Reignite Your Spark with MEDS

You are a brilliant energized force to be reckoned with. And as a brilliant energized force, you have to start with a strategy to grow and protect your mindset in the midst of change? Your Mindset is so important, especially right now.

If you’re going to have the mindset of being a brilliant energized force, then you need to meditate, exercise, diet, and sleep.

Meditate

Rabbi Harold Kushner, who wrote the book What Matters the Most in Life teaches an amazing concept called “emotional congruence”.

Rabbi says when you're operating in emotional congruence, everything that you think, everything that you say, and everything that you feel is in alignment. Rabbi goes on to say, when you're not in alignment, there's a split in your soul and your energy is scattered. So you're being pulled in a million different directions.

So if we are truly going to be the spark, I want us to think about just meditating, or slowing down in order to speed up. In the Eastern part of the world, they call it “meditation.” Here in the Western part of the world, Harvard Business Review for well over almost three decades now calls it “mindfulness.”

So meditation or mindfulness is this ability to slow down in order to speed up. There are two apps that can help you practice mindfulness: Headspace and Calm (disclaimer: I have no affiliation with either of these apps). And what these apps allow you to do is to be intentional about making sure that you have the mindset order to engage.

Exercise

Another crucial component of your mental well-being is exercise. After all, your mind is a crucial component of your body, so it makes sense that when you have a healthy body, it’s much easier to have a healthy mind.

Exercise doesn’t have to be a grueling intense ordeal that you dread. All you have to do is start moving your body. For example, I lost 20 pounds because I got up and started walking each day. As I started seeing results, the exercise became more appealing to me. Now I have a Fitbit and make sure that I am carving out that time each day and devoting it to getting plenty of exercise. Health experts recommend a minimum of 20 minutes a day. So what's going to be your exercise routine?

Diet

Your diet affects more than just your weight. What you eat, how much you eat, and even when you eat can have profound effects on your mental state. It can affect your mood, your productivity, and even your ability to think and process information.

Regular checkups with a primary care physician are important for adjusting your diet to your body’s needs. I recently went to my doctor, and he informed me that my A1C was not where it needed to be. So I adjusted my diet accordingly so I can improve where we left off.

Sleep

When COVID-19 hit, like many people, I was just like, what just happened? A global pandemic is easily enough to knock all of our routines and schedules out of alignment. It’s up to us to get back in control of things. A crucial way to start getting back in the swing of things is to keep a consistent, regular sleep schedule. When your body gets enough sleep on a consistent schedule, it is more capable of conducting the important functions that occur while you are asleep, like digesting food and allowing your heart to rest.

Taking Your M.E.D.S.

When you have internal alignment, you can create external execution. Why? So that I show up and be the best version of myself. What allows us to really thrive is when all of us show up every single day — virtually, in-person, or however we need to connect — by saying, “how do I be the best person today?” Even better than I was yesterday.

Duke University says that culture is the invisible hand of the organization. I like to say culture is the emotional contract that all of you have signed, deciding every single day that I'm the right person doing the right things in a great culture.