6 Reasons Why Leaders Should Prioritize Self-Care

By Deepak Chopra, MD How to Make the Best Decisions

In difficult times life seems to be full of risks and attempting to avoid threats is the only strategy anyone seems to follow. We fear worst-case scenarios, and almost automatically worst-case scenarios become a habitual way of looking at the world. No matter how much you try to avoid risks, however, and minimize threats, happiness is degraded by anxiety. If you grow old and look back on your life saying, “I was extremely careful,” that’s not the same as looking back and saying, “I created a happy life for myself.”

What’s needed is a path of happiness that avoids risks without fixating on them. It is possible to be free of anxiety on a path to fulfillment. The key lies in the decisions you make from day to day, both large and small. If your decision-making promotes happiness, you have found the right strategy, not only from day to day but for a lifetime.

At the place where decision-making is seriously studied - mostly at business schools and departments of government, risk and reward are the dominant factors.To reach a rational decision, both sides are calculated mathematically, and the result gives you the ratio of risk to reward (in simple terms, this is like calculating the odds of winning). This approach ignores the fact that all decisions are human. There's no machine that can be programmed to make only right decisions for us. History tells us that the greatest decisions always involved a combination of human genius, passion, determination, unforeseen consequences, and human foibles.

But what does this mean for you and the decisions you must make? It means that if you want to make good decisions, you should make them with full awareness of the human situation. If instead you try to reduce every big decision to a dry, rational computation, you will shut out the very things that go into a good decision. Emotions - Your choice must fit in with your most positive emotions and avoid negative ones. Self - Your decision must match who you are as a person. Vision - Your decision must accord with your longterm goals. Surroundings - Your decision must be compatible with the situation you find yourself in.

These are the ingredients present in great leaders, and it's ironic that the human factor is almost completely ignored when case studies focus so much on risk versus reward, flow charts, statistical trends, market movement, etc. The obvious lesson is to welcome the human element. It can't be eliminated anyway, not in the real world. If you embrace your human side with total awareness, your decisions will turn out to be win-win. Either you will make the right decision, or if something goes wrong, you will learn from your mistakes and march forward to make better decisions in the future. This is the attitude that highly successful people generally adopt.

The four human elements require you to be selfaware, alert, and flexible.

Emotions: Good decisions feel optimistic. They aren't based on fear, rivalry, anger, or greed. They express positive emotions, while bad decisions express negative emotions.People tend to deny this simple truth, but denial is a negative emotion also. When a situation is rife with tension, decision-making become clouded.Even so, it's the person who can feel his (or her) way forward without panic, who can stay centered emotionally, who will inevitably find the best solution.There is a level where solutions exist inside us, and it is blocked by negative emotions. This level is open when a person is quietly centered without emotional drama.

Self:Success in life depends much more on who you are than what you do. If you keep building a sense of self based on expanded awareness, moving steadily toward maturity, self-confidence, self-reliance, and knowing your own truth, you will make better and better decisions as your path unfolds. Self isn't ego. It is the calm, secure core of who you are. Ego is the drive to satisfy the demands of "I, me, and mine." We all have egos, but highly successful people have learned to act from their true selves.

Vision: Vision is the captain of the ship of life. Everyone experiences a host of shifting emotions, thoughts, and desires. These form the daily jumble that occupies our minds, and quite a lot of the time a single strong impulse influences the next decision we make. Vision turns the jumble into a coherent perspective, turning chaos into order. "I know who I am" goes with "I know where I'm going." You know what you're passionate about. You follow your highest aspirations.When successful people have survived immense crisis and challenge, what got them through was their vision.

Surroundings: All decisions are made in a context.You can't reduce decisions to a formula that fits every circumstance.They are always fighters or always compromisers. They always embrace risk or always avoid it. If you follow a fixed formula in your decision-making, you aren’t fated always to meet with failure, but you won't be flexible, dynamic, and adaptable either. Good decisions require you to assess the situation you find yourself in. This is one area where rationality actually gives you an advantage as you gather information, study the variables that must be considered, and perform indepth analysis. Yet even here, the best decisions are made by someone who can feel their way along, not by someone who relies entirely on data.

All of these elements teach the same thing: If you commit yourself as completely as possible to making your decisions human, in the best sense of the word, you will be using the secret ingredient that too many others have ignored but which has created greatness in some.Without aspiring to greatness, you should aspire to the goal of a fulfilled and happy life that you yourself created.

6 Reasons Why Leaders

Should Prioritize Self-Care By Dan Schawbel - Workplace Intelligence

“Self-care” is one of those phrases that’s on everyone’s lips these days, but the concept isn’t well understood. It’s not selfish or self-centered to prioritize your wellbeing. Self-care is also not a luxury. When you take care of yourself, you feel positive, you can do your job, and you help others on the team feel better too.

Think of self-care as a way of showing others that you respect them enough to show up to work with your best face forward. When you take the extra effort to function at your best, it encourages others to do the same. Self-care is a win-win for you, your team, and your company.

However, while many leaders acknowledge the importance of self-care, it can be challenging to know where to begin. Sometimes that’s because leaders have put others first for so long that they don’t even consider their own well-being a priority anymore. Other times, leaders get around to caring for themselves only after they start to feel the effects of burnout. But self-care works better when you’re proactive about it, and the great news is that it doesn’t have to be time-consuming.

Especially this year, when managers are feeling more burned out than ever before and they’ve experienced steeper declines in engagement than their employees, it’s vitally important that well-being regains its status as a top priority. And there are numerous benefits you can look forward to when you do this — so let’s take a look.

1. Self-care rituals set you up for a more productive day. like to exercise or read, while others do a bit of meditation. Meanwhile, an end-of-day routine focusing on relaxing activities can help you sleep better. These rituals will vary from person to person, but the important thing is to create a routine that works for you and stick with it.

2. Self-care makes you feel happier, and happiness is contagious.

Self-care is a proven way to regulate your emotions and keep negative feelings in check. This is important because emotions are catching — meaning, those around you can pick up on how you’re feeling, even across a computer screen. If you consistently ignore your own well-being and are exhausted, stressed, or frustrated, your team members will surely pick up on this. Whereas if you’re refreshed and energized, they’ll absorb your positive attitude and apply it in their own lives.

3. Self-care helps you relate to your team’s struggles.

When you prioritize self-care, you’re admitting that there are areas of your well-being you’d like to improve. This helps you become a more empathetic leader — someone who truly understands your team members’ struggles. In fact, acknowledging your own vulnerability will help your team members not just look up to you, but relate to you better. Remember, workers trust authentic leaders who can admit their weaknesses as well as their strengths.

4. Self-care can help you make better decisions. impact your cognition and make it harder to make clear-headed decisions. But when you manage your stress through exercise or other anxiety-reducers like meditation, you’ll be able to think clearly again.

Even micro-breaks throughout the day can act as stress reducers.

5. Self-care puts you in touch with what’s really important.

Focusing on your well-being helps put you back in touch with your core values. No one should be focused on work all the time — this isn’t just unhealthy for you, it also means that you’re probably ignoring family, friends, hobbies, and other priorities that make up who you really are. Taking time for self-care can give you a new perspective by reminding you to check in with yourself. It’s about making sure you have the time and energy for what matters to you outside of work.

6. Modeling self-care makes it easier for others to invest in their well-being.

When leaders talk about and prioritize their wellbeing — especially their mental health — it makes it okay for everyone on the team to put energy toward this. And that’s where real progress can begin, which is critical since 52% of employees feel burned out right now. So don’t be afraid to tell your teams how you’re incorporating self-care in your life and why this is benefiting you. They’ll get a clear message that this should be a priority for them as well.