Leading the Way to Wellbeing: My Personal Journey

Over the last week, travels have caught up to me and I’ve been a bit under the weather. No big deal really. It’s just a sinus infection, not anything more serious, which I am seriously grateful for. It’s just a few days of feeling exhausted, needing extra sleep, moving much slower, and giving my body a break.

Now consider, too, the news of late. The atrocities happening in Israel and in Palestine. And how heavy that is. And, as an empathic person, I feel that quite a bit. I feel a need to do something, and yet there’s very little I can do personally that will make an impact over there. What I can do is express my horror for all sides here - the blight on humanity that is taking place, the fact that hatred is something we are each responsible for standing up to. And to consider the steps I can take in my own community to further peace, to help create safety for others. And to know that I do not know the full history, the full lived experience, and I have some education of my own to do as well - to be humble in my approach, to know that I will do this imperfectly, and yet, it is still important to do anyway. And it’s not just this event, this is just the latest event over the past several years that impact us all, and yet seems so overwhelming as well. The processing of all of this, the internalization of all of this, it takes a toll on my mental health too, which I work to protect quite fiercely through many tools and mechanisms I have in place.

Taking a sharp right turn here, I’ve also been on this learning binge, and I don’t know if I mentioned it but one of the things I’ve been learning alot about lately is nutrition. Now, this is something that has always interested me. I’ve struggled with my weight my entire adult life especially, but perhaps even before then too. So, it’s something I’ve always wanted to learn more about - I’ve read books about eating raw, Whole30 eliminations, aging well, different types of nutrition for different body types. Not to mention the countless diets and my up and down battles with emotional eating. So I feel like I know a pretty decent amount given my own research and experiences. And there is more to learn, and more to improve upon. The newest research and information around protein is something I’m finding particularly interesting these days.

And yesterday, one of the podcasts I listen to on marketing of all things, put on by an entrepreneur I look up to, (Amy Porterfield) actually focused on the connection between physical wellbeing and your business wellbeing (as well as your mental wellbeing) and the ways that putting health and wellness first actually improves and enhances your business. (Check out the podcast here). I know it’s crazy, but protecting my brain, and my mental health and improving my performance are probably stronger drivers of doing the work to improve my physical wellbeing for me personally. Which is such a mind blowing concept, because life is busy - whether you have kids or not, whether you are starting a business or not, life is often very busy. So, making some sacrifices and shifting that focus to health and wellness first is something I’m really looking at right now.

Because what I am realizing more and more in this entrepreneurial journey is that it’s all on me - which is both wonderful and scary. We talk in my entrepreneur group sometimes about “what’s our backup if we get sick” or “what happens if…” And I can’t control necessarily all the what-if’s but I have been thinking a lot about what I do have control over - truly, even when I feel like I don’t. 

As I consider and am actively working on becoming the entrepreneur I want to be, the impact I want to make, as well as the leader I want to be, the community member I want to be, the daughter, sister, aunt, partner and friend I want to be, all of that hinges on my wellbeing. And wellbeing in all its forms.

This post is a little all over the place, but in my brain, it’s all connected. The internal and external factors that affect not just me, but many of us. The things we can control and the things we can’t control. 

I know from building a consistent workout routine over the last couple of years that it has helped me immensely in my overall mental health, but also has curbed my back issues, and has helped me have more energy. Now, it’s likely time for me to up that routine as well as have a renewed focus on the other aspects of my physical health - true intention and attention around those aspects. It’s time for the next step knowing that this one thing will build confidence in my ability to do other things as well. While I can’t control everything (which is super inconvenient of course), I can control this thing. It also connects nicely to the Positive Intelligence work I’ve been doing lately too.

I am also acutely aware of the fact that health is capricious sometimes. And that, again, while I can't control everything, I can control at least some aspects of my health and wellbeing as I put both more attention and intention behind it.

I find that with challenge comes change, but also confidence. That when I execute on these challenges, I gain confidence in my ability to do more hard things. I believe in the gifts of change, as my life is a testament to that. I believe in the gifts of discomfort, and being comfortable being uncomfortable. I believe all of these things will help me become who I want to become, and have more of the impact I want to have.

Regardless of our roles at work or at home, we have the opportunity to lead ourselves every day. This is where I want to up my game a bit more - for my own sustainability as a human and as an entrepreneur.

Wow, this post got a lot more personal than I thought it would be! 🙂 But, it’s real and it’s where I am as I process all the things this week and draw connections for myself and make intentional choices moving forward. At the very least, I hope you found a gem in it that will help you too.