Did you know that May is Mental Fitness Month? I did not. Until last night when I happened to hear on the local news that May is indeed, Mental Awareness Month. In fact, May has been Mental Awareness Month since 1949! As a leader, here are some reasons this matters to you.
Your performance as a leader is directly proportional to the state of your mental fitness. You can think of mental fitness as a person’s ability to respond well to and not get overwhelmed by stressors: difficult or highly emotional situations, either positive or negative. The stronger a person’s mental fitness, the more easily they can process stress and negative emotions in their life and continue to function at high levels.
Think of it like this. If you want to climb a mountain and are in poor physical health, you might be able to get over the mountain, though it will be physically exhausting. You also might not be able to get over the mountain at all. Stress in life represents an emotional mountain. When we have strong mental fitness, we are able to negotiate the mental stress-mountains of life more easily.
Here are some possible leadership stressors; difficult conversations, holding people accountable, telling your leader that your team will not meet its goals, confronting poor performance or a bad attitude. Those are not easy to do and yet, research shows that the most respected and effective leaders are able to do those things.
It is possible, maybe probable that as a leader you do not yet have the skills and knowledge that allow you to do those things since many leaders are given leadership because they are good at their job, though they may not be so good with people. Make no mistake, leadership is all about people.
Regardless, I meet and work with so many leaders who do have those skills, or I train them in those skills and still they do not follow-through. Why? Their level of mental fitness is not sufficient to get them over the mental mountain of doing hard things. Effective leadership requires having both the skills and the mental fitness to execute those skills: competency + character, where character is the ability to do the right thing.
Here are three things you can do to build your mental fitness
1. Find one or more champiosn. Identify as many as 5 people who really know you and accept you. They aren’t trying to fix you, though they will walk beside you on your growth journey. People you can tell your darkest secrets to. People you can tell your darkest secrets to. People who don’t shame you when you fall short. Watch this video from researcher Brene Brown to learn more.
2. Remember that between stimulus and action there is always a pause. That pause may only be a split second, but it is there. Seize the power of the pause. When faced with something difficult, seize the pause and stretch it out. Take 5-10 deep breaths. Close your eyes and count to 30. Do anything you need to that will cause your body to slow, or even stop its flight or fight response.
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. – Victor Frankl
3. Get some training in mental fitness. There are apps that you can put on your phone and classes such as yoga, meditation, mindfulness and even investing in your spiritual growth that can improve your mental fitness.
Are you doing any of those things now? If not, why not? You will improve not only your leadership, but your quality of life.
To help you on your mental fitness journey I invite you to download this free PowerBank resource. In it you will find 15 things that you can do for yourself that will increase your energy and resilience.
How am I applying this to my life? Earlier this month a friend and I rode our motorcycles to Key West, FL. On our way home my motorcycle was hit from behind. My beloved motorcycle was totalled as it came to rest 50’ away at the bottom of a drainage ditch filled with boulders. At the emergency room they found no broken bones but as you can imagine I was very sore. Now I am looking at the very real possibility of both knee and shoulder surgery for torn ligaments. This is a mental mountain as I face these losses.
You know what? I’m doing OK mentally. Yes, I am sad. And I was angry, but I am getting over it. How am I able to respond with optimism to this event, unpleasant as it is? I have spent the last 3 years diligently training my mental fitness and leading others in mental fitness training. Has it made a difference? Ask my wife! She will respond with a resounding, “”Yes.”
Above, you have three free things that you can do to grow your mental fitness. If you are ready to invest in your mental fitness, I invite you to join my next mental fitness training group. For more information about this 6-week program that I guarantee will improve your mental fitness, click here.