Impossible to recharge – Is this you?

I remember the first time I ever took three weeks of vacation time at once; I came back totally refreshed, relaxed and in a state of complete calmness.  I felt that way because my vacation was spent living in a cottage off a 35-mile-long lake, surrounded by nature, boating, biking trails, family, where we played sports, cycling, BBQ, a great way to reconnect with everyone and mostly – allowing myself to completely recharge.

Upon arriving back home from my vacation, I had to get some cash from a bank machine, and after three failed attempts my debit card was rejected.  Over a period of three weeks – I totally forgot what my PIN# was!!  At that moment, I knew that I just had the best vacation EVER!

Today, it is very difficult to experience a vacation where you can completely detach from work.  Our electronic and digital world keeps us connected 24 by 7, to our work, colleagues, friends, family, social media feeds, emails, etc.…non-stop connection.  The fear of missing out, the expectation of replies and comments.  Partly curiosity, partly addiction, partly responsibility, staying connected is often viewed as a must – a necessity.

Although we have moments of reprise during our vacation, the ability to completely detach from work is difficult to near impossible.  The outcome of our vacation leaves us in a mixed-state of feeling; partly recharged, partly working and partly stressed, leaving us in a fractured state.

If you are young, in your early years of your career, you can burn the candle at both ends as you possess boundless energy and the ability to rebound and recharge easily.  Realize that you may be on a path creating unhealthy habits that will affect you negatively down the road as youth will only save you for so long.

If you are in your mid years of your career, you are starting to understand the mental and physical toll that stress creates from your work and life demands.  You know and feel it when you are stretched to capacity, and you are well aware of its negative impact on you.  Your ability to cope or just maintain tank becomes a regular challenge that is difficult to avoid.

And if you are at the latter part of your career, you most likely have had or are having physical or mental ailments that you are combating on a regular basis, affecting both your work and personal life.

The inability to recharge manifests into a plethora of unpleasant reactions and behaviors that end up affecting our ability to produce, impeding our creative process and tarnishing our ability to reason.  As stress increases, our mind becomes more and more foggy from the strain of work and life demands and anxiety sets in, making it difficult to make the right choices – the right decisions.  We often experience or observe many around us having bouts of impatience, frustration and anger, leading us to become more self-absorbed and selfish.  Instead of collaboration, team-work and support which is an essential part for long-term success of any business, a state of survival and detachment sets in becoming the corporate norm and culture.  (The same can apply to relationships.)

A recent study on presenteeism from Global Corporate Challenge found that employees take an average of four days off per year for sick time but admitted to being unproductive an average of 57.5 days a year – that’s almost three working months!

Unrealistic deadlines, a heavy workload, being pulled in too many directions at once are the norm in most work environments and when coping with relationship and family demands, our ability to maintain tank gets more and more difficult, becoming vulnerable to physical and mental ailments.

It’s not like our demands and responsibilities are going to shrink any time soon, so at the end, what are we supposed to do?

When I went back to work after my three weeks holiday, the world could’ve caved in, and it simply wouldn’t have affected me as my mindset was one of complete calmness and relaxation where I could think clearly, roll with any challenges or changes, and adopted an attitude and belief that everything has a solution or workaround.  My mind was sharp, and my creativity capability was boundless.  I felt confident, in control and full of energy.  That vacation allowed my mind to drain all the heavy stress that accumulated over time from the pressure of performing what was expected of me from my work and life/family demands.

At the end, the most important outcome of my vacation, was that my mind was able to de-stress completely from work.  I was able to rebalance and recharge.  It all came down to the MIND – the most powerful tool that we possess and mismanage!

 

Why is managing the MIND so important?

The mind determines the quality of our life.  It affects our relationships.  Determines our successes and failures.  Creates our happiness or misery and controls our health and wellbeing.  There’s no escaping it…it follows us wherever we go!  It is vital that we learn how to manage this precious and powerful tool because where we direct our attention creates our world – our reality.

It is imperative for our health and wellbeing that we learn to gain control of our mind if we want to strive in today’s stressed induced world.

Under the influence of life and work demands and being available 24 by 7, a mismanaged and stressful mindset leaves us feeling vulnerable.  Negative emotions surface and we start doubting ourselves.  We have trouble concentrating.  It’s hard to have clarity to make the right choices.  Anxiety sets in.  We get stuck.  We end up with a poor job review, no bonus, or a failed project.  Deflated, we disengage.  We go into survival mode – doing just enough to get by.  We feel insecure about our job and anxious about our future.  Our personal life suffers.  We start missing work.  We’re thinking of leaving.  But it doesn’t have to be that way!

On the other hand, despite the stress and chaos that may surround us, a well-disciplined, focused and relaxed mindset allows clarity and creativity to surface, giving us the ability to make the right choices and decisions – consistently.  So how do we get there?

 

The mind is like a muscle.

Every time we exercise and bring discipline to the mind, we make that muscle a little stronger.  With practice, we learn to relax, de-stress and heal at a moment’s notice.  This helps us reduce anxiety and helps us recover quickly when we are upset, depressed or experiencing negative emotions.

 

A well-trained mind becomes focused and disciplined.

Knowing where to direct our attention, to an area that serves us, builds a resilient character.  When we are resilient, we can overcome any stressful work and life challenges because we have the strength to face them with confidence and in control.

So, you may not be able to experience a three week’s vacation and become completely detached from work allowing you to recharge fully.  But you do have control of your mind on a daily basis.  What you do with it is totally in your control!

This being my first blog sets the tone to the things I will write about – all about the Mind and how best to use this precious tool to help us navigate life and work demands in the most productive and fulfilling journey we can create for ourselves.

You have more control than you think!

 

Conrad Drapeau for:

Shatterproof Resiliency Blog

“Giving you the tools to manage the mind”

 

Conrad Drapeau is a bestselling author and the creator of Shatterproof, a simple, yet life-altering and sustainable, program designed to help people manage stress, survive crisis and build resiliency.

Building on 25 years of study and practice, entrepreneur and author, Conrad Drapeau developed a simple, seven-step system to ensure that anyone could learn how to cope with life’s stresses and crisis.  In Shatterproof, Drapeau reveals how we can create a place of impenetrable calm to free ourselves from chaos and noise and build resiliency.  Being resilient, allows us to manage the challenges life throws at us, because we have the strength to face them with confidence and in control.

With thought leaders Mark Victor Hansen, Barbary De Angelis and Brendon Burchard, he co-authored the personal development book How Did You Do That! (2009, Yinspire Media).

A portion of the proceeds from the sales of Shatterproof goes to support organizations dedicated to helping people on the autism spectrum fulfill their potential to lead positive, productive and rewarding lives.

Learn more at Shatterprooflife.com

 

To learn more about and access Shatterproof Practices, click HERE.