Could you enhance your well-being during a crisis?
Absolutely. Could that boost your success? No doubt.
We used to fear something serious, time-consuming and monumental might disrupt our personal lives so much that it might stall or even backtrack the momentum and success we’ve garnered in our careers.
And here we are.
During every personal crisis, but especially during my hero’s journey to turn around my two autoimmune diseases and cancer (all healed now), I learned some astonishingly leveraged well-being strategies that unexpectedly increased my personal and business success not only during that harrowing time but ever since. Could it apply now, even for this brutal, collective pandemic situation? Absolutely.
Embracing your total well-being is the most empowered, leveraged response to any huge, seemingly insurmountable challenge.
With your teams working under new paradigms, with weighty decisions to make, and with people looking for your leadership, I know it sounds frivolous at best: you prioritizing your well-being at this time, and by that I mean body, mind and spirit wellness. It’s not. It sounds illogical, but it’s the most grounded, proactive thing you can do.
I checked in with some of the jaw-dropping 18 CEOs and founders I interviewed for my book, plus some other standout leaders, to find out what they are doing behind the scenes right now to show up with immense power.
Their current actions fall into two action-oriented categories:
“Protect the Asset” & Look for the Service-Minded Opportunity
1. “Protect the Asset.”
My favorite phrase and mantra of 2020, protect the asset” means protect your well-being. It acknowledges that well-being is the most valuable asset we have, because it is the power center from which all else flows. In addition to the recommended health guidelines (of course), each business leader I spoke to is continuing and enhancing their own personal body, mind and spirit strategies to boost their well-being because this crisis requires that they operate at their highest potential. It is calling forth the best they can give.
Yanik Silver is a serial entrepreneur of eight different product/service ideas that reached the 7-figure sales mark and CEO of Maverick1000, a invite-only, worldwide group of impact-driven (and somewhat zany) entrepreneurs. He says that he’s on day 83 of a personal 108 day yoga challenge, and that this daily practice is essential to “tap into the stillness” where he can access his deepest wisdom. One result? Although his company is travel-inspired, he’s leading a strategic, multi-dimensional virtual get-together of Maverick1000 on Monday.
Angela Macke, founder of Light of Day Organics, runs a 75-acre farm, the only Certified Organic and Certified Demeter Biodynamic Commercial Grower of tea plants in North America. Though chilly in Michigan, she’s out walking her fields daily for fresh air, and intentionally choosing to drink her vitamin- rich, bright green matcha every morning. She says “this is an opportunity to move your body, to be gentle with yourself, and to elevate consciousness.” She says that by doing that, we give ourselves “the strength to do what (we) are on this earth to do.”
Miguel Calatayud, Founder and CEO of Qualitas Health, one of the largest algae producers in the world with their iWi-brand omega-3 supplements, is focusing on his company and their customers, and also donating 2,000 bottles of iWi Omega-3 supplements to local healthcare workers. At home, he is taking a family-based approach with his 7 and 10 year old children: to boost their collective immune systems, they are taking their supplements daily and biking together outside of Houston. He says “my only fear in life is fear. We need to live life at the highest level.”
2. Look for the service-minded opportunity.
Entrepreneurs at the highest level use their well-being practices as a foundation to look at catastrophes head on, and this time is no exception. While other entrepreneurs might be paralyzed by a very natural and real fear –”what if this is the worst month for my business ever?”- these action-oriented leaders don’t stay there for long.
Each leader I interviewed seems to take that initial fear, and with immense, open curiosity and the angle of true service, considers their reach, capabilities, and the unique challenge at hand and flips the initial question to ask instead: “What if this is the best month for my business ever?” They work from that possibility, brainstorming and planning about what would have to be in place and how would they need to pivot for that statement to be true.
How does this relate to well-being? Fear, the resulting inaction and self-admonishment are like poison coursing through your veins. It makes you weaker in every way. Conversely, inspired action, hope, and a spirit of possibility is like a vitamin. It makes you stronger. More agile. More resourceful and creative. That energy is exponentially better for your well-being.
Raj Jana, Founder and CEO of JavaPresse Coffee and inspiring host of the Stay Grounded podcast, is thinking intently about his 350k+ customers and community members, and comments, “If you can’t take care of yourself, you can’t lead others.” He has a consistent morning gratitude practice where he “forces himself to see the possibilities” and to “get in the right emotional headspace to serve.” In reaction to this crisis, he’s leading daily calls with his team, where he shares his positivity and plans, has upped his social media outreach, and he’s committed to bringing his tight community even closer.
Catastrophes can challenge us to prioritize our greatest asset, to choose to serve, and to soar in an unexpected moment.
Want to listen to me converse more about this topic?
See 2 minutes of my “how to RISE” inspiration here.
Get empowered by listening to my Mindvalley Superhumans at Work podcast appearance, one of the most timely conversations I have ever had.
Reach out and let me know what you are going through, and share how you are serving! Submit a reply here — I read every note personally.
Time to BE well and Do well. Time to RISE.
