Self-Care is Culture Care
Self-Care is Culture Care
When you prioritize taking care of yourself (mentally, physically, spiritually, & emotionally), you show those around you that you value yourself and your team as well. This results in a healthy culture!
The dichotomy in culture today is the tension that says, “self-care is selfish.” In full transparency, I write this from a place of conviction on this topic. I used to truly feel the pressure and tension of “laying down my life” for the sake of the cause, the mission, the need, the goal, the sale, etc. This is a quick and fast way to burnout and it’s a fast track to harm the relationships most important in your life.
Vulnerable Truth: I struggle with workaholism. I love the grind and when I work on something, it's going to be at 200%. This determination and strive for excellence is not bad, it just needs to be in focus with clear guardrails. I've had to set some major "slow down" boundaries to help keep my priorities in check and to keep me mentally, physically, and emotionally sane (that's another blog post in and of itself). The mental image I use is an oxygen mask. You know the safety video that plays before your flight takes off? There's always a line in it that says something along the lines of, "If the cabin loses pressure, an oxygen mask will fall from the ceiling in front of you. Remember, secure your mask first before securing the masks of those around you."
The paradigm shift happened when I realized (after messing this up quite a few times) that if I don’t care for myself, I can’t fully and effectively care for others (this applies professionally and personally). This builds a health-first culture in teams that is contagious and effective. Personally, I love being led by healthy leaders.
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” -Abraham Lincoln
Arguably one of the most impactful leaders in American history understood the value of self-care and how slowing down can be the best way to speed up. This quote, while culturally doesn’t apply to my life (I don’t think I’ve chopped down a tree), has significant meaning. To me, President Lincoln knew the importance of slowing down in order to get better results. Whether slowing down to rest so you can be more present (both at work and home), or slowing down to prepare so you can scale and go further, there is something to be said about strategically slowing down. I can think of several times in my own career where I took part in designing and implementing new systems and processes to build and scale teams. Each time, we had to slow down the current process in place. The result: short-term loss for long-term gain. Completely worth it!
Recently I read a Forbes article written by Amy Blaschka titled, The Best Way To Make Career Progress Is To Take A Break. Amy gives us 6 specific things to think about in order to leverage the, “power of the pause.” Out of Amy’s 6 tips, the second is the one I struggle with the most and I have been working really hard to practice it. I believe that intentional actions of self-care develop a health-first culture AND healthy cultures thrive, grow, and succeed. Take a moment and read the article here.
My takeaway: Look for ways to slow down (for rest, preparation, boundaries, prioritization, etc.), then leverage the results. How does this apply to you?
Build your culture by building you!
Written By: Adam Bieber
