Health, mental or Physical, needs maintenance

"I know people don't like to ask questions in front of a large group, so my email address is up on the screen if anyone wants to reach out later". 

That's how I finish my presentation, but only I know that it’s my way of avoiding questions so I can get off the damn stage. As I walk to the wings, 2,000 people politely applaud. A producer with a headset and clip board runs up and starts to remove my microphone. "That was great', she says, as producers always do, "how come you never get nervous?" Inside I burst out laughing - if only she knew! Externally I say "well, I was a little nervous, but I've been doing this a long time". The conference centre is attached to my hotel, and on route to my room I shake hands, accept compliments as gracefully as I can, make some promises that I will do my absolute best to keep, and then finally I'm alone in an elevator and I breathe. Then I'm sat on the end of my bed, picking up the cell phone that I'd purposefully left in my room, as I feared had I kept it in my pocket the heat from the battery would have made me feel too hot on stage! On the screen is the self-hypnosis app - 'public speaking with confidence' - that I had listened to almost hourly in the days leading up to this event. When I close the app, I have texts and emails, again complimenting me on my presentation, asking for follow ups and, more than one, again wondering how I can be so relaxed in front of such a huge crowd. I again chuckle to myself- if only they knew! This weekend I got to thinking, as 'Mental Health Awareness Week' is here, maybe people should know this?

I have always associated my own 'mental state' with my 'physical state', and I've always held an opinion that both of these entities need regular exercise to stay at the levels I want them to be. You may be an accomplished athlete, but unless you train or practice on a regular basis your skills or prowess will wan. It therefore makes perfect sense that no matter how confident or 'top of your game' you feel, if you don't work on maintaining that, it will lapse. We all have highs and lows - the aim is to have more highs than lows. Ideally it will also be that the highs are much higher than the lows are low, and during the low points the highs are recalled with the knowledge that they will be back.

I hold firmly to the belief that successful people are not people who are never afraid, never have self doubt, anxiety, stress or uncertainty - but they are people that do it anyway. They take that risk, put their hand up for that terrifying opportunity, ignore the inner voice - that is frankly full of shit - and go for it. Yes easier said than done, but to return to my physical comparison, champion athletes are not people who happen to be able to run faster, jump higher or lift more than anyone else, they are people that train, train, train. They push doubt aside, they ignore the inner voice and they achieve what others don't, because they'll do what others won't.

Now of course, there are naturally gifted people - mentally and physically; we won't all advance the theory of relativity, and we won't all run the 100 in under 10 seconds. But that's not the point. The training - physical or mental - is about respecting yourself enough to allow yourself to be the best possible version of you, or more importantly, the version of you that will make you happy. To be clear, and let me stress this point, I am aware there are extremes on both the physical and mental spectrum, and I am by no means dismissing the often essential professional, medical care that some people need, should have access to, and should seek.

For me, as I've mentioned, I had listened to self-hypnosis apps on the lead up to the presentation that I started this piece referring to, in fact my phone is full of such apps. I'd also worked out every day, sometimes twice a day, in the weeks prior, not because I wanted to look a certain way, but because I wanted to feel a certain way. If I was going to get on a stage in front of 2,000 people - which I could have said 'no' to - I was going to feel as good as I possibly could in every way. I've been addicted to exercise since childhood, and on any given week I am in the gym 5 times at least - it makes me feel great. I suspect I mediate, listen to said apps or read certain books, ten times as much as I physically exercise. Yet I do these two things for exactly the same reason (other than my insecurities): to stay healthy, both physically and mentally. Both scenarios take work, time & commitment and not everyone will want to do these two things. If you want to just do one of them, focus on your mental health. It is much harder as your body doesn't have inner voices of doubt and self-deprecation - but your brain & your ego does! But have no doubt that whoever you are, keep working at it, or, be it your mind or your body, it will not stay healthy.