I was inspired to write this blog after seeing an Instagram post by Jesse Itzler below.
Jesse is a highly successful entrepreneur and founder of Marquis Jets, a multi-millionaire, he’s also a rapper, a producer, an author and, from my perspective, an all-around great guy.
I particularly love his ‘#FakeFriday’ posts where he ousts the big-name cereal companies in the US for their shameful marketing campaigns, particularly targeting children and parents with all these ridiculous so-called health-promoting benefits of their highly processed, highly coloured, high sugar, chemical-laden breakfast cereals!
Jesse also happens to be married to Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, who I also follow – they are both absolutely hilarious, inspiring people!
He’s just so right here because many, many people promote the hard work ethic, the grind, the hustle. I see it all the time because I follow many entrepreneurs and motivational speakers, and like Jesse, I’m all for working hard – BUT not at the expense of your health long-term.
I say ‘long-term’ because I know there are times when we’re flat out and we might need to work until gone midnight, or we end up unknowingly skipping a meal because we’re so focused on what we’re doing, or we have to eat whatever we can get our hands-on, or we don’t get to work out all week because we’re just so busy preparing for a big deadline.
But those are all, or should be, short term disruptions when it comes to your health and wellbeing practices.
I think the biggest myth here is that you can’t have and do both – work hard, be successful and stay fit and healthy. But you can.
And in fact, the secret that not many people know, is that keeping yourself in good health, while you’re working hard, will give you MORE energy and it will boost your performance, clarity, insight, creativity and focus.
So, it’s actually a win-win situation!
Yet, I will say it isn’t always ‘easy’ otherwise everyone would be doing it, right?
Firstly, it takes discipline and excellent time management skills.
It also takes strong healthy boundaries – you need to get very good at saying no and actually, what I like to refer to as, ‘unselfishly prioritizing yourself’.
It also takes proper foresight and planning.
It requires a knowledge of what’s good for you, what works, and what’s highly effective when you have limited time … (I find many people think they’re doing the right things when in fact they’re not!)
And lastly, and perhaps this is the hardest thing of all; it takes you putting your self, your wellbeing and your long-term future first.
Yes, it really is all about you’re future, because the harsh reality is that putting off looking after your health could take years off your life or at the least, your quality of life.
I will always say that above anything else, that you are putting your wellbeing and your health first for YOU.
You have to come first in the equation.
Of course, it’s also hugely motivating when you feel called to put your health and wellbeing first for your loved ones, especially if you feel responsible.
It’s no surprise Jesse accompanied this post with a photo of him having fun with his young Daughter. However, notice how he also shares that when he was broke and had nothing he always took time to run, eat clean and try and stay healthy – and if you know his story then you’ll know that was way before he was married with children. So, even back then he did it for him.
I teach my clients to look at their day, their week, their month ahead with their wellbeing in mind just as much as their work.
And the key is that you can plan in many different things that may seem small and insignificant, but they do make a big difference.
For example, so many times, when I first start working with a client, and they’re not exercising like they used or want to because they feel they don’t have the time, it always transpires that ‘exercising’ to them means at least an hour’s workout.
Yet who said it has to be an hour?
Who said it even needs to be really hard and taxing?
What if you just did a 10min stretch routine in the morning, or maybe you spend 15minutes doing a short routine of whole-body weight moves, or what if you ran around the block in 5minutes?
It all counts, it all makes you feel good and it all goes towards boosting your endorphins (for the feel-good factor), keeping your body limber and agile, breathing more deeply, getting the lymphatic drainage system going which aids detoxification … and so much more!
Plus, I’ll share one profound difference that I personally feel is in many ways even more important than the above.
It makes you feel good about yourself because you’ve done something you know is good for you.
Do not underestimate the power of feeling good about doing something for yourself.
If you do it first thing in the morning, it can literally set you up to be more productive, confident and positive for the rest of your day, and likewise, if you do something at the end of the day, you will go to sleep feeling good about yourself and I can bet you’ll have a more rested sleep and you’ll wake up feeling motivated!
Feeling good about yourself because of what you’ve done, then carrying that feeling with you subconsciously is a real game-changer – it breeds self-trust, self-worth and self-love.
Yet that means of course that the opposite is also true. You won’t believe how many people are subconsciously holding on to so much guilt and shame around what they said they’ll do, want to do, or know they need to do – but don’t do. It’s so toxic and energy-zapping and worst of all in contrast to the above, it breeds a lack of self-trust and self-worth because you feel like you’re constantly letting yourself down.
So, if you feel like you don’t have enough time to build some semblance of exercise and eating well, sleeping well etc. in to your busy life, then I encourage you to make small improvements and just see how they make you FEEL.
I can pretty much guarantee that once you realize that even the smallest, mini healthy habits make you feel much better physically and emotionally, you’ll want to keep them up just for that reason alone!
Here’s to your most precious asset – your health,
Kate x
