Working more than 40 hours every week? Stressed? Exhausted?  By working more and not paying attention to what your body wants, you are preparing yourself for burnout. Leaders and managers are working to exceed expectations, be more productive and dedicating more time and energy into resolving issues at work .

Eat Healthy

Technology was supposed to get things done faster and make life easier, instead we use available time to multi-task.  Be it commuting to work or flying out for business, crunching numbers for report or firefighting an issue with BlackBerry Messenger while on vacation, preparing for big presentation or making decisions about hiring or firing – we have so many things going on in parallel.  These things take a toll on our mind, body and relationships.

Health is Wealth – you got to maintain balance in life.

I visited a retired executive who was having many health related issues and end up leaving the top position early to take care of the health.  Conversation came to health matters after him talking about all the achievements and sacrifices he had made in his career.  His conclusion was simple, as evident to all of us but neglect always, “Health is Wealth – you got to maintain balance in life”.

I thought of sharing my take on how leaders and managers should pay attention to maintaining good health.  My opinion is if our body is not healthy, our mind is going to work less than optimum.  If our mind is not giving 100% – every thing suffers, from attitude to relationships to our work.

We can help our country, society, organization and family succeed and grow by staying healthy.  Prevention is the best cure.

Here are some reminders, I think we all know basically how to stay healthy:

1. Sleep well – 7 to 8 hours without interruption prepares your mind to take on new and complex issues.
2. Eat right and eat light –  Breakfast in morning is must (I had missed many myself in past), lunch and dinner with combination of grains and vegetables. Eat little less than you need to eat. Low sugar, low sodium and low-fat diet.
3. Drink water –  stay away from any flavoured drink. Tea or coffee once a day is fine.
4. Walk and take the stairs if possible.
5. Excercise and stretch out during work day. Enjoy the sun and fresh air.  Take a stroll just after lunch.  Connect with people.
6. Take deep breaths – for at least 5 minutes.  Metaphorically – your job is to fill your lungs with all the Oxygen you can breathe in so that remote areas of your lungs can get fresh air. Shallow breathing is not doing  good to your lungs.
7. Think positive and good about anything and everything. Maintain an attitude that all is happening with your pre-consent and you are just watching it unfold.  Do not panic. Enjoy quiet moments, do not jump to your social media or email inbox.
8. Nutrition helps body. Take your vitamins regularly.
9. Talk to your good friends and family members – with full attention on conversation and not as a chore. Play with and talk to your kids daily. Try to have one meal with family daily.
10. Regular doctor visits and physical examinations are essential.
11. Take vacations – leave work behind, it’s not going anywhere 😉

Categories: Life, Performance

Tags: BlackBerry Messenger, Cooking, Health, Home, Low-fat diet, Lung, Shopping, Special Diets, Wine tasting descriptors