3 Steps to Becoming the CEO of Your Work-Life

From the outside looking in, it can appear that life in the C-Suite is pretty sweet (pun most certainly intended), adorned with successful business results, significant organizational? influence and what appears to be limitless autonomy when it comes to the professional realm.

Picture the CEO of a company, and this perception reaches a whole new level—they appear to command more control over their work-life than anyone else in the building. But is this perception accurate? Is it possible that you, too, can assert control over your work-life? What lessons can you glean from how CEOs manage their daily routines and priorities?

This edition of The Energy Papers: Work Edit uncovers the strategies that empower CEOs to seize control of their professional lives, in an effort to inspire you to apply it to your own career journey.

1. CEOs Own Their Morning.?

CEOs face a significant level of responsibility and high expectations, yet, they have just as many hours in the day as the rest of the world to get their work done. How do they manage to make it all happen? Nearly two-thirds of successful CEOs wake-up by 6 a.m. - if not earlier - in order to get ahead of their busy schedules.

There’s great power that comes along with rising before the sun. In doing so, you grant yourself the opportunity to focus on the wellness rituals that may otherwise get pushed in the midst of a busy day. Prioritizing activities like yoga, exercise, meditation, journaling and reading first thing in the morning pays off big, as it grounds your nervous system and provides you with the ability for clearer concentration and focus, equipping you to move with sharper intent and greater resilience no matter what work challenges are thrown your way. In starting your day before the majority in your time zone, you also provide yourself with the opportunity for deep-focus work before your email and Slack notifications begin going off. This early morning time block can be well spent on projects that require strategic ideation, presentation building and practice, or even a personal hobby like novel-writing.?

Jeff Sanders, author of ‘The 5AM Miracle’ attests to the benefits that can come from “dominating your day before breakfast”.?

In the early morning hours, there are few distractions, the birds are just beginning to sing, and life moves at a slower pace. For some, this is the only time of day they have to themselves. [It’s] a symbol for taking control. Realizing your life and your time are in your hands is incredibly empowering… when you use your minutes wisely, you reach a pinnacle of achievement and fulfillment that few ever do.

2. CEOs Manage Their Energy.

CEOs recognize that their time is scarce - and highly valuable. With this understanding, they remain steadfast in maintaining clear boundaries regarding how they allocate their mental, emotional, and physical energy.?

If a calendar invite comes through for a meeting where the need for their presence looks questionable, they don’t hesitate to gather additional information before committing, promptly sending back “Thanks for flagging this; can you please provide more details or context? I’ll review and get back to you as soon as possible” as their reply.?

A successful CEO also knows better than to allow outside circumstances, personal setbacks and fears of business uncertainty to take control over them. Recognizing that their feelings and thoughts dictate the behaviors and motivation they’ll have to move forward, they hold high standards for how they manage their energy budget.?

Having an “energy budget” is the concept of managing one’s energy levels in a similar fashion to managing money. With only a certain amount of physical, mental and emotional energy available to you each day, you prioritize allocating your energy toward the responsibilities, situations and thought patterns that hold the greatest level of importance and impact. This looks like practicing the art of mindfulness in order to reduce anxiety levels and keep your thoughts keenly focused on the present moment before you, rather than ruminating over the past or projecting fears onto an unknown future. Having an energy budget also involves setting boundaries around all things that can be deemed an energy drain, from people-pleasing, to expired emotional ties with the people you surround yourself with in your personal life, to overly investing time in anything that is providing an unequal energy exchange (e.g. doom scrolling on social media..)?

3. CEOs Find Ways To Integrate Their Desired Lifestyle Into Their Professional Commitments.?

The demands of being a CEO can be significant, but the most fulfilled ones do find ways to prioritize their desired lifestyles and actively work towards achieving a balance that allows them to enjoy their personal interests, family time, and leisure activity outside of work.?

The key to finding fulfillment while you balance the responsibilities of your professional life lies in understanding the type of lifestyle that you desire. Do you desire a nomadic lifestyle that allows you to regularly travel from place to place, full of freedom and cross-cultural exploration? Are you vying for a creative lifestyle that allows you to commit to self-expression, gain inspiration from your surroundings, and actively engage in pursuits such as art, writing, or music? A slow-living lifestyle that encourages an intentional, mindful, and slower approach to aspects of everyday life, where you complete tasks at a leisurely pace? Or maybe, an active lifestyle full of daily exercise, regular outings and socialization, and vibrant community participation in your neighborhood??

Whichever lifestyle you fancy the most, allowing yourself to envision what you want your life to look like allows you to create actionable steps that enable you to achieve it, and make aligned decisions when it comes to the career choices, relationships, and financial planning that will get you there.

You may not be the CEO of your company (yet..) but you certainly are the CEO of your work-life.

Isn’t it time you begin acting like it??

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? 2024 JILLIAN KNOWLES