Okay, so this episode is all about self-care… and can I just be honest for a second?
I’ve always thought the term “self-care” is kinda cheesy and a little indulgent. Like, I don’t have TIME to stop working to go get my nails done and go shopping and take a bubble bath. That’s honestly what I would think when people would say “Take time for self care.”
But now, I think of self care as “Taking time to do something that’s not working and doesn’t require a screen and that’s also not an obligation or commitment you’ve made to someone else.”
And I’m all about it.
So how did I get here?
Back in episode 139, I shared with you how I had just finished reading Brendan Burchard’s new book, High Performance Habits which is all about how there are 6 areas of your life that have the most impact on your performance:
- Clarity
- Energy
- Necessity
- Productivity
- Influence
- Courage
And how to develop habits to help you improve in each area of your life.
At the time of reading the book, I took the assessment that came along with it – which you can find at highperformanceindicator.com, and interestingly enough my highest score was in Productivity (3.83 out of 5) and my lowest score was in Energy (2.83 out of 5).
I just took the assessment again, about 60 days after I took it the first time and after making some important changes in the Energy area of my life. I’ll share with you the results here in a moment, but first I want to share with you the changes that I’ve made and how I feel like they have impacted my energy – so that if you’re struggling in the energy category, maybe you can try some of these things to help you.
- Hot Yoga Twice a Week – 8:30AM – 10:30AM
- Waking up at 6AM without an alarm instead of 5:30AM with an alarm (and having dreams that I remember every single day)
- No working after 6PM
- Reduced working on weekends.
- Decreased number of Pep Talks from 7 to 3
- Brought on a Project Manager/VA
- Walking Scarlett 40 minutes a day.
- Baking
- Community
- Monthly massage with my sister
So here’s the thing – two months ago, I felt terrible, physically and mentally. My eyes have never felt so tired in my life!! My overall high performance score was 3.64 out of 5.
And I didn’t sit down and make a list and say “These are 10 things I’m going to start doing now to practice self care and get my energy up.”
In fact, many of them came out of the Mastermind retreat that I did back in September, and they were ideas recommended to me by the girls in my group, and I committed to the group that I would follow through on them. If not for that, I probably wouldn’t be recording this pep talk because I’d still feel like crap.
Today, I actually woke up at 4:30AM, like, wide awake and ready to start my day… But I went to bed at 8:30PM last night – I mean, my grandma stays up later than me, plus it’s November and getting dark super early here in Ohio… but anyway…
I have felt fantastic the past few weeks. And because I’m doing things to take care of myself and manage my energy, I wanted to take the High Performance Indicator again and see if my energy score increased – and it totally did!
My energy score is a 4 out of 5!
That’s a significant improvement.
My productivity score also increased from 3.83 to 4.5 – EVEN THOUGH I’M WORKING LESS.
My scores increased in every single area, and my overall score is a 4.25, and the top 15% of high performers have a score of 4.76…
I mean, I know logically that it’s hard to perform when you don’t feel good, but to see how just working on my energy improved all these other areas, I mean, it’s making me want to schedule even more time for yoga!
So what this tells me is that improving my health and maintaining and improving my energy are going to get me to the next level. Not another marketing tactic or working harder. But dialing in what I’m already doing and getting my physical and mental health in order.
I know how challenging it can be when you’re working full time and growing a business to make time for self care – at least, it was for me. Self care was a thing I was going to do AFTER I built the business. And I didn’t really do it until I was forced to because I was so exhausted…
So what about you? How do you feel about your energy level? Are you taking care of your energy so you can side hustle for the long-term? Or are you powering through now so with the intention of making time later? I’d love to hear from you. Head on over to www.shannonmattern.com/192 and leave me a comment on the show notes!
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