As leaders we must remain healthy in tens of areas, from managing our calendar to being clear about our priorities between work and family. And while there may be tens of areas to keep finely tuned, four undergird them all.
Four areas must be tended to daily—or even multiple times a day. To do this consistently, we must develop disciplines that make them part of the journey.
- Physical—What daily habits can you incorporate to add to your physical wellness? For me, three areas are imperative: aerobic (running on a treadmill), stretching and calisthenics (push-ups, planks, abs exercises), lifting weights (exercise all muscle groups). Ideally, I run on the treadmill for 20 minutes, perform stretching and calisthenics for five minutes, and lift weights for 20 minutes for a total of 45 minutes about five to six days a week. This is what I shoot for, but in reality, most weeks I get my workout in three to four times. Some days if I cannot devote 45 minutes, I decrease it to just 20 minutes, reducing my time in each area.
- Spiritual—As Christ-followers, we live by the grace of God and for the glory of God. God is the center of our life, our goals, and our hope. Speaking to God, taking time alone with Him, and studying His word is imperative. Our life without God at its center is meaningless. If we truly believe this, what habits do we have in place to nurture our spirits? Here are mine. My goal is to dedicate one hour with the Lord daily. The first 20 minutes, I spend in prayer. I start by singing and praising God, then I pray. I have a list on the door in my office of everyone and everything I want to pray for. I do my praying by walking around and praying in a loud voice. I spend the rest of this time studying the Word of God. I am currently reading a chapter from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, and one Psalm. After I read, I do two things. I ask myself, What don’t I understand? Then I research and reflect. My goal is that I don’t simply go through the Bible and dismiss my questions. Rather, I ask questions then pull at least one verse from my reading that I feel the Lord is putting on my heart to study, pray about, and reflect on. Finally, I send a text to my accountability partner of what I’ve written about this verse. When I cannot devote a full hour, I aim to spend at least 20 minutes in time alone with the Lord.
- Mental—This is the area where our mind is transformed, where we fill it with new knowledge and perspectives. This is where we place ourselves in the presence of people who know more than we do so we can challenge ourselves to push beyond our lids and blind spots and reflect on what they would teach us and advise us. The way I do this is to listen to an audiobook while exercising or driving and take notes of what I would like to apply or think about. Then I text those notes to my accountability partner (same person as above). I also aim to have mentors and advisors to meet with, maybe an average of two to three meetings per month. Currently, I have one mentor and one business advisor. Most importantly, I aim to spend 30 minutes daily to review what I am learning. As I review, I clean up and categorize the notes I am studying for future reference and organize what I want to focus on now. If I cannot allot 30 minutes, I spend 15 minutes and do less of each component.
- Emotional—Emotional discipline is key for a leader who does not react, but responds. A respected leader told me recently that one key measure of a leader is how they respond to negative things in their life, from people who give them a hard time to situations that are negative or stressful. When we allow our emotions to take charge we most often are not our best self. Responding, however, is when we do what is needed without being rash. How do we practice emotional discipline? I do this by training myself to have constant awareness of my emotions. For many years, I had a reminder on my phone that popped up every hour with this message: “Check your emotions.” I don’t need this anymore since I’ve gotten into the habit of checking them regularly. My rule is this: If I am emotional, I will not trust my thinking, I will not trust my evaluation of people, I will be careful with communication with others (or refrain from communicating), and I will not make decisions.
There are many areas we must master, however, if we don’t establish these four as our foundation, on a daily basis, we are unlikely to be impactful in our life of leadership.
How can I support you more as a Christian leader and entrepreneur?
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