I Feel Like Sh*t
I haven’t been crook once this year, that has to be some sort of record!
But that record has now come crashing down. I feel like shit. (actually, I’m on the mend now, but earlier in the week… not good)
I 100% put down my epic run of good health to a hitting some solid consistency in 4 major areas of health:
- Eating well most of the time
- Being active almost daily
- Getting enough sleep
- Working on, being aware of and reducing stress
I have always been great at 1 and 2. But in the past I have been pretty rotten with 3 and 4.
How many of us neglect what our bodies are telling us and continue to not sleep enough, and consistently repeat our dodgy practices for reducing stress?
In the past I always felt there was more that needed to be done. I didn’t know how to switch off. Even when I was away I was thinking and worrying about what I should be doing or how can I be getting something done while also relaxing. So I’d get back, no less stressed, no less sleep deprived, same problems.
When I got sick, I acted like a proud toolbag who NEVER took sick days. What a great hard worker you are! You should be resting from epic man-flu, yet here you are, soldiering on, doing ‘stuff’, but nothing of quality. Too proud to just turn in and let it go for a day or two.
And what actually happens when you are gone for a few days? Absolutely nothing. Well… if you have put systems in place and you’ve done a good job in teaching your others how to fish, rather than continually bring them fish like a little lap dog… then yeah! Nothing really happens. You might even realise that you aren’t actually required for all those little tasks you keep adding to your day, you can delegate them, you can focus more attention on what you should be doing.
And if you are system-less and you are a fish bringer? Some stuff may happen. But nothing that doesn’t take a few moments to fix. Hey, maybe it’s the nudge you need to start working a little smarter?
The other thing that happens when you push through while crook is, you get more crook!!
Your body has shut down for a reason! You need to sleep. You need antibiotics. You need some damn Strepsils and a nice warm room to hide away in. Now f**k off and go do it. Your body is screaming for it are web are too stubborn, too proud, too much of a worrier to listen.
No it is not a sign of a good worker when you push through and tough it out. It a sign of a dumbass that I certainly wouldn’t hire and wouldn’t give any complex responsibility too. Yet we continue to do this all the time. We applaud the ‘hard worker’. We applaud the idiot more like it.
I had been no more than one day back from 2.5 weeks in Bali when I felt the flu coming on. I had already enjoyed quite an extensive time away. So the thought of having to spend more time out was unsettling. The old me would have certainly pushed through and overloaded myself with a tonne of non-urgent (and urgent) tasks.
But this time I stopped. I had a look at the past 2 weeks I had away. The gym ran beautifully, the place was buzzing with energy even during this miserable weather, members were happy, my staff were happy, everything was okay. Yes there were things to attend to and projects to start. But the world wasn’t going to implode if I didn’t do them right away. So I didn’t.
I went to bed.
I paid close attention to my energy and stress levels.
I finished reading A Game of Thrones (bloody loved it).
I kept hydrated and made sure that amongst the ‘sick day comfort food’ I still ingested some quality nutrition.
Result? I’ve managed to get to the good end of this flu far, far better and far more quickly than I ever have in the past. And the gym hasn’t even burnt down yet, not even a little bit.
- Eat well
- Move regularly
- Sleep
- Manage stress
I made these 4 areas of health my priority this year. Everything else comes after.
I also made these areas of health the gyms priority this year when we rebranded as Valor: Fitness. Nutrition. Mind.
Not just a pretty face…
Stu.
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