Take Care of Yourself with These 5 Pillars of Wellness

Imagine you’re preparing for the biggest game of the year. The matchup is the most infamous rivalry in town, and the stakes are high. One team’s coach is running around barking orders, trying to get the team ready, and has hardly slept. Then, there’s the other coach, who’s well-rested, refreshed and calmly walking the team through the game plan, reminding them that they’ve been preparing for this moment all year. Which coach would you rather have?

You can ask a similar question in business - what type of leader would you rather work for?

With the best of intentions, we end up taking care of everything around us – professionally, personally – and often put ourselves last. But the best leaders do one thing exceptionally well - they prioritize taking care of themselves. As a result, they’re better able to take care of their teams.

For many years, I have worked to find the right balance of activities (or non-activities!) to help me to do this. I call it my “Pentagon” - a personal defense system of five areas that allows me to be my best self. As a disclaimer, this is what I have found works for me. Obviously, you’ll need to find what works best for you, and it’s important that you listen to both your body and your doctor.

Here is my personal “Pentagon” of health and how I prioritize my own wellbeing:

1. Exercise. A balanced regiment includes cardio, strength training and stretching. For me, this is a combination of aerobics, weights and yoga. But you don’t need to go to the gym every day. The point is to do something good for your body, that gets the blood flowing. Even a short walk can do a world of good.
2. Nutrition. Inflammation is a root cause of diseases, so it’s best to focus on a diet of clean eating and generally avoid processed foods, caffeine and alcohol. I mostly follow a Mediterranean diet, meaning I eat a lot of plant-based foods and whole grains, and I add in some fish or white meat a few times a week.
3. Sleep. This is one of the best medicines, and it's free! Sleep completely rejuvenates the brain. Did you know? The brain is one of the rare organs that doesn’t contain blood vessels. How does the brain detox without blood vessels? When you go into a deep sleep, the fluid surrounding the brain begins to clean itself up. The less you sleep, the more toxins build up, so you really need sleep to have a clear mind! As a society, we are generally terrible at prioritizing good sleep, ideally 7-8 hours each night. One of the most difficult things is simply shutting our brains down at night. I follow a couple of rules in order to prepare for a good sleep each night: 1) Eat early. 2) Turn off all screens. 3) Actively make an effort to switch off my brain and empty my mind.
4. “Me” Time. This could also be called “rest,” but it’s very different from sleep. “Me” time is anything you do that is just for you and that really helps you to feel whole. It should feel indulgent. My “me” time looks like meditation, massage, music or simply being in nature.
5. Deep Introspection. I always have a few books that I am reading at any point in time. I leverage reading as a way to sharpen my mind, process and dream. I like to do deep reading and make notes while I read, so that I can truly internalize the key insights of the author and how they might impact the way I see the world. Taking the time to train my brain like this has helped me massively in solving problems.

In trying to find balance between my work and my “Pentagon,” I have found that “perfect is the enemy of good.” Perfection in each area is hard to attain. It is much better to make some progress in all areas than overdose on any one.

Hopefully, this is helpful to you! We all lead very busy lives. Let’s not let the urgency of everyday living crowd out taking care of yourself.