Evidence-based leadership resilience, executive presence, burnout prevention, and stress management for leaders under pressure. Keynotes, coaching, and practical systems by Snowden McFall.
As I speak around the country to CEO’s, leaders and managers, I am often asked what quick things can be done to reduce stress. One of my favorites is the 5 minute rule.
As you look around your workspace, what could you handle in 5 minutes or less? Could you clean off your desk, write an important thank you note, file essential papers, wash out a coffee cup? Any of those things would give you an immediate sense of completion.
The brain craves completion. Whenever you have thought and you don’t take action in it, you have incompletion. This drives parts of your brain crazy. If your whole office is a mass of piles and incompletions, you will never want to go in there. If you wake up at night thinking of all the things you did not do, this could be the reason.
Solution: whenever you have a thought and you can take action on it in 5 minutes or less, do it. You’ll reduce your stress and be far more productive.
It’s cold and flu season in the US, and having had pneumonia myself over the past few years, I wanted a powerful immune system builder. After much reading, I’ve come up with a hot drink that I love and that actually boosts my immunity. Taking action towards overcoming the challenges of stress and overwhelm through personal resilience is key.
Here’s what it takes: 1 full cup pure boiled water 1 teaspoon organic coconut oil 1 capsule turmeric 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon honey a sprinkle of cayenne pepper a sprinkle of fresh ground regular pepper 2 droppers full of ginger extract
Let all the ingredients sit in the hot water and stir. You may want to add additional honey or stevia for sweetness. Some people prefer to put this in plain almond milk, too. It works great and here’s why.
Hugging is an essential key to health and well-being.
“We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” Virginia Satir
We all need to be touched. Babies who are not held and touched die. Since it’s national hug day, I thought I would share a few benefits of hugging:
• it lowers stress levels • it improves sleep • it strengthens internal body systems like digestive tracks • it boost seratonin, the feel-good hormone • it builds trust • it promoted feelings of well-being and safety
Nick Ortner has a new book on hugs for children that you may want to check out: www.barkleythebear.com/hugs
So spend some time today hugging others and see what magic results!
“Information overload is a symptom of our desire to not focus on what’s important. It is a choice.” Brian Solis
We receive so much data that we can barely comprehend all that is coming into our minds. Right now, you may be thinking about your next meeting, responding to a text, planning your tweets for the day and answering a call. Whew- no wonder we have information overload. Our brains are overwhelmed with stress with all the distractions.
A recent Stanford study found that those who spend lots of time on social media, surfing the Internet and multi-tasking had poor cognitive skills. They could not distinguish well between what was important and what was trivial. “They are suckers for irrelevancy.” Learning to reduce cognitive overload and restore focus is central to leadership resilience, especially in environments of constant distraction and demand.
How to Regain Focus:
In his book, Search Inside Yourself. Chade-Meng Tan of Google, shares some keys to regaining cognitive clarity.
• Monitor what you read and how you do it– If you find your mind wandering while reading, bring your attention back to what you are doing. Keep practicing this skill.
• Use active listening Have someone speak for 3 minutes and you listen, Then repeat back to the person with the preface ” What you said is important. Do you mind if I repeat it back to see if I have it right?” (People LOVE this- they love to be heard.)
A few tips from me:
• Do 1 thing at a time. That’s it. One thing and do it well and complete it. Take satisfaction and then move on to the next one thing. Your focus will improve. Multi-tasking is terrible for your brain.
• Go tech free for a day this weekend. Lots of research show the value of this. It’s like rebooting your brain.
• Get quiet and go outside in nature. Life becomes much simpler away from the office and computer.
The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep. ~E. Joseph Cossman
Sleeping Well Can be a Puzzle
Why Sleep Matters for Leaders Under Pressure
That you can put together. Most of us are sleep deprived, which can lead to all sorts of dangers to your health and the health of others (when you drive tired.)
The World Health Organization says less than 7 hours a night may cause cancer and you are likely to carry an extra 20 pounds of weight. With less than 7 hours, you are functioning at a cognitive disadvantage and are 3x more likely to get a cold or flu. Neurobiology of Aging says those who get less than 6 hours of sleep are 4 times more likely to have a stroke. Check out these practical tips to sleep well tonight!
Sleep is not just a health issue. It is a leadership issue. When you are sleep deprived, your ability to think clearly, regulate emotion, and make strategic decisions declines. Leaders who prioritize sleep protect their clarity, their judgment, and their teams from reactive mistakes.
How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep
• Turn off all computers, cellphones and screens an hour before bed. Stop looking at them. The blue light from these devices interferes with your body’s ability to relax and keeps you hyper. Be sure your alarm clock is red light. Lower the temperature in the room and make sure it is cool and dark.
• No electronics in your bedroom. Your bedroom is for sleeping and making love. That’s it.
• Get ready for bed an hour before you go to sleep. Actually get in bed 30 minutes before you want to sleep and read something uplifting on paper. (Not an electronic reader.) Reading helps relax you.
• Take a hot bath with epsom salts before bed. Or get your legs wet up to your knees in warm water.
• Try all natural sleep remedies at health food stores. Check with your doctor. I have used these successfully at different times- most are herbs: passion flower, valerian root, holy basil, L’theanine, calcium, magnesium, etc.
• Exercise is a great sleep inducer, if you do it several hours before bedtime.
Stress is occurring at an alarming rate, and with our 24/7 world. more and more people are experiencing stress, anxiety, overwhelm and depression. So what can you do, right now?
The Astonishing Power of Breath
Try this. Hold your breath for as long as you can- until it almost hurts to let it out. Unless you are a professional athlete or extreme yogi, you probably couldn’t hold it for long. Without breath, the body, mind and spirit cannot function.
And yet we all forget what an incredible resource this is. Breath literally keeps us alive, fuels our interactions and enables us to function. Without it, we are severally hampered. Having had pneumonia a few years ago, I learned quickly how very debilitating lack of breath can be. We all take it for granted.
The Instant Stress Reliever: Breath
• Breathe deeply at least 3 times. Put your hands on your lower belly, fill it up all the way and let it out…slowly. Do this several times to regain control and calm your system. Notice how you feel.
• Use breath to monitor emotions. We are not our feelings and when our emotions take over, we are not our best selves. When experiencing anger, upset, frustration, fear, stop and breathe deeply. Visualize a positive scene in nature, perhaps mountains or beaches. Focus on that. Let go.
• Learn how to meditate. Meditation is a powerful healing agent; it: -lowers blood pressure; increases circulation – improves immune function and memory -shortens hospital stays -decreases insomnia – helps relieve stress, ADHD -helps reverse heart disease
There are many different ways to meditate. Here’s one:
Start with the deep breathing above and focus on the breath. If thoughts come up, observe them, let them drift by like leaves in the wind. Picture a beautiful nature scene in a forest, visualize a waterfall. Imagine you are standing in the gentle waterfall and let all your worries and fears wash away. Practice this over and over until you can meditate for at least 10 minutes. It can make a huge difference in your well-being.
You can control your stress rather than having it control you. Try deep breathing as a solution. It’s fast, easy and free!
The Key to More Effective Relationships at Home and Work
Oracle Vice President Meg Bear says empathy is the critical 21st century skill. In an article in Fortune Magazine, business experts cite emotional intelligence as one of the most needed business skillsets for the coming decades. Developing emotional intelligence strengthens trust, empathy, and clarity, all of which are core to executive presence and effective communication at work and at home.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
It’s the ability to be aware of and manage the emotions of yourself and others, and constructively communicate as a good team member. Emotional intelligence plays a core role in how leaders communicate, build trust, and show up in high-visibility situations.
Those will poor self-awareness tend to be brusque, rude, narcissistic, critical and rigid . Those with poor self-management react strongly, yell, interrupt and disrespect others. Those with poor self-motivation procrastinate, blame others.
Increase Your Emotional Intelligence
• Become an excellent listener. Don’t interrupt, have open body language and don’t check your cellphone while listening. Give full eye contact and attention. Summarize what they said and ask questions.
• Develop greater empathy. Show caring, even if you haven’t have the same experience. You can say things like “That sounds hard for you.” “I understand this is difficult.” This awareness helps leaders respond with steadiness, communicate more clearly, and reduce reactive conflict.
• Get to know yourself more. There are great books out like Strengths-Finder and plenty of free personality tests on line. Discover your strengths and areas for improvement. Often work conflicts are the result of personality differences.
• Pay attention to the body language of others. What is not being verbally said?
• Be a source of positive encouragement to others. Find the good.
For many leaders, strengthening emotional intelligence is a key step in developing a calmer, more confident executive presence. These are just a quick start on how to improve. Put them into practice and watch your life get better.
Setting priorities in today’s world can be challenging. All of us have so many demands on us and managing multiple priorities can be like juggling with boxing gloves on- something’s sure to fall. Practicing resilience as a leader is critical in today’s high pressure business environment.
The place to start is with meaning. What is most important to you in your life? Is it taking care of your family? Making more money? Prestige? Being the top of your field? Showing your wife or husband that you love them? Getting a new promotion? Being there for your kids since your parents were not there for you? What drives you?
If it is taking care of your family, then it may well mean doing what your boss wants you to get done first and foremost, so long as you can leave work on time to get to your son’s baseball game. If you want to be the top in your field, you are going to have to work harder than others, study more, advance yourself and spend a good deal of time away from home. Is that Ok with you?
We recently took time off from work to visit my brother and his family for my nephew’s high school graduation. It was a lot of driving (16 hours) but it was worth it. That’s him with me in the photo. It was meaningful for me to be there.
The critical element here is you and your joy and purpose. Know what gives you meaning. Know what drives you. And then prioritize your day to fulfill that meaning. Otherwise, you will burn out and not be good to anyone.
I’ve been buying stock photos for over two decades, back when one photo might cost $1000 to use. Nowadays, most people buy from royalty-free stock photo houses, and I have also been doing that for years. As an author, I understand intellectual property rights and protecting artists, photographers,writers, etc. I know how it feels to be ripped off, as some stole 1/2 of one of my newsletters and inserted into their blog. (Try copyscape.com)
So imagine my surprise to get a nasty email from a lawyer saying I owed over $600 for a photo I had used on my blog 5 YEARS AGO!!! I was shocked, called them immediately, and apparently one of the photos was not in fact royalty-free, but rather rights-protected.
I then went back to all the sites where I had bought photos searching for that one. Hundreds and hundreds of photos. Could not find the purchase date or license agreement. In fact, some of the photos I bought years ago were not even there any more. There was no way around it- I owed the money. Yikes!!!
Here’s What I Learned:
• Every time I now buy a photo, I print out the photo picture and licensing agreement number and I keep it in my business records.
New Research May Change How You Think About Stress
Most of us know that stress is bad for us. It’s epidemic, costing business and industry in the US $300 Billion annually. 80% of all doctors’ visits are stress-related.
And yet new research has come out that says stress may actually be good for you– in a few specific ways.
Dr Kelly McGonigal of Stamford says that new research which studied 30,000 Americans over 8 years shows much of how you reach to stress has to do with how you view stress. If you view stress as negative and bad for you, you are more likely to get sick. But if you view stress as something that strengthens you, energizes your body and makes you feel more alive, you will react better to stress.
A University of Wisconsin-Madison study found that people who experienced high levels of stress but didn’t think it was harmful thrived. Apparently, your perception of stress makes a huge difference in its impact on your body.
Another positive result of stress is it makes you more social, according to a 2012 study at the University of Freiburg. When you are stressed, you naturally reach out to others.
What does all this mean for you?
Start viewing stress as something that makes you stronger and more resilient. When you are stressed, look at the upside. What did you learn from it, what can you do differently? Your perception can make a huge impact on how stress affects you.
As I speak around the country to CEO’s, leaders and managers, I am often asked what quick things can be done to reduce stress. One of my favorites is the 5 minute rule.
