"Friendship often ends in love; but love in friendship - never."Charles Caleb Colton
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10 Tips: How to Get in Shape without Sweating
Tip #1: The *Brazilian move*. The good thing about this move is that you don't need to go a gym to do it, you don't even need to find time in your day. Why? Because you will do this move while you brush your teeth! How does it work: Standing straight ...
Developing Will Power and Self Discipline
Most people admire and respect strong individuals who have won great success by manifesting will power and self discipline. People in all walks of life, who with sheer will power, self discipline and ambition have improved their life, learned new skills, ...
Exercise and Low Carb Diet's Make Poor Partners
Over the last twenty five years the most common questioned asked me by frustrated exercisers, has been what exercise routine will get me the body I desire? My answer is always the same. They need to start exercising better judgement and learn that ...
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When was the last time that you truly took a mental break from work? Many of us in North America are now getting out our calendars to gear up for summer vacations, so it’s timely to discuss how we use our “downtime” to enhance our ability to excel in our businesses and our workplaces.
The book The Power of Full Engagement, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, 2003, uses an enlightening analogy from their studies of world-class athletes. They remind us that muscles are grown most effectively by stretching beyond the limits of comfort and then allowing them to recover. Alternating activity with periods of rest is a training method used by elite athletes throughout the world. To quote Loehr and Schwartz, “The key to expanding capacity is to both push beyond one’s ordinary limits and to regularly seek recovery, which is when growth actually occurs.”
What are you doing to ensure optimum stretch AND recovery of your mental muscles?
Looked at this way, it’s not that difficult to buy-in intellectually to this principle. It makes sense that our creativity flows best when we are refreshed. It’s logical that our ideas are more focused when our minds are sharp. We know that we are better able to “pour it on” in times of crisis when we have energy reserves to drawn on. So what gets in our way of acting on this principle?
Somewhere along the way we started to equate being available to our customers, clients and employees with being “responsible” and almost “noble”. We joke about our workaholic tendencies with an odd sense of pride.
I have certainly caught myself in this game. The light bulb went on for me when I
looked at how my behaviour matches my values. It has been helpful for me to ask myself, “How am I modelling the success that I want for my clients?” and, “Is this really what being responsible looks like?”
When the pressure is on, it’s easy to slip. We need anchors to hang onto that are core to us, not a list of “shoulds”. Compromising our vacation and recovery time can compromise the integrity we model with our employees and our colleagues (let alone our families and friends). Integrity might be one of your anchors.
How might your own values help you stay committed to the practice of rejuvenation?
Clearly, running on fumes doesn’t cut it. The demands of today’s businesses are too high and customer expectations too great. We owe it to our businesses, our employers and our customers alike to be functioning in top form. We owe it to our employees to rely on them in our absence. When others take vacations, we need to show respect for the value of disconnecting from work. And we particularly owe it to ourselves to build in recovery, so that we can be our most creative and highly contributing selves when we get back to work.
As you look ahead to summertime…
What action can you take today to be accountable for building rejuvenation into your plans over the next 3 months?
About the Author
Susan is President of Development by Design, a Business & Leadership Coaching and Human Resources Consulting firm. Her Coaching clients are high potential leaders and profitable business owners who are redefining the terms of their success and taking their impact to a new level.
www.development-by-design.com
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