It was Richard Branson who said that for every hour of exercise he does, he gets an extra 4 hours of productivity. Who wouldn’t want to be as productive, have as much energy, achieve as much and be as successful as he is? He does know what he is talking about.

Any of us who exercise on a regular basis would agree with him.

Exercise gets our hearts pumping. It sends fresh oxygen streaming through our bodies. It enlivens us. Rather than making us tired, it energises us. It clears our heads and brings clarity of mind. It focuses us. It keeps our bodies young and strong. There is increasing evidence that it protects us from a whole range of diseases.

So why, when we know exercise brings increased energy and productivity, do so few of us do it?

Why are some people more successful than others with seemingly the same opportunities – because they make commitments, not merely decisions. How many decisions have you made this year and not followed through with them? We make a start, but we don’t carry through past a few weeks with the exercise, or losing weight or stopping smoking.

We start the report but after the first distraction we don’t return to it.

We have a raft of reasons why we can’t do all the other things we decided we were going to do. Decisions are nothing more than ideas in our heads unless we take action on them. Commitment is the Energy  that fuels our action. Self-discipline is the energy that fuels commitment.

This is not just a quirky question. It determines whether people want to work WITH your organisation or just FOR it. There is a big difference. It also draws people to you or makes them run in the opposite direction when they see you coming. No one wants to be around the person who always sees the negative in everything, the person who always focuses on the difficulty in everything, never on the opportunity.

Martin Seligman, the founder of Positive Psychology, called this our “explanatory style”, the way we explain what is happening in our lives. It’s very much about our mindset. Our explanatory style, he says, determines whether we are happy in our lives or depressed, whether we are a pessimist or an optimist. People who have a positive explanatory style can explain even the most devastating experiences in a glass half full way, in a positive explanatory style.

Last week I conducted a group mentoring session on Self-Care for leaders in a human service organisation. While this is a most important leadership skill for all leaders in these unpredictable and changing times, the motivations that lead people to work in the human service field make it all the more challenging. I have quite a number of people on my mailing list who work in the human service sector so this blog is being written for them. Its content, however, is very relevant to all professional leaders.

As human service professionals, you do the work you do because you are motivated and inspired to care for others, to make a difference in peoples’ lives, to bring empathy and compassion to them. Yet while you are busy taking care of others, you too often fail to take care of yourself. You feel self-care is an indulgence, or it is selfishness.

Yes, I know that you are being told all the time to let go of the past, leave the future to the future because supposedly you have no control over it and stay in the now and make everything happen there. Sometimes, however, that can be your comfort zone area, the place where you can easily get stuck and jeopardise any future you might have. So this blog goes right against the grain because I want you to stop a moment and think about your future self.

We are living in uncertain times, where on-going change is the new normal. Our lives are very busy. On the one hand we are committed to developing our professional lives while at the same time managing the many demands of our personal lives. In most families there are two parents working. We have children who are engaged in as many activities as we are as adults. Some of us have ageing parents to care about. We rush from one thing to another as we try to be all things to all people, meeting everyone’s needs except our own.

This week I want you to stop and think about You and your needs and do something your future self will thank you for.

Here are just a few examples for your professional and personal lives.

Why is it that we so often act in ways that we know are not in our own best interests? The answer is Self-Discipline. How we hate that word! For most of us, it has all the connotations of hardship and restriction on our freedom. Is there anything “good” about self-discipline? Yes, there is, so read on. What is self-discipline? I like the definition of Elbert Hubbard: “Self-discipline is the ability to do what should do, when we should do it, whether we feel like it or not.” Self-Discipline achieves self-mastery. It puts you back in the driving seat of your life. It gives you back control. It is very empowering.

Eckhardt Tolle said that “stress is being ‘here’ while wanting to be ‘there'”. One of the most helpful ways you can reduce that stress is becoming clear about what your negotiables and non-negotiables are in your lives. What is so important to you professionally and personally that you are not prepared to compromise on it, no matter what? What aspects of your life would you be prepared to compromise on to reduce your stress and those of your team?
Having negotiables and non-negotiables takes an enormous amount of stress out of our lives. They give focus and clarity to how and where you spend your time. So my motivational challenge for this week is to get your negotiables and non-negotiables clear and then start living them out in your professional and personal life.