Posted: Wednesday, October 20th, 2021

Over the years, working in the area of leadership and executive coaching, one topic that regularly presents, is the area of self-care. Many of the people with whom I’ve worked acknowledged that they are too busy with work to find any time for themselves. They neglected their health, relationships got minimum investment, children, where they existed, were often outsourced and personal development was often seen as a luxury. There was too much “work” to be processed and not enough time for any of that “soft” stuff.

Get fit and stay fit….

With no exception, your most important asset is your health. Yet so many people take their health for granted. Unless you are fit, you are not fit to lead. Further, unless you invest in your health, you are no good to your organisation, family, partner or yourself. So plan some time EVERY day getting your heart rate up, getting aerobically fit and developing more healthy habits.

Talk to your loved ones every day…

Relationships, like investments require management. If you don’t work on relationships, just like a badly managed portfolio, it will lose its value and eventually be worth nothing. So invest time EVERY day staying connected to the important people in your life. Parents, children, partners or friends. Talk to them. Listen to them. They won’t be there forever.

Education is inoculation against disruption….

Finally your development. Leaders read. They read every day and they realise that education is inoculation against disruption. They’ve learned that having a bank of knowledge prepares them for challenges wherever they present. They’ve developed an in-built redundancy. They’ve realised that the higher up they go in any organisation, the broader their knowledge needs to become. So schedule time EVERY day to read and learn something new.

Try the Selfish-Hour tool…

One tool which I’ve always found useful to share with clients in addressing these shortcomings is the selfish-hour. It’s one of the simplest and most effective habit forming tools I use. Try it for a month and measure your results –

  • Plan 20 minutes every day getting your heart rate up and getting aerobically fit
  • Invest 20 minutes every day talking & listening to the important people in your life
  • Schedule at least 20 minutes every day reading something that will enlighten you

Unless you get the basics right about managing the important things in your life, don’t expect to be able to handle the difficult challenges that life will present on your journey.