by: Alan Fairweather
Something the successful business person needs is - lots of Energy! You need Brain Energy and you need Body Energy. However as with any other kind of energy, it's constantly being drained away and needs replacing.
Dealing with people, your customers and your team, can both drain your brain and your body - and you probably don't need me to tell you that.
Let's look at Brain Energy - Imagine that you receive a letter from your bank manager saying - - "I need you to come in and see me." If you react to that with - "Oh no! What does he want, what's wrong now? Maybe he wants to recall my loan." That sort of reaction drains your brain of energy and gives you stress.
The successful business person doesn't react she thinks. Reacting drains the brain - thinking, less so.
Get the thinking bit working and say to yourself - "I'll phone him now; I'll speak to him and see what he wants. If it's about the poor business results, what information do I need to make my case? Perhaps he wants to talk about how I could develop the business." Whatever you're thinking - stop the negative stuff - it'll kill you
If one of your people comes to you with a problem or you receive a customer complaint, start thinking - "Let's see what I can do about this."
Do not, and I repeat - Do not say - "Oh no! What am I going to do now?" Every time you say - "Oh no!" - your brain has a huge drain of energy.
I just want to say a few more words about stress. People will tell you that there's good stress and bad stress. I'm talking about bad stress and it occurs when your brain is drained of energy. Some business people seem to believe that it "goes with the territory" and some even wear it as a "badge of honour."
They also believe that it can't be avoided; it's part of being in business and the world we live in. Organisations do have a responsibility to minimise levels of stress in their workforce but we have a responsibility for ourselves.
It's very important to minimise your levels of stress and you can do that by thinking rather than reacting. Challenge your inbuilt programs, stop saying - "That makes me really mad" or "That really gets on my nerves."
Start saying - "This is something I have to deal with and I'll deal with it" - You have the choice.
I know your probably thinking (or is it reacting) - "That's all very well Alan but its hard sometimes not to get stressed." You're absolutely right however; let me give you some more reasons why you need to work at minimising it.
Stress can cause heart disease, sleeplessness, sexual problems, overeating, drinking too much, loss of concentration and stomach upsets. Research is now telling us that many if not most of our illnesses can be related to stress.
When we get stressed a chemical is released into our bloodstream called Cortisol, sometimes known as the Stress Hormone. High levels of Cortisol can lead to diabetes and skin problems. There is also a suggestion that Cortisol attacks our immune system and leaves us vulnerable to many of the bugs and viruses that come along. This also includes cancer.
So if you've ever suffered from skin complaints or perhaps too many colds, it could very well be the results of stress. I don't want to scare you death or give you any more stress, I just want you to - think.
Now let's look at Body Energy -
So what about the body stress? The body and the brain are linked together so when the brain drains of energy so does the body. However the body does a lot of running about, up and down off the seat and often takes a bit of a battering. For it to work well, it needs to be in good condition in the first place. We should all know by now that if we eat too much or eat the wrong things, smoke too much or drink too much alcohol, then our body is in danger of breaking down.
Again it comes back to programming. I often tell people that I eat a lot of salad. The response - "Salad is boring." - Not the way I make it, it isn't; I put all sorts of things into a salad other than the green ingredients - chillies, sun blush tomatoes, anchovies, tuna, sardines, chicken, olives, cheese, sausage etc. Not all at once of course, I like a bit of variation on the theme. So open up your mind and open up the fridge but be careful what you take out. Remember - you won't get an ulcer from what you eat - you'll get it from what's eating you.
If you want to be successful in business, then you're going to have to do some exercise. Now I know you think you don't have the time. You may also be the type that doesn't want to go to the gym and lift heavy things or leap about in an aerobics class; however, you need to take some exercise that makes you sweat a little. I'm sorry, but a round of golf doesn't count, it isn't the kind of exercise you need. Golf is great and it's good for the stress but it doesn't make you sweat.
If you're going to walk then walk fast for a distance, enough to push up the heart rate and increase the breathing. (And don't run round the golf course with your clubs on your back - that's going too far.)
Again, get your internal program right and start to think how you can make your exercise enjoyable. I see some people at the health club making the whole business a real chore. They get on a bike or a rowing machine and try to kill themselves for twenty minutes. If that's your thing then fine but please don't make it a chore, plug into the sound system and catch up with what's on TV.
I like to do circuit classes with a whole group of people many of which have become friends. I enjoy the chat beforehand, the music and the exercise. (And I also like the fact - there are more girls than guys)
If you're really not into exercise then please make sure you have other activities outside of your workplace and make them fun. Too many people are going home and slumping in front of the TV - successful people don't do that.
So look after the body and the brain and you'll have lots of vroom!