Hold your horses! This is not another habit and routine type of blog post. This is a real–life, no–bones, survival–in–a–time–of–pandemic, necessary post if you’re serious about becoming the best version of yourself while leading an entire school community who is looking to you to have all the answers. It’s about finding not just work–life balance but finding consistent and sustainable (like for the rest of your life) balance. I promise it is a little different than what you are thinking so stick with me ’til the end. In this post, I am going to talk about the three things that will help you as a leader to feel better through taking care of yourself with a business/entrepreneurial focus in mind.
But first, I want to check in with you Leader. How are you doing with the all of this noise in the world? How are you managing it all when it feels like the buck stops at you all the time? Do you feel like you are in an endless abyss of “what ifs, it’s too hard, and I have a problem, please fix this” type conversations?
Whatever your days look like, I hope that you are taking care of yourself and setting boundaries. No matter what, I hope you are sticking to those boundaries and letting go of what other people may think and knowing that whatever decision or boundary you set, you know it is so you can show up better for others and especially, yourself. I know that you are a planner and are realizing the importance of also planning boundaries into your day so that you are fully present to whomever you need to be with at that moment. If you aren’t doing that, don’t worry, I got you covered!
Ok, let’s dive in to the three habits to set up some serious game changing success that I really hope you curate for yourself so you can start feeling a little better. The three habits are: Step one: Power Up, Step two: Immersion, Step Three: Curate. These three powerful habits with help you power up for the days ahead and beyond the pandemic. When I say power up, I think of the video games where the characters grab the fruit to power up their energy so they can fight their enemies. You know… and then the power bar builds into a rainbow of colors while the music builds into a crescendo (kind of like a slot machine in Vegas)? No? Not sure about what I am talking about? Anyways, think of that fruit as the habits that will generate energy in your mind and body.
First, let’s think about how we always start strong but then life gets in the way and we may tend to fall back into our old ways and drop the habits. I know this happened to me, especially when this pandemic crushed our hopes, dreams, and plans that we all had for 2020. I think I even heard myself saying out loud to my family and my school community, 2020 is going to be our best year! We got this! Well….you know what happened next.
But….we, leaders, are not lying down and taking it. We are entrepreneurs, business minded, and family oriented so we know that we have to pivot and so we also have to approach our habits in a different way. If you want to find balance in your business and personal life, it is essential that you plan long term habits that support your physical, mental, emotional, and entrepreneurial well-being. So let’s get right to it.
Step one, power up. Fill your bucket every morning and evening. Plan your possible morning and evening routines. And yes, my friends, this takes a little planning and work. Your morning routine should energize you, provide clarity for the day ahead, and and also clear the cobwebs of guilt, to dos and what ifs that you know are headed your way. This is YOU time. The evening shut down should tie up loose ends, declutter your mind, and set you up for a good night’s sleep without the endless train of things you have to do racing through your mind. Your shut down routine is just as important for powering up as your morning routine. I used to ignore this part of my day and it did not serve me well. I was never present enough for my family and it was hard for them and for me. As soon as I started setting boundaries and planning in my power up time, I became more present and a lot more satisfied that I had time for me each day too. So believe me, the tying up loose ends at the end of each day is powerful.
A few rules of course when setting up your power up routine. Keep it streamlined, realistic, and simple. The more layers of habits that you stack on, the more likely you will not stick to them. Don’t make it based off of someone else that you saw on Instagram or talked to. Not all of us have kids, not all of us have the same hours or schedules, etc. so make sure that this power up routine is you and only about you! Keep this morning and night routine as a non-negotiable. I really want you to hear me on this. You need this and it is that important. We all need this. Make that promise to yourself, just like those appointments and meetings that you have set up in the day, and do NOT break it. You matter too and so you need to show yourself that grace. This leads me to the idea of being very real with yourself. Try not to do something so drastically different that you will never keep that promise to yourself. For example, if you already struggle getting up at 7 am each day, don’t set a goal that you are going to get up at 5 am each morning. That is just not realistic for you and so you are setting yourself up to break that promise to yourself. Ease into it and set up an earlier, more realistic time that your body will adjust better to. This will allow you to adjust your habits so you can get better and better at them.
Next, write it all down and set boundaries. Decide how much time you will spend on powering up in the morning and evening. Then list out the habits that you really want to adopt within that time frame. Remember, don’t pile on so many habits that you are now stressed about getting it all in. So, for me, I get up around 5 am (I am a morning person) and I move my body right away. I think I hope that my brain will forget I exercised if I do it before my brain wakes up. Next, I grab a coffee and I check in with my 5 am teacher group. It is a group that messages each other checking in on how they are doing or what they are doing to power up. No pressure, just check ins. Every one of the ladies in our group does something different to power up or shut down and we hold ourselves accountable. After, I read and/or meditate and then I will sometimes journal if I have time. I have set boundaries within my morning routine so I can do it all and it fills me up and sets me up for the day. There is always working out, checking in, and writing/reading because that is what powers me up.
Write down the things that you want to include in your evening routine as well. What do you need in order to ease and release your mind to shut down your day. My power down routine is quick and easy. I set 30 minutes where I set boundaries and do my shut down routine. For example, I decide the exact time that I will end my work day. So for me, it is 4:30 pm. Next, I will go through my inbox and sift through all of the emails so that it is at 0 when I leave my work. I will look at my planner and see all of the things that I got done in the day. Side note: I set three ‘must get done’ goals each day the night before and so those are the ones that I check to see if I got done first. Then I look at the things I didn’t get done and I move them to the next day and schedule in where I will get them done in that day. The Full-Focus planner from Michael Hyatt helped me with doing all of this and it walks you through how to do it all. It has shown me how to reflect on why I didn’t get it done and whether or not I am setting unrealistic goals or too many things in one day. This seriously takes me 3 minutes to do each night before I leave my work. The teacher in me thinks of it as an evaluation of my day! Next, I plan my entire next day before I leave in my planner. I mean I plan everything! All the meetings, all the to do tasks, all the connection time, the family time, the meal times, That’s all I do for my shut down. I declutter my inbox, I reflect on my day, and I plan for the next. Boom! Done in twenty to thirty minutes! Now, I can go home to family, way more present. I also do a mini shut down routine before bed that is just for me. I choose to read a book that has zero pressure placed on me. You know the cheesy, funny or love stories! Yea those ones! For you, it might be watching reality tv, sports, coloring, meditating, etc. Whatever you choose, make sure it is just for you.
Let’s move to step two, immersion. This is where you put your habits into practice every single day for a set amount of time. For example, you might set your boundary for seven days where you will immerse yourself and focus in on your habits. Write down all of your habits that you have decided each day and check them off each day if they are working for you. If they are not, chances are those habits just are not for you.. yet. I am saying that you need to wake up each day and read your routine and actually do it. Each night read your power down routine and then actually do it. At the end of those 7 days, reflect on what is working, what’s not and why. Even if you are just starting out with 1 habit, it is still better than none. Eventually you can add more as you this habit becomes engrained in you.
Get clear on why you are doing these routines. Knowing your why will change everything. If your why is not important enough to you then you will not do it. For example, I was exercising and I though my why was because i wanted to lose weight. Well, I tended to not stick to my exercise routine because my why was not as important enough to me as I had originally thought. It wasn’t until I realized my true intention, that working out became essential and a promise to myself that I never broke. My purpose became about staying healthy and modelling a healthy lifestyle to my girls so that I could be the best mom I could possible be to them. Now, I was adopting a habit that stuck!
Keep reminding yourself of your why and not only will it boost your mindset but also how you lead because you feel better about yourself. Get super clear on the reason you are doing these habits and give yourself some grace. If that habit is wavering a bit, try sticking with it and giving it another shot for those seven days and then reevaluate if it is still not working and tweak it to fit you.
Ok, step three is all about curating and perfecting your routines. I think of a curator of art who is so passionate about what fills their collections. This is exactly what we need to do with our minds and our bodies. We need to be a curator and be very selective of what we let into our bubble and not stress too much about other people’s opinions. Now that you have experimented with a few habits and stuck with them for seven days, it is time to zone in and dial in on them for the next month. This is where the long term commitment and planning that I talked about at the beginning of this post comes in. I know, it’s hard but you are a leader and you know that all success comes from commitment and hard work. So ask yourself, if you do this for your job and your family, why wouldn’t you commit and dedicate this work to yourself? Commit for thirty days and go all in. You can do it. Let me know how you are doing it on our facebook page or better yet, join our private facebook group called Principals and Leadership. We can be a Marco Polo support for each other!
If you are like me, you are going to go all in and perhaps start with too much. This three step process helps you to curate it so that it is sustainable and matters to you. Stick with it, let some things go, and know that you are not going to be perfect at this. If you miss a day, give yourself some grace, but then get back to it the next day. We know all of this right? Because that is how we lead our schools so we owe this to ourselves. You are golden, you have gotten this far in the Jumanji game of 2020. This is just another power up in your pack of tools. All we have to do is wake up the next morning and get back to work. Deal? We can do this. We can do hard things. And leader’s wellness matter too.
One last thing. We all love to celebrate and we love little gifts. I got this tip from Amy Porterfield, a masterful entrepreneur, and I thought it was brilliant. At the end of the seven days and the thirty day immersion periods. Give yourself a gift to celebrate and motivate you to keep going. That might be a massage, a treat, a date night, a facial, etc. Whatever it is, pop the champagne and toss the confetti because you did it and you will get up and do it all over again! Stay safe my friends and remember I am here (in my private facebook group, so join!). I am listening, tell me more.
Want more?
Download my free guide to Reframing How You Show Up for Yourself!
And I have a website!! Check it out for all of the latest happenings!
Or….Got kids? Or perhaps students that you teach?
Check out our student led wellness podcast called Even If You Miss. It is a wellness podcast by kids for kids. Subscribe to us on Apple podcasts or Spotify and be sure to leave a review!
Even If You Miss..... 
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