I often find myself engaging in conversations with leaders around a familiar refrain: how are you "pouring back" into yourself?
How can you fill others up and inspire and engage your teams if you are running on fumes? You simply cannot. A wise man once told me that you MUST have margin in your life. This margin spans time, money, relationships, and peace. This idea of carving a margin for yourself boils down to one thing: committing to mindful routines.
My good friend is a business owner and recently shared with me his approach to routines and pouring back into himself. He just completed day 50 of a 90-day self-created experiment, aimed to eliminate all of his distractions in order to gain clarity, focus, and reflection. His process is multi-faceted as it has affected his diet, email, devices, his down time, sleep, spirituality -- everything. A few stipulations of his 90-day experiment include purging unnatural substances from his diet (alcohol, carbs, sugar) in addition to digital/technological "noise" (music, TV, Internet, news). He has replaced these highly-distracting habits by consuming all-natural foods, scheduling a few windows of tech time to keep up with work-related information ONLY, meditation, and spending time with loved ones.
Why do this? To his credit, he goes through this process so he can lead others (and lead them WELL) and more effectively impact his world. The residual benefit is pouring back into himself through practicing a great routine that affords him the time margin to think clearly and gain critical perspective on his life and his work. He is willing to put the rigor around healthy routines and creating a premium on improving his time margin. He said to me that never in his life has his mind felt so uncluttered and his thoughts been so clear -- he feels as if he is completely influenced by solely his own opinions.
Could this approach seem radical to some? Sure. But realize that by taking time to cut a few things out for a window of time is quite a powerful method in taking a step outside of your normal routine to truly reflect on what needs to shift or remain constant. The day-to-day sacrifices equate to empowering yourself by stopping and resetting your lifestyle.
Another friend of mine, who is also a business owner and enlightened leader, does not schedule meetings before 9 AM, so that she may get in her exercise and free-thinking time before the demands of her day begin full throttle. Furthermore, it gives her more space to spend time with her family in those chaotic and beautiful moments where anything and everything goes!
What does YOUR morning routine look like? Raise your hand if you give yourself a million reasons (cue Gaga) to avoid a morning routine or improve your time margin. You don't have to subscribe to a methodology or a process, but you must create a routine. Fast forward 90 days; start at the end and work backwards. If the goal is to be a feel better, perform better, lead better, and/or BE better, then start there and reverse-engineer your process. If I asked if you wanted to become a better leader in 90 days, I bet you would likely say, “yes!” It all starts with your AM routine to go into your day a little fuller and centered.
What are the steps involved? It could be as simple as establishing quiet, exercise, meditation or prayer, or journaling to start your day feeling full. This will allow you to free up space for creativity, health, and relationships-- the essential things that really light you up. As a leader, you should only do what only you can do. Lead well by establishing a morning routine and giving yourself back some necessary time margin.
If you are not filled up, you will not be able to pour in to your team. You BOTH deserve it.
