How I get Psychological Sunshine in 8 Ways

Morning Leaders,

Mental health is very much front and centre, and rightly so, it’s a much more open topic with less stigma attached than it has ever been. Organisations are also doing so much more now than they were in previous years, which is fantastic to see that they’re really caring for the well-being of their people.

As Leaders, I think we could all be doing a little more to care for ourselves as well. That’s why it’s important to carve out time daily to ensure we are taking care of ourselves to ensure we can be our best selves for the people we lead. If we’re tired, anxious, and burnt out, how effective as a leader do you think we’re going to be? Not very.

So today I wanted to share with you some ways you can take better care of your mind, and get some Psychological Sunshine as David Schwartz would say. Because your mind is your most valuable asset and how you think about things ultimately leads to your success. We are also all guilty of going through life living in the present and not always focusing on self-care and taken preventative steps to keep ourselves in good shape for the journey ahead.

8 Ways to get Psychological Sunshine

1) Exercise - if there is one useful thing you read today, read this point. Exercise is absolutely critical to your health, your wellbeing and your success. When you do regular exercise you keep your mind sharp, you stay in good shape and your body releases endorphins which leaves you feeling great too.

My Goal: Two 5k runs every week. I track time and GPS with Strava.

2) Outside - sunshine, fresh air and nature do wonders to clear your mind. Vitamin D helps regulate your mood and you generally feel better, not to mention some of the health benefits. Calm open space helps you to reset too.

My Goal: Switch off my phone and go out for a walk at least once a day.

3) Sleep - with quality sleep you are more focused and energised for the day ahead. Getting at least 7 hours will keep you energised and mentally strong for whatever the day throws your way.

My Goal: 7.5 hours

4) Meditation - taking 10 mins out of your day to be present really helps to clear the noise in your mind and get into a calm state. A “Blue Head” as the New Zealand All Blacks would say.

Goal: 10mins at least 3 times weekly. Try the Calm App.

5) Avoid - cut out negative content, news or people. Sometimes you’ll find you need to part ways with people or friends who are not contributing or helping you move forward. I have found by watching less news and disconnecting from some social media channels I feel better about the world rather than absorbing repeated negativity.

My Goal: Minimise exposure to negative influences.

6) Read - reading will increase our knowledge and competencies while really accelerating our development. Also provides a calm space to reflect, switch off for a moment and absorb something informative.

My Goal: 1 book a month.

January: Legacy by James Kerr

February: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

March: Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz

7) People - we’re all social creatures and we like to interact with people. That’s been challenging over the last year or so, so it does require more effort to get in front of people or schedule another Zoom. But it’s worth it!

Goal: Setup some facetime with at least 1 person a week outside of work.

8) Holiday - take time off work to disconnect, reset and recharge your batteries. You come back so much stronger and refreshed after a good break. Lead by example and set the expectation with your team that you’ll be enjoying some time away and that you won’t be checking your emails or Slack. If you don’t fully disconnect from your work you won’t benefit.

My Goal: Minimum of 6 days a quarter

Looking after ourselves means we’re in good shape to look after the people we’re serving which means we can continue to lead effectively. Hope this helps.

Thanks for reading

David

Resources Of The Week

• Leadership Community - I’ve opened up a free Leadership Community. This will be a private safe place for leaders and aspiring leaders to calibrate and improve as a group. If you are interested in joining to develop your leadership and professional skills within a nurturing, positive and supportive environment, please complete this form here to confirm why you wish to join.

• App - Blinkist. Do you ever read books and think there was a lot of fluff in there? Blinkist saves you hours with its premium book summary app which condenses hours of reading down into a 10-15 minute summary for you to read or listen to. Try this app to save you time and learn quicker. From today through April 30th, they are offering 40% Off the Blinkist yearly subscription. 

• Productivity Tool - try Focus Keeper/Pomodoro Timer to keep you on track and to manage your time better. This is a simple app available on iPhone and Android or you can Google “count down timer”. You are essentially committing 100% focus to get your single task done in 25 mins. It works because you are working with time rather than against it.

• Book - Matthew Syed - Black Box Thinking. When incidents happen on an aircraft, investigators learn a lot from the black box on board. This forms much of the theory behind this great book. What can we learn from evaluating the data from our everyday life? How can we use this data to improve ourselves, just like investigators use data from black boxes to improve the safety of aviation. A very eye-opening read illustrating a shocking disparity in how different industries such as aviation and healthcare approach and learn from failure.

Quote of the Week

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