Your relationship to food and exercise is an often-forgotten part of running a small business and this has massive implications for your?weight
Faris Aranki - Strategy and Emotional Intelligence
SUCCESS = IQ x EQ x FQ I help organisations & individuals be more effective today than they were yesterday by providing innovative, emotionally-intelligent facilitation, training and speaking to improve IQ, EQ and FQ
I’ve never been a skinny person.
As a kid, I was what would politely be called “cuddly”.
At my peak I must have weighed close to 120kg and had a 46 inch waist?—?largely because I always had an unhealthy relationship with chocolate and sweets?—?if you don’t believe me, check this out.
This changed when I headed for a year living in a village in Nepal at the age of 17 (it’s amazing what living at 3000m altitude, only really eating rice and lentils, for a year will do).
Throughout my twenties, I then upped my exercise levels and by the time I got into my thirties I was running regular marathons and even did a 50 mile ultramarathon in my mid-30s.
However fitness, like building a business, is very Sisyphean; if you don’t keep it up then it fades fairly quickly and you have to start all over again.
Never is this more relevant than when you run a start-up, where your weight can track the state of your business.
My weight’s ups and downs since I started my business
In the late summer of 2019, after plenty of deliberation I started my own business, one that would focus on increasing the effectiveness of teams and individuals.
The first 6 months were a whirlwind and I can’t quite recall what my weight/fitness/body shape was like during that period but then came Covid in March 2020 and I remember that well.
I recall it so clearly (not only because it was a pandemic) but because the impact for my business was immense?—?we had no paid work for 6 months [ see my 8 part blog series about the roller -coaster that was].
From a health point of view, that 6 months was great as I was doing lots of exercise, eating healthily and didn’t have much work.
That was never going to be sustainable and as the business took off I settled into more of a pattern of semi-regular exercise.
I managed to keep a fairly healthy routine, usually thanks to a set of annual challenges I would set myself.
Over the next couple of years this would be the general pattern; occasionally I would fall off the wagon but then I would kickstart things again?—?at one point, I even managed to do exercise every day for a month using this simple motivational tool.
However, the last year has proven to be a different challenge
Fast forward to the 5th year of my business and by now things were humming; we had clients all around the globe and I was beginning to travel every other week.
This means a lot of flights, hotel living, eating out and imbibing things you don’t normally drink.
Invariably you eat and drink more than usual whilst at the same time struggle to keep up your usual exercise regimes. And you are more likely to get sick when you are travelling so much.
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Throw in a stressful eviction, having to find a new place to live at short notice, challenges of being a Palestinian in recent times and the stresses of losing work?—?it was quite the year.
Inevitably, all this meant that I took my eye off the ball and, my weight began to nudge upwards.
I ignored a few warning signs, such as ripping 2 pairs of trousers in quick succession but there was no avoiding the tightening of all my clothes and the scales telling me that I had reached almost 100kg (compared to a usual 85kg).
Enough was enough, I don’t want to return to being that “cuddly kid”!
What am I going to do about it?
First things first, the most important thing I did was set this as a goal and to develop a plan around addressing it. Broadly this involved adopting a more strict exercise regime and reducing my intake of unhealthy foods.
More specifically:
Crucial to all this is that I am telling all my nearest and dearest about my goal so that they can support me (and hold me accountable).
This means if I’m out with you then respect the fact that I may not want to drink mid-week and I may choose the salad over the steak [ok, that’s highly unlikely but you never know].
If you run your own business or have a stressful job then much of what I’ve written above my resonate; I’d love to know how you handle this.
How will I get on?
Let’s see; I’ll certainly keep you all updated.
In many ways, the struggle is part of the fun so join me on the journey ??
Faris
Faris is the CEO and Founder of Shiageto Consulting, an innovative consultancy that helps firms and individuals sharpen their effectiveness. Connect with him here
Success = IQ x EQ x FQ
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