“Be” comes before “do”

Happy New Year!

We are still in the first month of the most anticipated year in over a century and I am just within the window to wish you a healthy and happy 2021!

Seeing my team and colleagues return to work looking refreshed after a longer-than-usual holiday break was a welcome sight. None of us quite realized how exhausted we were as we closed out last year. The pandemic stretching out over months had caused a very high level of anxiety for so many people and the break from relentless hours in front of the screen was more than welcome.

Paul Daugherty, Group Chief Executive - Accenture Technology and Accenture's Chief Technology Officer, kicked off the new year with an inspiring and energizing leadership team meeting that (virtually) brought together our top Technology leaders globally. Paul asked me to conduct a session with our group on leading healthy teams. With over 250,000 technology professionals in Accenture, our leaders have a profound influence on the well being of our people. The timing was perfect! Emerging from the holiday season rejuvenated, we were all eager to embrace new habits to work and live in more fulfilling, joyful ways.

As I connected with peers and leaders over the next few days, I realized that our struggles in meeting the expectations for our work and personal lives are real and continuing. We face a long road ahead. So, I felt compelled to share some insights through this blog. I hope you will find helpful takeaways for yourself.

I deeply believe that it is possible for us to not just survive, but actually thrive, despite the continuing ravages of the pandemic, uncertainties in the geopolitical and economic environment, and the upheavals we are facing. It is possible for us to be our best to do our best. Let’s explore how…

First: Find your energy

We are more than our brains. It can be easy to forget that when we are hired and paid because of them. When is the last time you took stock of how filled your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual tanks are?

It’s easy to talk about bringing our whole selves to work, but harder to do it. While many of us were used to virtual work before the pandemic, having it imposed upon us can bring stress. And we are entering 2021 with uncertainty as to how much longer we will need to cope with isolation and lockdowns.

How many of us have thought: Monday, Tuesday, Blurday? It can be hard for us to be our best in these demanding circumstances.

As HR professionals, many of us believe that we are here to help people become their best selves--to nurture teams for growth. But we can’t do that if we ourselves are not “all here”. Put your own oxygen masks first before helping others by regularly taking stock of your individual tanks. Don’t let them run down to empty!

If you can keep all tanks at decent levels, energy will flow not only for you but also for your teams. When your tanks overflow with goodness, your families, loved ones, and coworkers reap the benefits. From exercise, to nutrition, to meditation—take a look at what makes you feel good. And focus on it.

Second: Improve just 1% each day

“Improvement” can feel like a whole lot of work. Even just saying the word can be enervating. Let’s not go that route during an already stressful time. First step: Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Doing so is akin to a crash diet and it never works. It’s too draconian and it is not sustainable. Eventually, you will put the weight back on--and then some.

Instead, strive towards incremental progress this year, à la James Clear in his book "Atomic Habits". Micro-actions, done consistently to get just 1% better every day in your life, prove to be more effective than scattered larger change efforts. If you can get 1% better each day for one year, you’ll end up 37X better by the time you’re done! Compounded results are a beautiful thing, don’t you agree?

Mahatma Gandhi lived by the dictum “Be the change you seek”. We may have varying degrees of control in the outer world, but we can improve our selves every single day. I am practicing what I preach, I promise. Recently I started using an app to track my nutrition and exercise in my quest to be healthier despite the limitations of movement during the pandemic. It’s working. Slowly, gradually, I am developing tiny, healthier habits as I become more aware of the old ones.

Third – and most important: Know your “why”

German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche once said, “He who has a why can endure any how”. Psychologists have found repeatedly that people with a strong sense of purpose experience more resilience, a stronger sense of well-being, and even better cognitive functioning.

Put another way: Your “why”, or "Ikigai" as Hector Garcia and Francesc Moralles so beautifully captured, is the reason you get up every morning. It’s what makes each day—particularly during this unusual time—a worthy endeavor instead of a slog. We’ve all experienced both and we know which one brings an energy we want to feel again.

Every time I have explored my “why”, I have always circled back to a singular purpose…I exist to help people thrive. To do my best, I need to be my best.

Share your 1% in the comments

Thank you for reading! I hope you found something of value for your own 2021 plans. And if I may be so bold as to ask...

What is your 1% improvement going to be?

And what is your compelling "why"?

Please share in the comments. We can encourage each other during this strange time. Here’s to being our best in 2021.