Refuel. Recharge. Repeat: Lead Yourself with Intention and Energy

Author: Robin O’Grady

Wellbeing can feel impossible when life is already overflowing. The thought of adding “one more thing” to your plate? That’s enough to send anyone over the edge. However, in the end, taking care of your own health is not a “nice to have”, it is essential, in more ways than one. As an HR Professional you are often the go-to for tough conversations and as a support system. Protecting your own energy isn’t only about your personal wellbeing, it is what allows you to show up fully for your people, when it matters most. 

To get it out of the way, here are the things this is NOT about: 

• Going to the gym 
• Hopping on a trend (wellness/fitness/nutrition) 
• Adding more things to your calendar 

What it will be about is…Refuel, Recharge, Repeat. Leading yourself with intention and energy. 

Perspective Shift 

Keep it simple. Thriving over surviving. When in the tornado of your day-to-day adding things to your calendar can feel overwhelming and unattainable. The first step is to take stock of your capacity, really step back and assess what you might have available timewise. Then, assess how full your fuel tank is, how are your energy levels at different times of the day? Only then can the strategy be built on how to implement what is right for you. To begin, choose only one thing, many struggle because they try to do too much at once. 

Tips 

• If choosing nutrition as a needed change, consider adding or removing only one thing as a beginning VS changing your entire diet or diving into a trend-based program that you know isn’t sustainable. 
  
  
• Movement comes in a large variety of ways. Think about things you actually enjoy doing and find ways to add them instead of forcing yourself to do things you don’t enjoy just for the sake of adding more movement. 
  
  
• Fulfillment is an important part of taking care of your holistic health, prioritize time for things you love – hobbies/family/travel etc. 

Energy Management 

The oxygen mask principle is a familiar one. When flying on an airplane, the flight attendant tells us that in the case of emergency, you must put on your own oxygen mask before helping others. This is where the protection and management of your energy begins. Awareness of what energizes you VS what drains you and an intentional placement of those things through your day as one step. Another, in protecting your calendar and being diligent about the spaces you had set aside for your energy management (eg. specific closed door office hours or break times). 

Tips 

• Take your breaks away from your desk, even away from the building when possible.
   
  
•  Implement grounding practices through your day, for example, before entering the workspace and at the end of your day before going home. 
  
  
• Protect your transition time - 15 minutes between meetings to process and reset. 

Intentional Adaptation 

Making a decision that something might need to change is really the first step, without that awareness, there is little that can or will be done. As a leader, your responsibility is to yourself, but it is also in role modelling for the team. HR Professionals set the tone for the workplace culture around them. The way you prioritize your own boundaries and wellbeing quietly gives others permission to do the same. When you show up with intention, it ripples through the entire organization. 
 
The research and stats are clearer now than ever before, workplace wellbeing as a strategy, is one that increases the bottom line and enhances the overall culture of your workplace. In order to see the high end of those stats, intentional adaptation is key. This is a strategy and a process, one that will make you and your business better, you could be the catalyst for that. 

Tips 

• Create a community within the workplace to prioritize these habits and strategies with. Make it a fun practice you can all do together and hold each other accountable to, especially when the day takes over and the “tornado” is most fierce. 
  
  
• Build out the process and SOP in the same way you would for other business strategy and involve your team in the process, so you know what you are planning is good for the whole. 
  
  
• Make sure you are first. Leaders first. Remember the oxygen mask principle, you deserve whole health, and you will thank yourself later for checking in and adjusting when needed. 

Start with some space to breathe. That space? It comes from letting go of what you think you "should" be doing and tuning into what actually serves you and your team. Wellbeing isn't a one-size-fits-all prescription. It's a personal practice of alignment, which can (and should) be translated into how you all work as a whole. Today is as good as any, tomorrow will come regardless.