Agile Business Athlete

Today’s bonus episode of Agile Business Athlete is a little different. This is an episode of The Agenda that I appeared on recently where I discussed my background, what companies need to think about, and the importance of wellbeing within companies. Around 10 years ago I was a super stressed executive struggling with my mental and physical health. As an account director for various marketing companies, I loved the prestige and salary that came along with it, but I felt inauthentic. I felt like Sisyphus rolling the boulder over and over. It seemed like a quick decision to suddenly leave my job and pursue something more in line with my values, but it was 10 years in the making. Over time, I created the Agile Business Athlete approach, applying athletic preparation and recovery principles to business. Predict, prepare, perform, recover are at the core of this approach. Many leaders expect themselves to perform at Wimbledon levels all year round, but it simply isn’t sustainable. You need to make time to recover mentally and physically. You have to give yourself permission to recover and work slivers of it into your day. Even the most time-pressed executives can build in moments of recovery. How can whole organizations support this wellbeing? It’s about creating a culture of wellbeing. Leaders need to show and lead by example. The pandemic has had a huge effect on mental health, and businesses need to understand and recognize the ebb and flow of work and life. Making small changes over time will make a huge difference. Making incremental shifts on different behaviours is key to embedding wellbeing. The time is now to make these changes. The world has drastically changed in a short amount of time and it’s imperative that companies catch up. The post Bonus Episode: Creating a Culture of Wellbeing S1 E11 appeared first on Leanne Spencer.

In this episode, we’re joined by Leanne’s nutritionist, Alexandra Rock. Alexandra learned about the importance of nutrition from a young age and has always been interested in the role food plays in health. Now, she helps people eat in a way that fuels their bodies and promotes optimal health. Topics Discussed In This Episode: What food means to Alexandra. How Alexandra’s approach to food has changed over time. What happens when you eat the standard American diet. Alexandra’s position on a plant-based diet. The two types of fibre and the best sources. The relationship between food and your mood. Where a large amount of serotonin is produced. How our bodies are like an orchestra. Foods that contain building blocks for serotonin. How nutritional needs change throughout the life cycle. Why Alexandra looks to our ancestors for nutritional guidance. The nutrients you should be supplementing. The calculation to help you figure out how much protein you need. The types of tests that can reveal which nutrients you may be lacking. Key Takeaways: Alexandra believes food should bring joy and fuel the soul as well as the body. From a young age, Alexandra witnessed the power of nutrition. Her father was a doctor who worked in disaster and war zones. He had a heart attack due to his poor diet, so he ended up changing his diet entirely. Plants contain all three important macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat) as well as fibre, which we need for optimal function. If your body doesn’t have the right fuel and nutrients, it can influence your brain and your mood. Stable blood sugar levels and micronutrients are crucial for healthy brain function. Chicken, turkey, dairy products, and nuts and seeds contain tryptophan, which is a building block for serotonin. Serotonin is important for sleep, so eating tryptophan-rich foods can help promote a healthy sleep cycle. The best sources of protein include beans, lentils, tofu, and fish. There’s a theory that our ancestors developed larger brains thanks to the protein available from the sea. Micronutrients, like vitamins and minerals, are very important to overall function. Vitamin D and B vitamins, in particular, are very important to mood. Leaky gut is a condition in which the gut wall becomes permeable. When the gut wall becomes compromised, it can result in allergies and autoimmune conditions. Action Steps: Alexandra’s nutrition tips: Choose foods that fuel you in both body and mind.Eat a highly plant-based diet with healthy sources of protein.Consume foods that contain building blocks for serotonin.Find out which nutrients you may be lacking and supplement accordingly. Alexandra said: “I saw the power of what you eat to either make you sick or to make you well, and that’s been really formative in the way I eat and the way I brought my children up to eat.” “I really believe that a lot of people will present to their GP with fatigue and depression, for example, and that the GP may then prescribe antidepressants or that kind of medication and overlook the fact that food may be a big factor in the symptoms that are presenting.” Links To Things Mentioned In The Podcast: If you enjoy what you hear, don’t forget to leave a rating or a review and subscribe to us on your favourite podcast platform! The post Food fuels the soul as well as the body with Nutritional Therapist Alexandra Rock S1 E10 appeared first on Leanne Spencer.

This week we’re joined by Francesco & Ilona, who are on a mission to build a community of meditators in love with life through their company Bliss Out. In this episode, they discuss why they started Bliss Out and how they’re recovered from burnout. Topics Discussed In This Episode: Why Francesco & Ilona decided to change industries. The signals that suggested it was time for Ilona to change her lifestyle. Why Ilona said leaving her career to start Bliss Out was a difficult decision to make. Francesco’s professional background and what the environment in that career was like. The way burnout expressed itself for Francesco. How both Francesco and Ilona’s mornings have completely transformed since changing careers. The difference between meditation and a meditative process. The three-step formula used at Bliss Out to promote an ultimate level of relaxation. Why Ilona initially decided to explore meditation. How Francesco adjusts his routine leading up to an event versus focusing on recovery. How the absence of meaningful work contributes to burnout. What happens inside Ilona when her energy is depleted. Francesco and Ilona’s experience recovering from burnout. Key Takeaways: Francesco & Ilona came from the investment banking industry and decided to make the switch to starting Bliss Out to create a better and more suitable lifestyle. Burnout can manifest as physical symptoms such as digestive issues, fatigue, low quality sleep, and more. Although she knew she needed a career change, starting Bliss Out wasn’t an easy decision for Ilona to make. She was at a point in her life and career where she was comfortable, but she went for it anyway. If you can’t find time or motivation to meditate, you can try making room for practices that are meditative. For example, sitting and drinking a coffee slowly in a quiet, relaxing environment. At Bliss Out, they use a strategy to activate the parasympathetic nervous system to flood the body and brain with “happy chemicals” before moving onto relaxation and meditation. Ilona was drawn to meditation to explore consciousness. She enjoys practices that include human expression, including dancing. Meditation works best for her when done twice each day. Francesco has been focusing on working on his breathing lately. One strategy that’s been working for him is mouth taping so that he has to focus breathing through his nose. Infrared saunas are great for recovery, and it’s one of Ilona’s favourite tools for relaxation. A lack of meaningful work is at the core of burnout. It influences your life both inside and outside of the workplace including your lifestyle habits and how you approach your daily tasks and your boss. When Ilona is low in energy, fear comes to the surface. She is able to step back and use reason and logic to overcome these thoughts. Exercise and being in nature helps her too. For Ilona, recovering from burnout is a work in progress. It has taken time to become comfortable in a slower-paced lifestyle and finding harmony within. For Francesco, some effects have been immediate, whereas finding an overall better sense of wellbeing takes time. Action Steps: How to support a healthy lifestyle according to Franceso and Ilona: Slowing down.Meditation and meditative practices.Regular exercise.Practising healthy breathing techniques.Adjusting your career to fit a healthier lifestyle. Ilona said: “I can’t even describe to you the pleasure of waking up and taking a moment in bed. It may sound like being lazy getting up, but after years of getting up for a train and feeling that adrenaline in your blood, to wake up and actually feel yourself, feel where you are, feel who you’re with, and slowly start the day—and of course we work. But taking away the commute and living in a big city has given us a lot of hours. So, the beginning of the day is completely different.” Francesco said: “Many people are talking about dopamine, and the way dopamine works is that it’s a reward mechanism. But if you try to keep the dopamine constantly up, you’re going to fail. That’s not the way it works. You need to have these ebbs and flows.” Links To Things Mentioned In The Podcast: Bliss Out: https://www.blissout.co/   If you enjoy what you hear, don’t forget to leave a rating or a review and subscribe to us on your favourite podcast platform! The post Bliss Out and Recovering from Burnout Francesco & Illona S1 E9 appeared first on Leanne Spencer.

In this episode, we’re welcoming Dr. Ruth Briant-Jones, a lifestyle medicine doctor, wellbeing strategist, and coach. She’s proud to be part of a small group of medical doctors pushing lifestyle medicine into common practice. We take a deep dive into stress and burnout. Topics Discussed In This Episode: What inspired Ruth to pursue lifestyle medicine. The definition and pillars of lifestyle medicine. Why stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The three main types of stress people experience. What happens in the body when we begin to experience chronic stress. The parts of the brain involved in the autonomic nervous system and how they operate under stress. How quickly one can transition into burnout and what it typically looks like. Physical and mental signs the body is adapting to chronic stress. The attitude that can rebound people back into burnout. The six pillars of lifestyle medicine. The effect that loneliness has on overall wellbeing. What Ruth sees for the future of lifestyle medicine. How our brain operates with a triage system. Key Takeaways: Ruth went into medical school with the vision of becoming a lifestyle medical doctor. She’s always been interested in health and wellness and aims to help people stay well by focusing on preventative health. Lifestyle medicine is an emerging practice. It’s an evidence-based approach used to support people in making behavioural changes that will set them free from chronic disease. Stress in and of itself isn’t an inherently bad thing. It’s simply a normal human survival response to perceived physical or psychological strain. Chronic stress can lead to burnout because it taxes the nervous system without any periods of relief. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for logic and planning. When the amygdala receives a stress signal, it works with the prefrontal cortex to decide how stressful the situation is so the body can respond accordingly. When people are experiencing episodic stress, they know that they’re stressed. They won’t be enjoying things the way they did before, and they will feel more tired and less able to cope. Their decision-making skills will deteriorate, and they’ll make more mistakes simply because they don’t have that recovery time. In terms of managing work around stress and burnout, some of Ruth’s patients will return to the same job, whereas others make a more significant career change. Long term, most people don’t continue with the same job. Lifestyle medicine has six pillars which include diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, making connections or creating healthy relationships, and limiting unhealthy habits. These pillars are important in taking a preventative approach to health. People who are lonely tend to struggle more with their health and has been compared to being as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Action Steps: The pillars of lifestyle medicine: A nutrition-dense dietPhysical activitySleepStress managementCreating and maintaining healthy relationshipsReducing or limiting unhealthy habits Ruth Briant-Jones said: “Burnout, for the people I’ve seen who have suffered with it, they’re done. They’re just done. And I’ve heard stories before of people pulling over on the side of the road on the way to work in tears, calling their work colleagues saying ‘I just can’t do it.’” “Chronic stress, we believe, is pretty dangerous, and it’s because it’s quite insidious. And that’s when we’ve adapted; our bodies have adapted to low-level pumping out of stress hormones without our knowledge.” Links To Things Mentioned In The Podcast: Dr. Ruth Briant-Jones website: https://www.ruthbriantjones.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drruthbriantjones/ The 12 Stages of Burnout: https://www.bodyshotperformance.com/resources/the-12-stages-of-burnout/ Darria Long TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/darria_long_an_er_doctor_on_triaging_your_crazy_busy_life If you enjoy what you hear, don’t forget to leave a rating or a review and subscribe to us on your favourite podcast platform! The post Stress and Burnout Deep Dive with Dr Ruth Briant-Jones S1 E8 appeared first on Leanne Spencer.

This week we’re joined by Steve Shove. He is an author, survival instructor, performance coach, and owner of Really Wild Business. He’s a big advocate for nature, which is a key theme in all of the work he does. We discuss reconnecting and recovering in nature. Topics Discussed In This Episode: How Leanne and Steve met. Why Steve decided to transition out of city life. What Steve started doing for fun that ended up being so much more. When Steve started practising his new methodology. How he encourages the young people he works with. How a walk in the woods can act as a catalyst for good. The benefits Steve gets out of being in nature. What Steve is struck by about the Indigenous people he meets. How Steve teaches people to find comfort in peace and quiet. The situation that helped Steve discover just how innovative humans are. Why the mission of Steve’s business is close to his heart. What opportunity creation is. How achieving feats in nature improves resilience. Key Takeaways: Steve has seen people enter the burnout stage and never come out of it, and that’s what prompted him to leave the city and change his lifestyle. When Steve was just a boy, he would leave all day and play in the woods trying to make spears and catch animals. He’s always had an adventurous spirit. When Steve gets to work with young people, he encourages them to embrace the life they want and make their own decisions rather than chasing money or pursuing what their parents think they should do. Enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of nature frees your mind and makes space for you to get perspective on whether your lifestyle suits you or not. Really reconnecting with and recovering in nature. The people that truly live off grid express a peace and happiness not commonly seen in the modern western world. They seem to find this joy in the smallest things at any age. For Steve, this is the perfect example of how nature can be a powerful influence. Many people are now used to being on the go, and moving from that to silence can be difficult. Sitting somewhere quiet and tapping into your senses of smell, sounds, and touch can help you get more in tune with the environment around you. Steve’s methodology involves using nature as a way of improving business performance and function as well as aspects of your personal life. Survival skills, like learning to make notches in wood, can parallel the types of skills you need to develop in your personal and professional life to succeed such as preparedness and attention to detail. When you’re living in the wild, you spend the entirety of your time looking at what is useful and what is dangerous. Time naturally flows as you gather food, water, and anything else you need. One of the final pieces of Steve’s methodology is nurture, nourish, and next. Nurture is to protect and keep it going. Nourish is to help it grow. Next is to find the next big thing so you can keep going. Action Steps: Steve’s tips for thriving in business and in life: Don’t let fear get in your way of living the life you want.Spend more time outside. Reconnecting and recovering in natureTap into your senses by taking in the environment with your eyes closed.Create opportunities wherever you can. Steve said: “Be bold. Follow your dream. You will be okay—it’s in your DNA. Success is in your DNA.” “When I first knew I could make fire just using stuff from the woods, using fire by friction, it’s blood sweat and tears, as you well know. But once you know you can source the stuff yourself and actually make a fire, that gives you confidence that “you know what, wherever you put me on the planet (unless that’s in the arctic), I’m gonna be okay.” Links To Things Mentioned In The Podcast: Steve’s book Sales Genius 1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sales-Genius-1-Andrew-Priestley/dp/1912774178     If you enjoy what you hear, don’t forget to leave a rating or a review and subscribe to us on your favourite podcast platform! The post Steve Shove: Reconnecting and Recovering in Nature S1 E7 appeared first on Leanne Spencer.