Chapter 14
To be at your best
The reason for creating a habitat for health is to help you be at your best, with the energy and vitality to do the things in life you need and want to do. Your body is the vehicle that carries you through life and everything you do. Once it breaks down and stops functioning as it should, you cease to be available to others. When you are too busy your health is often the first thing you will de-prioritise while you focus on what needs to be done at home and at work. It is important to listen and take notice of what your body needs to nourish itself, and to tap into the people who can help you.
Get physical
Physical fitness is a vital component of our health. We put our body under pressure, demanding that it sustain us through some pretty heavy punishment. In return, too many of us are not giving our bodies the love and attention or the fuel they need and deserve.
It is important to listen and take notice of what your body needs to nourish itself, and to tap into the people who can help you.
We all know the importance of being physically fit. I'm not talking about workout fitness to make us musclebound or ripped. I am talking about being well, having the energy, the stamina and the strength to carry us comfortably through the day.
Is your body allowing you to move through your day with gusto? Do you have the mental focus to do the work you need to? Are you giving it the fuel it needs and the rest it deserves?
Through the media we are constantly fed images of what good health should look like, but we are starting to realise these images do not necessarily match the reality of human physiology. There are endless sources of information available to us on our nutritional needs and how we should train, use and care for our bodies, and herein lies the challenge: how can we know what is right for us when creating our habitat for health? It seems like every day a new research paper is released staking out what science has now proved to be best for our health. I am a health professional and even I find it confusing. Creating your habitat for health comes down to a very important point: it is your habitat. You have to create the environment that will help you be at your best. So it is important that the way you interpret the mass of health information is right for you, but how do you know?
The best place to start is to take what you learned through the phases of switching off. You will have noticed how your body feels when you are not at your best. Once you have honestly determined how you are feeling and what your body may be lacking, tap into your health team and listen to their advice, but also try new things — test, research, ask and listen. When you feel you have educated yourself sufficiently and are ready to make the physical changes, make the decision that will allow you to be at your best, then just start. Start moving more, eating better, sleeping longer and slowing down …
Whatever your physical health right now, sit with it, acknowledge it and then do something about it. Be in control of your health before your body tells you what it needs. You can't afford for illness or injury to take control, so if you feel you need help with getting started or staying on track, connect with people who can educate you, motivate you and support you on your health journey.
Look beyond the walls
Heading outdoors has many physiological benefits. One of the most significant is that it encourages us to switch off from the overstimulation of a stressful day, freeing us from our often confined, busy workplace. When I have had a long day indoors I need to take myself outside and get some fresh air before the day is done. While writing this book I would deliberately offset a long stretch at the computer with a walk to the beach or a ride to the local cafe or a basketball match with the kids after they got home from school. My body and my mind needed that time outdoors to ‘clear my head'. Creating this space means seeing our health environment as larger than our workplace or home, and broadening our options and inspiration when creating our habitat for health.
In an article in Psychology Today titled ‘Creating Space: How well does your surrounding environment draw out your creative potential?', Yosef Brody describes a central ambivalence in his life. Although he loves living in the city, he also longs to experience nature and the outdoors. ‘Beyond an intense desire to be near trees and water, I get overwhelmed by a strange need to look towards the horizon.' He calls his condition ‘cyburbanitis'. His city overwhelm and constant connection through technology, he finds, has an effect on his ability to focus and be creative: ‘my vision, taken up by walls and buildings everywhere, becomes blocked and constrained'.
Through the open expansiveness of the outdoors we can regain perspective. To see beyond the confines of our office, our shop, our home, to look to the horizon, opens our field of view to take in the broadness of nature and everything it hold for us. No longer trapped in our micro world we reconnect with the enormous potential of the world around us.
Cheryl Strayed's memoir Wild beautifully depicts the profound impact the outdoors can have on the way we view our world; a movie adaptation was released in 2015. After the death of her mother (played by Laura Dern) and the breakdown of her marriage, Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon) plunged into a spiral of self-destructive behaviour that saw her life fall apart around her. After hitting rock bottom, she knew she had to change her life. She had the idea that she needed to reconnect with who she was and where she was heading. With no outdoors experience, Cheryl sets out alone to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, a tough long-distance trail across three American states. Through the challenges she meets and the beauty and demands she encounters on her journey she is ultimately able to find a kind of peace and perspective in her life.
You don't need to take on a months-long mountain hike to reach beyond your immediate environment. Broadening your perspective can be as simple as lifting your eyes from your screen to look out the window towards the distance. Doing so allows you to disconnect from the here and now and let your mind wander. It's a simple way to flick the switch as needed throughout your day without ever leaving your desk. You can then quickly return to the task at hand with renewed focus.
Broadening your perspective can be as simple as lifting your eyes from your screen to look out the window towards the distance.
Ensure that your habitat for health includes the outdoors. Your habitat, after all, is the environment you live in. You don't need to wait until the weekend or hold off until your next holiday to disconnect from work.
Get creative
We have long understood the importance of creativity — as a way to express ourselves and assist communication and as an outlet for mental anguish associated with trauma and stress. While we often associate it with leisure pursuits or hobbies, many professions, such as graphic design, fashion and marketing, draw directly on creativity. Health professionals recognise creativity as an important emotional and expressive outlet and helps to develop play skills in children.
As a paediatric occupational therapist I once worked with a young boy, Ryan, who had been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Ryan was unable to articulate his feelings verbally and had significant challenges with social relationships, social rules and appropriate behaviours. He was a beautiful young boy with an extremely kind soul. Following the diagnosis it was an emotional time for the family. It was an overwhelming period for young Ryan, who was subjected to numerous tests, with different adults asking him questions and putting him through routines that he found challenging. His family hoped I could assist him with his sensory regulatory behaviours and help him with his gross and fine motor skill development.
Ryan was fortunate to have a team of very committed, caring and skilled therapists including speech pathologists and paediatricians working with him. During one session I noticed he wanted to engage with me but had difficulty doing so. Although he was not able to communicate with me verbally, I was convinced he knew exactly what I was saying when I spoke.
In my therapy rooms I had a wall that was covered with an old-style blackboard. Ryan picked up a piece of chalk and sat at the board and started to make marks on it. At first I couldn't make out what he was drawing, so I too grabbed a piece of chalk and sat alongside him and started to draw my own picture. After a little while of looking back and forth between his drawing and mine, Ryan's drawing started to make sense to me. I could see the form of a young boy, a tree and some swings. With no words exchanged I took my chalk and just near his tree I drew the shape of a bird. I knew this was a little risky as Ryan liked being in his own space. I then returned to drawing my little girl in a park. A few moments later he reached over and next to my little girl he drew what resembled a flower. I'll share with you that I had to struggle hard to hold back my tears. I was overcome with emotion as I looked towards Ryan and on his gorgeous tanned face was the hint of a smile, and although he wasn't looking at me I caught a cheeky glint in his eyes I had never seen before.
We had made a connection, not through words but through creativity. This moment was the start of the visual banter between us. Ryan allowed me to enter his space through the imagery we created. By the end of a few sessions Ryan was creating images that showed me the pain and loneliness he was feeling, but equally a joy and wonder in nature that I would never have come to know through words.
I often reflect on this experience, and wonder at what point in our lives we stop placing importance on our creativity. Is it when life becomes too busy? Is it when our social life takes priority? Or is it when we no longer consider creativity as playing a ‘productive' role in our work, unless we are in the ‘creative industries'? Whatever the reason, we need to bring creativity back into our lives for all the same reasons that we encourage it in kids — as an emotional outlet, as a channel for our imagination, as a way to calm ourselves and to dream. It can be really hard to talk about our feelings, especially when we don't know how or can't find the words to express what we feel. Art bridges the gap between emotion and expression by encouraging avenues other than words through which to express ourselves.
We need to bring creativity back into our lives for all the same reasons that we encourage it in kids — as an emotional outlet, as a channel for our imagination, as a way to calm ourselves and to dream.
It is vitally important that we have a tool that enables us to switch off from the pressures of life and reconnects us to the joy that creativity brings.
Human beings are naturally creative and as we become more overwhelmed, more outcome focused and more pressured to achieve, the importance of bringing creativity into our professional work is increasingly recognised. It is not uncommon now to see sticky notes, textas and butcher paper covering the tables in planning meetings and training rooms. Doodling on a notepad during a meeting is also no longer frowned on. We are becoming more aware that when given every opportunity to be creative, people are more innovative, think outside the box and find solutions that are often not seen through prescriptive processes.
Taking just half an hour out of your week to do something creative — whether drawing, painting or singing a song — will benefit your health.
So step back from the overwhelm and reconnect with your inner creativity. You will think more clearly, gain new perspectives on the world and have fun in the process. There are many ways, even when under time pressure, to tap into your creativity. Here are a few ideas to try:
Unlock ideas through drawing or writing
Research has been conducted across many industries to determine the best starter for creativity. The simplest way to start any process or idea generation is to grab a pencil and paper and start drawing or writing. What will be unlocked through drawing or writing may surprise you. When it comes to creativity there is no right or wrong way or style. Sometimes the worst mistakes turn into the best ideas.
Take a break
In 2009 designer Stefan Sagmeister presented a talk at TED Global that has since been viewed more than 2.5 million times. Stefan shared how every seven years he closes his New York design studio to take a year-long sabbatical so he can refresh his creativity. He explains it is often during this ‘time off' that he comes up with his best ideas, as he uses his time to work on projects that inspire him, teach him a new skill or allow him to switch off.
Work on a different project
Stationery company 3M understand the value of tapping into their staff's creativity. They encourage their staff to use 15 per cent of their work time on developing new ideas. Staff are able to work on a project they normally wouldn't be involved in or that hasn't been developed yet. The Post-it note has been just one payoff from this initiative (and we have all used a few of those in our time!).
Go to the local market
Markets and farmers' markets are popping up everywhere as a way for locals and tourists to support local artisans and suppliers by buying their handmade wares and home-grown produce. Take a morning to wander around the stalls and be inspired by the skills on display, and take some of the ideas home with you. Perhaps you'll decide to grow a veggie garden, or maybe the smell of handmade soap will spark your passion for creating gifts again.
Check out Pinterest and Etsy for inspiration
Spend some time on these sites and you will find all sorts of ideas. Whether you want to carve people-shaped ice-blocks, create the ultimate man-cave or plan the perfect birthday party, creative inspiration is at your fingertips.
Take time to daydream
We have talked about the importance of time on your own; now give yourself permission to daydream! Creativity is sparked through imaginative thought. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and one of the most financially successful people in the world, takes twice-yearly ‘think weeks', during which he removes himself to a secluded retreat for the purpose of daydreaming, thinking about and planning his next six months. It is through this thinking time that he comes up with his best ideas. If you don't have a secluded retreat to hive off to twice a year, then take ten minutes each week or even each day to stare out the window and dream up your next adventure, your next project or your next idea. So your brilliance is not lost, make sure you write your ideas down somewhere. Maybe you just thought up the next billion-dollar idea.
Have fun
When creating your habitat for health you need to stay attuned to why you are doing it in the first place. Is it to gain better health, to create more energy, to feel less distracted? Whatever your reason, creating a habitat for health needs to be fun and meaningful or you won't stick with it.
Working with children, I was constantly reminded of the innate sense of fun, lightheartedness and joy they possess. Children can make fun out of anything and have fun with anyone. On one occasion my last appointment for the day was with Luke, a young boy of eight. It had been a long day and I was ready to switch off and go home. I was feeling flat, a little stressed, and my brain was starting to power down. Luke came in and we started the session. To his credit he was on task and willing to do what I asked. About ten minutes into the session he looked up and said, ‘What's wrong with you?' I paused, a little aghast at his frankness, and replied with a stern ‘Excuse me?' He said, ‘You just seem a little boring today'. After another shocked pause I couldn't help but smile, realising he was absolutely right … I was being boring! Out of the honest mouth of a child, I was brought back to Earth with a thud. Children see the world through the lens of fun. If it isn't fun, they don't want to do it. Both process and outcome have to be fun, and it has to have a point (think of the five-year-old asking, Why? Why? Why?).
As adults we too want a life filled with fun, happiness and joy. Just look at the wave of new books being published about finding happiness and joy and even how to bring laughter back into our lives through laughter workshops. On the whole children are pretty carefree (or they should be), but as adults we find ourselves becoming ever more serious as we wrestle with work, family and financial responsibilities. Life can be stressful and at times it is no fun at all. Despite wanting fun in our lives, we find it hard to let the seriousness go; we are too bogged down to have a laugh.
A young intern who was working with us and witnessing the franticness that comes with meeting a tight deadline looked at me and declared fervently, ‘I never want to grow up — it's too stressful!' For a young person, serious, stressed-out adults would look frightening, and not very inspirational.
There comes a time in our lives when grownup responsibility starts to take over, when being serious starts to overshadow having fun, which becomes something we do only after work or when we are on holiday. Much of the evidence indicates that people who lead lives filled with laughter, social connectedness and adventure are happier, feel more fulfilled and live without regret.
In the pursuit of creating a habitat for health that involves fun, my friends and I decided to put these studies to the test. Could we be grownups with responsibilities, work pressures, deadlines and children and still have fun? Our list of activities included a Pink concert (I thought I was 20 again!), dinner out at a funky restaurant, a game of snooker at the local pub, a Sunday afternoon barbecue and drinks, and breakfast the next morning. This may not sound like the wildest program, but let's just say we can still rock like it was 1999. We laughed about it for months afterwards. We had so much fun not because of what we did, but because we made the time to get together with the purpose and the intention of having fun. We might be older, and we might talk a lot about work and kids, but given half a chance we could still boogie (okay, so I just showed my age there; for millennials, that's a funky word for dance), we could still be a little mischievous and we could certainly let our hair down.
People who lead lives filled with laughter, social connectedness and adventure are happier, feel more fulfilled and live without regret.
Creating your habitat for health has to be done with lightness, with joy, and if it doesn't give you sore cheeks, a jiggling belly and awesome memories then is it really worth it?
Work can also be fun — it should be fun. Many business owners started out purely because they wanted to work with their passion. They loved what they did, they turned up at work with a spring in their step and joy in their work. That's the fun part about being in business: you are doing something you love that puts a fire in your belly. Even when you've had two hours of sleep and are working an 80-hour week, you know the effort is worth it; you are having fun. But soon the serious side of business — compliance, tax, administration — starts to take over, and the fun flame starts to burn down. We begin to fall out of love for our work.
But don't fear, it's never too late to rekindle the fun flame. Watch a group of middle-aged men at a bucks weekend or a group of ladies letting their hair down at a long lunch. If we give ourselves permission and create the time to have fun, we'll find the fun is still inside. And your gender doesn't matter either; men and women alike are crying out for the time and energy to do the things they love and have a good laugh. Scheduling fun doesn't sound very much fun but it is a good place to start if you are stuck in your diary. Book in a concert, a dinner, a barbecue or a trip to the movies so you can have fun with people who make you laugh. If you don't have anyone in your life who makes you laugh, it might be time to look at the people you surround yourself with.
No job is so serious that you can't bring light and laughter into the work, as demonstrated by my friend the motivational speaker Robi Mack, who for ten years was known as Dr Have-A-Chat, a clown doctor at the Sydney Children's Hospital. It was Robi's role, her job and her purpose to bring happiness and joy to children living with a terminal illness. During a child's and a family's darkest times clown doctors inject hope and lightness through the gift of fun and laughter. ‘Working with children with significant illnesses gives you a perspective on life that you typically would not get,' Robi shared with me. ‘I saw my time as a clown doctor as a gift from the children; it was my heart job. I learned throughout this time that when you put your concerns and worries aside, you can connect with people and positively impact on their lives'.
There is no job where lightness and laughter cannot be embraced. Whether it is an integral part of the job or a way of coping with the stressors, injecting fun and laughter into your job will allow you to take control of how you approach each day.
In creating your habitat for health you are setting up an environment to help you be the very best version of yourself you can be. With a clear understanding of what your picture of health is, you can make sound decisions that support your health and wellbeing. Whether you are seeking to carve out more time for yourself, to find calm in the frantic storm of your life or to bring back your creative edge, your habitat for health is key to ensuring your success. Be clear about what you want, tap into the people around you and create daily habits that allow you to flick the switch when you need to.