathway to even more success.