Great, healthy ways to improve your life and focus

We work out and eat right because we want to have a healthy body that will perform well for us our whole lives. Similarly, we invest time, talent, and capital into our business to make it healthy and profitable.

But the secret is it’s equally important to take time to invest in ourselves as much as our businesses.

When we make thoughtful and healthy choices often enough they turn into habits.These habits build on each other to enhance our lives and our businesses. 

If we set goals to enhance our personal lives and skill sets it will benefit our business, clients and employees. 

Just like technology needs software updates, we need to get in the habit of updating our operating systems (aka our knowledge and connections). When we "update" or "refresh" our skills we will get our clients what they need faster and more accurately. Also we can deliver stronger direction and better leadership for our employees.

So try incorporating these 3 healthy habits and upgrade your personal operating system today: 

1. Examine what relationships you want to grow.

None of us are doing this on our own (even if we’re a one-person operation) we all get support from somewhere and as we learned in How to ace every networking opportunity, our success is all about who we know and connect with.

Building and maintaining relationships is a great way to work on valuable communication, empathy, and intuition skills.

Technology has conditioned us to communicate through text, email, and other social media platforms. While this has revolutionized the way we connect, it has also damaged our interpersonal skills.

People are losing some of their emotional-social intelligence. For example, many folks are finding it hard to accurately read body language, access tone and accurately express intention/ empathy. You can combat this by actively engaging with people.

I challenge you to think about relationships outside your traditional network or comfort zone. Is there someone you could learn from like a mentor? Or maybe you could be a mentor for a budding entrepreneur.

Connecting with people is how we grow as individuals. Time we dedicate to promoting our relationships and exchanges with different people is going to pay off.  

2. Tackle one “I’ll do it later project.”

Make yourself a promise to do one (attainable) thing that you’ve been putting off for a variety of reasons.

It’s the “organizing the junk drawer” task of your to-do list. One that always seems to linger, but you haven’t gotten around to it. This task can be as big or small as you want. But I urge you to make it a priority and to get done.

When we eliminate low-stakes tasks, we can lessen the stress and anxiety that might be preventing us (or distracting us) from dedicating our full-attention to high-stake tasks and obligations.

Think of this like mental decluttering. Getting something done will give you a clear and refreshed mind. It will also give you an extra boost of confidence to start to tackle your biggest project down the road.

3. Read a book on a topic that you don’t know anything about.

Learning is always beneficial.

So pick any topic that interests yes (yes anything!) You may be tempted to pick up the current bestseller in your field, but I urge you consider something out of left field.

That could mean anything from a hobby book or book about whales, really anything!

When we read something that interests us we’ll retain more information. Plus, when we’re exposed to new topics or vocabulary we have a chance to exercise critical thinking skills.

Psychology teaches us that our brains are trained to make sense of things. 

For example, we see faces in abstract patterns or wood grain. Our brain is designed to make links between information, even if they don't seem related on the surface. So who knows? Maybe Andy Warhol’s life hides the secret breakthrough you need to apply to your current problem.

And similar to accomplishing the task, even accomplishing a single chapter will give you a “win” to fuel you towards productivity.

So are you ready to start building healthy habits to keep you stimulated and inspired? Contact me for the best way to make sure you’re maintaining a healthy, life, brain and business!