Tal Ben-Shahar and Angus Ridgway’s SHARP model of leadership looks at Performance Multiplier 2: HEALTH (continued)
The 3 pillars of health as we know are diet, exercise and sleep. To keep them standing strong you want to attend to each one mindfully. Work smarter, not harder. Habits that hold these pillars up have to be regulated. A healthy diet loses its benefits if you indulge in overeating. Eat till you are 80% full. Exercising to the point of self-injury defeats any gains made. Walk between sprinting and restore energy. If you pull an all-nighter and are on borrowed sleep, your fatigue makes you as impaired as someone with an illegal blood alcohol content level. Aim for 8 hours of sleep and take short naps in the afternoon if you need to restore your energy.
Dan Buettner’s work on the Blue Zones of Happiness is widely acclaimed. His report of 5 communities (Sardinia (Italy), Ikaria (Greece), Okinawa (Japan), Nicoya (Costa Rica), and Loma Linda (California)) which he called the Blue Zones showed how the residents of those areas live the longest and healthiest lives. They seem to have mastered the art of energy creation.
Strategies to be in the Energy Creation Zone:
Identify your energy depleters: unhealthy or mindless eating, working long hours, poor sleep habits, long commute to work, constantly running late, or isolation. They drain you of physical, emotional and mental energy. Pick one you wish to minimize and begin to change that habit. Establish new rituals. If the long commute to work is inevitable and a ‘depleter’, transform it to a ‘restorer’ by listening to an audio book or a podcast that uplifts you.
Identify your energy restorers: daily walks, meditations, mid-afternoon naps, communing with nature, yoga practice, reading, listening to music, engaging in hobbies, or socializing. They replenish you of physical, emotional and mental energy. Pick one you wish to maximize and begin to engage in it increasingly. Taking small breaks at work to walk outside increases productivity. Behaviors that lead to sustainable energy give you maximum results. You tend to be alert, creative, accurate and motivated.
Engage in positive emotions as they lead to happiness and restoring of energy. Write 3 positive things that happened in the day (personal or professional). It leads to optimism. Acknowledge and appreciate the progress you have made. It leads to improved performance. Happier people are more adaptable.
Invest in strong social support. Build healthy relationships that bring joy and love. Avoid toxic relationships that bring you down. ‘Mirror neurons’ in our brain lead to what’s called ‘emotional contagion’. We tend to mirror the emotions of the people we are surrounded by regardless of whether they are pleasant or unpleasant emotions. Leaders can leverage this information and be role models of positivity as well as cultivate a company culture of positivity that is grounded in reality. Team members will mirror them.
The more you expand your positivity, the more your capacity to deal with negativity will increase. Again, a win-win!
Simple changes in diet, exercise and sleep can make dramatic shifts in both outcomes and happiness for individuals and organizations. Invest in your health. “You will be adding years to your life…….and life to your years.”