Getting MatchFit for Work and Life

Since my last blog 'Keeping the Hope'  I have been grateful and excited to find a new work opportunity with StriveStronger whose purpose is to help clients wake up to a better way of living, working and leading by delivering a range of innovative large-scale digital well being and productivity programs.

I had met the CEO Andrew May around six or seven years ago when I worked at IECL and have always admired his work. Last year Andrew published a book MatchFit culminating over twenty years of his experience as an elite athlete and corporate performance coach.

I recently finished reading MatchFit and discovered some great practical life enhancing tips. As part of the book (available on kindle and in paper) you receive a code to do a MatchFit calculator to see how you're currently tracking across the six domains of MOVE, FUEL, RECHARGE, CONNECT, THINK and PLAY.

The results of my MatchFit calculator were just into striving at 78/100 which is good but definitely some room for improvement too. After reading through my report and feedback I'm focusing on the below areas over the next eight weeks before a re-test:

• Eat until only 80% full
• Reduce alcohol to 2 times a week
• Incorporate three strength training sessions a week
• Aim for 10,000 steps a day of incidental activity
• Reduce processed foods and caffeine
• Find more time for play

One section of the book that really resonated was 'through the decades' with the 30s which I'm currently in described as"Muffin Tops" with an exert below:

"People in their 30s listen a lot more closely when I talk about ageing and the need to focus on managing energy. Most people now get tired more easily, aren't so inclined to bounce out of bed, and show increasing signs of stress and anxiety. Not only that, their bodies start to change - the technical term for this is the muffin top or love handles. In our 30s we have more responsibility at work and come under more pressure. Some of us settle down with a partner and start a family; some might have ageing parents to care for. And because we're so busy, this is the decade when most of us stop playing sport".

I definitely could relate to not bouncing out of bed as fresh as I used to in my 20s and teens and also the extra bit of muffin top and love handles squish! Those distant memories of being young and able to party late into the night and bounce up to play a hockey game feeling pretty fresh early the next day! Time to look after yourself more. 

So what are the results so far?

Well I'm waking up before my alarm and feeling energised, not getting the mid afternoon energy crash so badly and am starting to feel sharper and focused. I've also started playing tennis again which I hadn't played in probably six years (could tell by the disintegrating grip!) which has been great from a sense of play and fun. I've also tried to have even more fun play time with the boys like this active resistance training!

So how does this translate to the corporate world?

In one of our morning team huddles last week, Dr Tom Buckley from the StriveStronger team (who is also an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney and co-author of MatchFit with Andrew) shared, there's never been a more important time to for leaders to be MatchFit along with the following points which I thought may be useful food for thought for the Boardroom.

• Those with a high bio-age (versus traditional age) are some at the greatest risk of COVID-19 complications
• There is an opportunity for Executive Teams and Boards to use bio age which is part of the Strive Stronger Matchfit calculator score as a metric to assess the health of their leaders and teams. I thought this could be highly relevant for risk management and another key metric to NPS and others on a Board dashboard to see how physically and mentally fit are your team
• The StriveStronger team have the digital platform, program and resources to help ensure leaders get MatchFit for the longterm with an opportunity to then benchmark your leaders 

A couple of things I've started doing in the work week as a result of how the StriveStronger team work is having more walking meetings which is an easy way to get to the daily goal of 10,000 steps and creating your better week. 

In short, your better week is about prioritisation and stopping reacting to other people’s demands and taking control by locking in the activities that are most important to you. For me this starts with diarising a morning meditation, at least a daily exercise, play time with my little boys, a walk and coffee with my husband and time to reflect, connect and learn. Make your version of non negotiables and then the energy truly starts to flow.

Thank you to Andrew and the StriveStronger team to helping me refocus on the brain and body. I look forward to working with you to help spread the great word!

The thing I love about this approach is that where ever you're at there are going to be a handful of things to implement that can make a big difference to your overall energy to ensure we bring the best of our ourselves to those we love. It's not about comparing ourselves to others but in a growth mindset style comparing ourselves to ourselves after making some lifestyle tweaks. 

"When you change your mind, you change your life"

Love to hear any insights or how you go on your own version of a MatchFit journey to help you better manage stress, stay connected to what's important in life and achieve all that you want.