In a leadership workshop recently, the group were adamant that there’s simply too much going on in the business for them to prioritise their personal wellness for the moment.
We hear this type of thing regularly.
The idea that we should all just push on through busy periods at work and pick up with taking care of our wellbeing / healthy habits when things calm down a bit.
The issue with this approach can be that things often never calm down. Especially for ambitious individuals who are always striving to push forwards with professional success. Sometimes at the cost of personal happiness.
So we suggest the following approach…
Get into the detail of what’s getting in the way
Make a list of all the things you feel are preventing you from living your ideal routine for wellness and performance.
It’s likely that ‘there’s not enough time’ will be the first thing that springs to mind, but we need to get underneath this headline response if we’re to make solid progress.
So where exactly is your time going?
Responses could include:
😱 Meetings
😱 Travel / commuting
😱 Emails
😱 Calls
😱 Teams / slack / zoom etc
😱 Admin
Adopt a strategic, step-by-step approach
1️⃣ Put your list in the order of which area you will improve first
2️⃣ Brainstorm 3 ways in which this area could be improved
3️⃣ Identify how you can begin making progress with your first priority today / tomorrow
4️⃣ Make a note in your calendar of when exactly you will take action #1
5️⃣ When the time comes, take the action
Why this approach makes a difference.
Too often people try to tackle too many changes at once. When life is already busy, this can become overwhelming. And if this situation of wanting to do better but not being able to actually make some changes goes on for a while, it can begin to feel like you’ll never make progress with everything on your list.
By breaking down the mass of things that are holding you back, you are quickly able to:
✅ Identify simple positive actions to help you get started
✅ Tackle these action points one by one
✅ Generate feelings of progress, momentum and motivation
This allows you to live with the mindset that you’re taking positive action, even when you’re super busy, rather than waiting to take action at some point in the future.
And if you stick with the process regularly you’ll find that you can make progress in all areas of life in a measured way that also increases the chances of the changes you’ve made, and the benefits you’ll be experiencing, being sustainable for the long-term.