Something the successful business person needs is – lots of
Energy! You need Brain Energy and you need Body Energy. However
as with any other kind of energy, it’s constantly being drained
away and needs replacing.
Dealing with people, your customers and your team, can both
drain your brain and your body – and you probably don’t need me
to tell you that.
Let’s look at Brain Energy – Imagine that you receive a letter
from your bank manager saying – - “I need you to come in and see
me.” If you react to that with – “Oh no! What does he want,
what’s wrong now? Maybe he wants to recall my loan.” That sort
of reaction drains your brain of energy and gives you stress.
The successful business person doesn’t react she thinks.
Reacting drains the brain – thinking, less so.
Get the thinking bit working and say to yourself – “I’ll phone
him now; I’ll speak to him and see what he wants. If it’s about
the poor business results, what information do I need to make my
case? Perhaps he wants to talk about how I could develop the
business.” Whatever you’re thinking – stop the negative stuff -
it’ll kill you
If one of your people comes to you with a problem or you receive
a customer complaint, start thinking – “Let’s see what I can do
about this.”
Do not, and I repeat – Do not say – “Oh no! What am I going to
do now?” Every time you say – “Oh no!” – your brain has a huge
drain of energy.
I just want to say a few more words about stress. People will
tell you that there’s good stress and bad stress. I’m talking
about bad stress and it occurs when your brain is drained of
energy. Some business people seem to believe that it “goes with
the territory” and some even wear it as a “badge of honour.”
They also believe that it can’t be avoided; it’s part of being
in business and the world we live in. Organisations do have a
responsibility to minimise levels of stress in their workforce
but we have a responsibility for ourselves.
It’s very important to minimise your levels of stress and you
can do that by thinking rather than reacting. Challenge your
inbuilt programs, stop saying – “That makes me really mad” or
“That really gets on my nerves.”
Start saying – “This is something I have to deal with and I’ll
deal with it” – You have the choice.
I know your probably thinking (or is it reacting) – “That’s all
very well Alan but its hard sometimes not to get stressed.”
You’re absolutely right however; let me give you some more
reasons why you need to work at minimising it.
Stress can cause heart disease, sleeplessness, sexual problems,
overeating, drinking too much, loss of concentration and stomach
upsets. Research is now telling us that many if not most of our
illnesses can be related to stress.
When we get stressed a chemical is released into our bloodstream
called Cortisol, sometimes known as the Stress Hormone. High
levels of Cortisol can lead to diabetes and skin problems. There
is also a suggestion that Cortisol attacks our immune system and
leaves us vulnerable to many of the bugs and viruses that come
along. This also includes cancer.
So if you’ve ever suffered from skin complaints or perhaps too
many colds, it could very well be the results of stress. I don’t
want to scare you death or give you any more stress, I just want
you to – think.
Now let’s look at Body Energy -
So what about the body stress? The body and the brain are linked
together so when the brain drains of energy so does the body.
However the body does a lot of running about, up and down off
the seat and often takes a bit of a battering. For it to work
well, it needs to be in good condition in the first place. We
should all know by now that if we eat too much or eat the wrong
things, smoke too much or drink too much alcohol, then our body
is in danger of breaking down.
Again it comes back to programming. I often tell people that I
eat a lot of salad. The response – “Salad is boring.” – Not the
way I make it, it isn’t; I put all sorts of things into a salad
other than the green ingredients – chillies, sun blush tomatoes,
anchovies, tuna, sardines, chicken, olives, cheese, sausage etc.
Not all at once of course, I like a bit of variation on the
theme. So open up your mind and open up the fridge but be
careful what you take out. Remember – you won’t get an ulcer
from what you eat – you’ll get it from what’s eating you.
If you want to be successful in business, then you’re going to
have to do some exercise. Now I know you think you don’t have
the time. You may also be the type that doesn’t want to go to
the gym and lift heavy things or leap about in an aerobics
class; however, you need to take some exercise that makes you
sweat a little. I’m sorry, but a round of golf doesn’t count, it
isn’t the kind of exercise you need. Golf is great and it’s good
for the stress but it doesn’t make you sweat.
If you’re going to walk then walk fast for a distance, enough to
push up the heart rate and increase the breathing. (And don’t
run round the golf course with your clubs on your back – that’s
going too far.)
Again, get your internal program right and start to think how
you can make your exercise enjoyable. I see some people at the
health club making the whole business a real chore. They get on
a bike or a rowing machine and try to kill themselves for twenty
minutes. If that’s your thing then fine but please don’t make it
a chore, plug into the sound system and catch up with what’s on
TV.
I like to do circuit classes with a whole group of people many
of which have become friends. I enjoy the chat beforehand, the
music and the exercise. (And I also like the fact – there are
more girls than guys)
If you’re really not into exercise then please make sure you
have other activities outside of your workplace and make them
fun. Too many people are going home and slumping in front of the
TV – successful people don’t do that.
So look after the body and the brain and you’ll have lots of
vroom!
About the author:
Discover how you can generate more business by motivating your
team! Alan Fairweather is the author of “How to get More Sales
by Motivating Your Team” This book is packed with practical
things you can do to get the best out of your people . Click
here now http://www.howtogetmoresales.com/
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