In the modern world, we tend to be ‘on’ all the time. We have very demanding jobs, we need to be fit for the rigours of business and of modern life, and we need to see ourselves as an athlete, in the context of business or a corporate athlete.

Take Serena Williams, for example, one of the most decorated athletes of our generation. Hugely successful. But she won’t be, even with the demands of the tennis schedule, all year round, she won’t be Grand Slam fit all the way through her year. She will be gearing up to big events, deloading and recovering, playing some satellite events to keep her skills up, playing another big event where she’s really gone all out. She’ll be looking at all aspects of her health, her sleep, her mental health, her energy levels, her body composition, her digestive health, her fitness.

In the same way that she does, so that she can perform optimally, when she wants to, we need to emulate that. As athletes or as business people, we tend to think we need to be ‘on’ all year round, all the time. And what happens? Well, we burn out, we get chronically stressed, we fall out of love with our jobs, we become depressed. It’s simply not achievable or feasible or ideal. Think of yourself more as a business athlete. Can you gear up for big events, but then deload? Flex your schedule according to the demands, prioritise recovery when you’re really not feeling good. Make sure you’re doubling down on nutrition and sleep before big events or when you’re travelling for business for example. But think of yourself more as an athlete, and think about tuning into the body. How am I feeling? How am I responding to what’s going on? Do I need to take my foot off the gas?

There will be times when perhaps you need to, but you can’t. But those should be spiky moments in your life, in your working life, and this shouldn’t be the norm. Think of yourself as a business athlete, emulate what other athletes do. You don’t need a big team of people around you, but simply tune into your body and give it what it needs, and focus on holistic areas of health. Health is interconnected. Focusing on sleep will give you benefits in all the other areas of health. And ultimately remember this, it’s about health span, not lifespan. There is little point in living a very long life if you’ve not been useful or vital or able to perform basic functions for the last 20 years. It’s about prolonging your health span to get the most out of everything you want to do in life.

What’s your Health IQ?

If you’re reading this, you’re are probably in a reasonably senior position, running your own business or have a busy life running the home and juggling other responsibilities. Either way, you’re busy. The convergent pressures of work and family life have probably meant that the time you did have to spend on health and fitness has disappeared. Why not talk to us and see how we can help.

Click here to take our test.

Leanne Spencer is an entrepreneur, coach, TEDx Speaker, author of Remove the Guesswork, and founder of Bodyshot Performance Limited. Bodyshot is a health and fitness consultancy that helps busy professionals get more energy by removing the guesswork around their health, fitness and nutrition. Visit www.bodyshotperformance.com or email [email protected] to register your interest in our services and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Author(s)

  • Leanne is an award-winning entrepreneur and the founder of Bodyshot Performance Limited. She delivered a TEDx talk on 'Why fitness is more important than weight', is the author of bestselling books 'Remove the Guesswork' and 'Rise and Shine', and hosts a podcast called ’Remove the Guesswork‘. Leanne is the founder of Bodyshot Performance, an award-winning health and wellbeing company. Bodyshot Performance work with businesses of up to 500 people who want to create a culture of energy, vitality and performance through the business and position wellbeing as a competitive advantage. Bodyshot intersect the latest science and technology to provide unique solutions to the challenge of wellbeing in the workplace that have a direct impact on the bottom line. Our clients have won awards for wellbeing and recognise it directly improves employee engagement and retention and attracts talent into the business.  We also work with chronically stressed or burned out professionals to get you back in control of your health and able to do the things you want to do in life. My expertise is around health, fitness and wellbeing, specifically focusing on sleep, mental health, energy, body composition, digestion and fitness. I host a popular podcast on iTunes called ’Remove the Guesswork ‘, and in November 2016 I delivered a TEDx talk on 'Why fitness is more important than weight'. I’m the author of the bestselling books 'Remove the Guesswork' and 'Rise and Shine' and I regularly speak to corporates on health and wellbeing. My personal values are to live truthfully, considerately and to "suck all the marrow out of life" as Thoreau said. I support the charity Diversity Role Models which works to combat homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying. I recently completed the world’s toughest ski race to raise £10,125 for Alzheimer's Research as my father-in-law was profoundly ill with Alzheimers, and I am on a constant mission to find ways to live in a way that is sustainable and environmentally friendly. I love sport, fitness, reading, gardening, business, podcasting, and being with my cat and our scampish little rescue dog, Kami from Romania.