Self-Care. What?
December 15, 2020
While I know that many, many businesses across our Profession have had an awesome year for sales, it’s been a roller coaster for the leaders behind the scenes. So, I want to end this year by talking to the leadership teams on a different level…. About how well you take care of yourself when the pressure is high.
Seriously. Self-Care. It’s a ‘thing’.
However, unfortunately it’s a ‘thing’ neither familiar nor convenient to many entrepreneurs at the best of times. Let alone in a year such as this.
In a profession where the annual peak business season seems like an impossibly hard up-hill marathon, most of us manage to pitch self-care to the sidelines and run on adrenalin for a couple of months, knowing that things will settle down soon, and we’ll make it thru. Drive-Thru diets, caffeine top-ups, dirty truck consoles are all sure signs of a life in overdrive without self-care.
This year has, in so many ways, been a pressure cooker for stress and self-neglect. And, based on the COVID-19 case number surges across the country colliding with colder weather and more indoor activities, I think we’re in for a longer COVID marathon than any of us hoped would actually happen.
Stress manifests in many ways, often taking a toll on our health fairly silently until it rears it’s ugly head. It’s human nature to experience stress when we’re shoved unceremoniously and unwillingly from the familiar into the unfamiliar. And here we all are. Without a playbook on managing the intricacies of stress induced by the pandemic on all levels. We have the playbook on managing the risks and exposure to COVID itself, but not it’s ripple effects.
My concern lies between the cracks in the armour of bold brave entrepreneurs. I could have been the poster child for how not to manage stress twenty years ago. I have the scars to prove it. And now, in my late 50’s, I know that with managing stress as with most other things, hind-sight is 20/20.
Self-Care for some is a daily routine. For others, it’s a foreign concept – and many waft somewhere in between a cherished solid self-care routine and running on empty.
So why am I blabbing on about stress and self-care? It’s because I want you to take a few minutes to ‘check in’ with yourself as we close in on the end of a stressful year. A few quiet minutes of self reflection, to check in on how you’re doing, how you’re feeling, and how well you’re set for the weeks and months ahead. With the fast approaching Holiday season, things will continue to be ‘busy’.
Please take a few minutes to answer these questions, and think about what you should/will act on to either improve or change:
- Do I take at least fifteen minutes of quiet time to myself every day – without my phone, other people, devices, a task at hand, or noise?
- Am I conscious of the stress that comes from change, fear or uncertainty that I may be feeling?
- Am I eating properly, and managing my nutrition for a healthy outcome?
- What routine could I change or begin, to improve my mental health in some way?
- When I’m stressed about things I can’t control, who supports me?
- Are others around me leaning on me for support and reassurance? Can I keep it up?
- What is happening daily/weekly that fills my cup? (makes me happy/feel rejuvenated)
- When is the last time I had a ‘physical’ exam, or over-all health consultation with my health care provider? Is it time to talk to him/her about how I’m feeling?
- What one thing should I stop doing that’s unhelpful to managing stress.
- What steps do I need to take to align myself and my family (without stress) to health ministry recommendations?
We are all in this pandemic management journey together. It’s still new. It’s a bit unsettling. It’s enduring longer than we’d hoped. It brings unique and new challenges to our lives and routines. Please take some time alone, and with your family, to ‘check in’ on where you are, how you’re feeling, and what steps you need to take to be and do your best this winter.
Onwards!
Thank you for reading! Until next time.
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