A healthy lifestyle is more than avoiding the flu when it comes around. While that’s definitely a part of it, a healthy lifestyle is both physical and mental. It’s focusing on maintaining your physical and mental health. When you take the time to follow a healthy lifestyle, your company will benefit.
Improving Mental Toughness
Starting a business takes mental toughness; not everyone can work on something for a year or more with little traction without giving up. There are a few ways to improve your mental toughness, but for me a significant way is through exercise.
This is why I run in the rain at 6 a.m. on a Saturday, sign up for races I want to set a personal record in, and push myself to accomplish more than what I thought was possible. Because pushing through that last mile of a bad run means that I can push myself the same way in my work.
Mental toughness built in one area can benefit every other area of your life, whether that’s family, fitness or work.
Less Downtime from Sickness
The healthier you are, the more time you’ll have to work on your company. You’ll be able to wake up each morning ready and able to work hard until it’s time to unplug. The healthier our lifestyle, the better we’ll be able to ward off sickness and the faster we can heal.
I joke that even though according to my health records I have a poor quality of life, I’m also the healthiest I’ve ever been. A healthy lifestyle means eating well (yes, including your veggies) and moving throughout the day. (This also means you can avoid that cold everyone seems to be getting. That’s a win, right?)
This means getting sleep, too. I know, it’s hard to get enough sleep with all your commitments, but it’s important. Dr. Sarah Ballantyne has researched the effects of sleep deprivation, and the results are pretty staggering.
“Epidemiological studies show a very strong correlation between short or disturbed sleep and obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In fact, lack of adequate sleep has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality from all causes.
“This means that if you consistently don’t get enough sleep, you have a much higher risk of getting sick and/or dying. Period.” — Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, Ph.D.
Your company and employees, but more importantly your family, needs you to be healthy. As more research is published, we’re seeing the significant detrimental effects of little sleep. Some weeks will be worse than others, but it’s always important to make a good night’s sleep a priority.
Taking Time for Yourself
Mental health is just as important as your physical health. There is, though, a stigma around taking time to care for your mental health. It’s not weak, and it’s not silly. When you take time for yourself, whether that’s exercise, quiet time each morning or starting counseling, your mental health will begin to improve. And that means you can better focus on your company and what your employees need.
This could be taking 30 minutes each morning to meditate, going for a walk at lunch, or prioritizing a family night each week. However you prefer to take time for yourself, protect it.
Focus on yourself first, both physically and mentally. Everything else will fall into place, and you’ll find yourself better handling the stress that comes with building a company. Whether it’s heading to the gym each morning or ending the day playing with your family, it’s critical to take care of yourself and protect your time. Your company depends on it.
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