Now more than ever in the middle of a pandemic with uncertainty on a daily basis, we need personal leadership to lead our life, health, careers, and business forward. This was the topic I was asked to speak on for Yorkville University’s ‘Ask an Expert’ live on YouTube last week and it seemed to hit home for so many people feeling confined and limited by the circumstances of Covid-19. One of the first and most important points I shared about leadership, and this pertains to self leadership, is how crucial it is to have a vision of a better future that leads you forward. This vision can lift us out of the struggle of today and give us direction and hope, but vision requires imagination and creativity beyond today.
Our motivation and ability to lead ourselves has been challenged because each and everyone of us has been uprooted from our routines, experienced change, are in stress and being challenged, and we are living in uncertainty with upheaval and unknowns on a day to day basis. When all of this happens, our brain and body is in a state of stress; it is this state of stress that fatigues and drains our body of energy while also shutting down the executive functions of our brain that include decision making, strategy, creativity, solutions, and vision. This means that the first place we need to begin our personal leadership is in leading ourselves out of a stress state and into a relaxed nervous system.
Thriving Begins with Self Leadership in Self Care & Stress Management
I know what you are thinking and it absolutely does seem like an oxymoron to say that we could actually thrive through these uncertain times, but sometimes challenging limiting beliefs and leading to what could be possible will take you to great places! At the end of my presentation, the Dean of Yorkville University, Dr. Deidre Pickerell summarized what I had spoken about and said, “…what I took away here is the importance of self care…” and she was absolutely right because at the root of personal leadership is self care. It is the foundation from which we can lead everything else we want in our lives, but now more than ever self care must bump up your to do list to the top spot or the stresses of the pandemic will drag you down.
So how do we manage the stress and take our body and brain out of the fight and flight mode of present day circumstances surrounding the pandemic? You will see in the video attached here that I mention a wide variety of options that we can all incorporate into our days to manage stress and increase our self care. I would also like to propose here that self care could actually be reframed and called any of the following listed below because self care leads to so much more that then impacts your life, career, health, business and even the impact you are able to give to others!
- Self Care is Personal Success Habits
- Self Care is Peak Performance
- Self Care is Energy Management
- Self Care is a High Performance Strategy
- Self Care is a Leadership Tool for Leaders at the top of their Game
- Self Care is the Modeling Self Love for our Children, Team, and Followers
- Self Care is Daily Happiness Breaks to Recharge Your Body, Mind, & Soul
- Self Care is a Champions Secret and a Winners Practice
Self care is not selfish; it is the most giving thing you can do for others because it sets you up to give more and be at your best for peak performance.
Personal Leadership to Lead Your Best Life, Health, and Career
You are a leader whether you are leading people or a company or not because you are the leader of your life, health, and career. With the current moment restricting many of us to work or study from home, our personal leadership to manage our time, energy, and direction forward to our best life vision is mandatory. So where do you begin and how do you lead? Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Know Yourself – What do you need to be at your best? Then, create and implement that in your day.
- Have a Vision, Goal or Dream that leads you forward! Live in the vision and take steps toward it everyday.
- Manage your days or they will manage you. Managing your day means blocking off time for self care, for strategy to lead your vision, and managing distractions or negative energy
- Direct Your Focus – We need to direct the focus of our mind and attention on what we want, what is positive, and what we can control. Directing our focus may require a decision to commit to one thing, one goal, one area where we are going to put the majority of our energy. Directing our mind to focus not on problems which it will do naturally in times of stress, but on solutions, ideas, and what is possible.
- Embody emotions and empower an environment that sets you up for success. This will not come easy especially in the middle of a pandemic, but with concentrated effort and intention, it will become easy.
How are you leading yourself now and where do you need more personal leadership to live your best life, be in your best health, and lead the life of your dreams?
If you are in need of leadership coaching for your life, career, health or business, reach out for a complimentary coaching call to [email protected]. ‘Lead it. Live it. Love it!’
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