I had the most amazing Bikram yoga class last night and as a consequence have just emerged from the most amazing sleep.
I have been practicing Bikram yoga for almost 7 years now. 2011, however, saw a massive blip in my practice as I focused my energy on launching and building the Little Black Dress Group. I often worked late in to the night, pouring my heart and soul in to creating and building my vision for the future. The endless energy was amazing as I worked tirelessly on creating something I am so passionate about. This certainly wasn’t unique to me as evidenced by the many late night emails and conversations that took place last year with other people doing the same thing – start-ups juggling the demands of daily life with creating something new. I am incredibly proud of what was achieved in 2011 – my mind was certainly stretched, fulfilled and also released by finally having the permission to do what it always wanted to do. But last night’s Bikram class made me aware of other important facets of life that I had not put the same amount of energy in to – the body and spirit.
There are increasing reports written about the work/life balance. It is something that comes up as a regular discussion when I meet our members across the country. How do we improve our work/life balance when it appears that we are devoting more hours to work, which consequently erodes family and leisure time?
We are told the benefits of “chilling out”, spending time on our selves, but again it appears that our time eroded society and myriad of other daily obligations is making this harder and harder.
The only answer that I can come up with for myself is CHOICE. If we don’t choose to equally nurture the mind, body and spirit we can never achieve the balance.
Our MIND needs nurturing – it needs creativity and knowledge, it needs to be kept active and fulfilled. It needs to grow and develop. We need to spend time constantly learning, reading, learning from others, feeding our mind with knowledge and insight. Our mind needs to find something it is passionate about, that energizes it and gives it focus. If you are passionate about something, you will have endless energy and this in itself becomes contagious. Some of the most influential leaders in the world go on record as saying they haven’t done a days work….and this is because they are passionate about what they do.
Our BODY needs nurturing – it needs rest, movement and nutrition. If your body collapses then really what more do you have. If you haven’t seen Arianna Huffington’s TedTalks on how to succeed by getting more sleep then make sure to take a look http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/arianna_huffington_how_to_succeed_get_more_sleep.html
Our SPIRIT needs nurturing – it needs purpose, belief and relationships. We need to spend time on self, with friends and with family. Our spirit needs to feel lifted, supported, energized and have fun. We need to laugh until our faces hurt and be present to enjoy the simple things in life.
Successful leaders all have a solidity about them, a calmness, an ability it seems to take on more than your average person and I think this stems from his or her inner peace. They are more self aware, less stressed and think about it – it’s far easier to get what you want when you can see clearly.
Balancing the MIND, BODY and SPIRIT all sounds simple but it is something that I find the biggest challenge in my life.
I am not in to setting New Year’s Resolutions but I am in to goal setting and vision creation. So for 2012, one of my key goals in to be in control of the CHOICES I make. I am going to make the CHOICE to rebalance and ensure I nurture my mind, body and spirit. And whilst this may mean that I don’t get through my to do list as quickly, or answer emails as quickly I know that my business overall will be more successful by having invested time in my body and spirit.
At the end of the day the only person in charge of you is you. You cannot blame anyone else for the in balance. It is the choices that you make that create the life you want. And as Frank Kern talks about – we all want our own perfect day.