For 21st century human beings, stress is the single most important factor that affects health and performance. Stress is a leading cause of 70% of modern illnesses.* As an educated professional, you probably know this.<\/p>\n
However, did you know that people simply can\u2019t make good decisions under stress? Some refer to this loss of decision-making ability as “going limbic” \u2013 where your primitive brain is making the decisions, but without much higher conscious awareness. Study after study shows that decision-making under stress tends to result in poorly-reasoned choices that focus on immediate payoffs at the expense of long-term benefit.<\/p>\n
Regular stress-management practice helps you optimize decision-making, which benefits you, as well as those around you. It doesn\u2019t matter if that system is meditation, deep breathing, yoga, self-hypnosis, exercise or any of dozens of other effective practices. What matters is that you make it a part of your daily routine – ideally for 15-20 minutes twice daily – but any regular routine will be beneficial. After all, keeping your mind tuned up is at least as important as brushing your teeth! Plus, regular relaxation practice builds skills that you can apply to a variety of settings, such as relaxing before meetings to allow you to be more present and more effective at work.<\/p>\n
You might be saying to yourself, \u201cWell, that\u2019s all fine for you, but I have a lot of work to do.\u201d We all know that we should eat right, exercise, reduce stress and spend time with loved ones. However, we are not always aware of how key these simple activities are to maximizing our performance in all areas. The fact is, when we are maintaining our body, mind and spirit, we simply do not have the physical and mental capacity to perform at our best. When we are not at our best, we are more likely to fall short of the results we desire. For example, many studies show that taking time out during the workday to exercise actually improves productivity more than if you had spent that time working.<\/p>\n
However, having a good self-care practice doesn\u2019t mean that we can \u201cdo it all.\u201d Sometimes – probably most days – you will have to choose between the hour-long workout, the 8 hours of sleep and the half-hour of meditation on a given day. That\u2019s where the concept of \u201cminimums\u201d comes in. Your \u201cminimum\u201d is the very least that you can do in the important areas of your life and still continue to nurture and grow those areas. Minimums aren\u2019t about perfection or even your own personal ideal. They are simply the foundation upon which you can build a life that will support you in becoming the best \u201cyou\u201d you can be.<\/p>\n