Our world puts a premium on the ability to tough out adversity. We celebrate people who ignore their bodies' danger signals in order to achieve. Many people confuse working long, hard hours with achieving results.
As I watch the Olympic Games, I am reminded of the basic rule of peak performers: get the proper amount of rest, eat a good diet and exercise. Executives are high performers too, and should strive to tune in to themselves the way an athlete would, in order to have a work life that would allow them to work at their best.
Somehow, in my twenties and thirties, I did not think I needed what the rest of the mere mortals must have to be at my best. I know too well what it's like to push myself on relentlessly - irrespective of how my energy levels work.
Previously when I was not respecting my body's needs by slowing down or reducing stress - the first thing to go was passion. I now act on my body's intuitive alerts, instead of fight impulses that are meant to protect me. Listening to these signals has radically improve the quality of my life.
If I'm tired, I rest. If I'm hungry, I eat a delicious meal. If I'm tense or upset, I have some fun.
This may mean I have to cancel plans, say no to others, or make unpopular choices in terms of what others expect.
Our bodies are meant to move. We're not built to spend our lives hunched over a computer, chained to our desks. Studies have linked a sedentary lifestyle with more deaths even than smoking.
Even if your fatigue or packed schedule is real, five minutes of exercise or stretching will provide a boost. A new study published in the American Journal of Physiology suggests that stretching done by middle-aged or older adults, significantly improved the flexibility of their artery (which, when blocked is the cause of a stroke).
Be grateful for what you have, including health. Sometimes we forget the blessing of mobility.
As I watch the Olympic Games, I am reminded of the basic rule of peak performers: get the proper amount of rest, eat a good diet and exercise. Executives are high performers too, and should strive to tune in to themselves the way an athlete would, in order to have a work life that would allow them to work at their best.
Somehow, in my twenties and thirties, I did not think I needed what the rest of the mere mortals must have to be at my best. I know too well what it's like to push myself on relentlessly - irrespective of how my energy levels work.
Previously when I was not respecting my body's needs by slowing down or reducing stress - the first thing to go was passion. I now act on my body's intuitive alerts, instead of fight impulses that are meant to protect me. Listening to these signals has radically improve the quality of my life.
If I'm tired, I rest. If I'm hungry, I eat a delicious meal. If I'm tense or upset, I have some fun.
This may mean I have to cancel plans, say no to others, or make unpopular choices in terms of what others expect.
Our bodies are meant to move. We're not built to spend our lives hunched over a computer, chained to our desks. Studies have linked a sedentary lifestyle with more deaths even than smoking.
Even if your fatigue or packed schedule is real, five minutes of exercise or stretching will provide a boost. A new study published in the American Journal of Physiology suggests that stretching done by middle-aged or older adults, significantly improved the flexibility of their artery (which, when blocked is the cause of a stroke).
Be grateful for what you have, including health. Sometimes we forget the blessing of mobility.
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