Health

How to Recharge Through Rest and Reflection

/ Ken Blanchard

If you’ve followed my work for any period of time, you’ll know that I’m a big proponent of goal setting, praising progress, lifelong learning, and continual growth. It’s important to have a compelling vision and satisfying to live a purpose-driven life.

But sometimes we go overboard on the “driven” part. That’s when things get out of whack. Our stress levels go up, the quality of our sleep goes down, our immune systems lose strength, and our creativity vanishes like an icecube on hot pavement. When you begin to feel these symptoms, that’s when you know it’s time to prioritize self-care in the form of rest, reflection, and recharging.

Practice Doing Nothing

Smart leaders know that sometimes one of the best ways to get things done is to do nothing at all. Why is that? Because too much focus can narrow your thinking. Your brain gets stuck on the same old neural pathways and your thoughts don’t extend beyond the obvious and unoriginal.

Jeff Weiner, who recently stepped down as CEO of LinkedIn, understands the importance of doing nothing. “Part of the key to time management is carving out time to think, as opposed to constantly reacting,” he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Surprisingly, when we step away from the relentless pursuit of tasks, we’re often able to see our vision more clearly and feel newly inspired by it. So, the next time you’re feeling stuck, follow the direction of the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland:

“Don’t just do something, stand there!”

 In other words, break away from your routine of constant activity to reboot your mental and physical health.

Working out with a personal trainer, I was fascinated to learn that muscle growth does not happen during the workout—it happens when we’re resting. The same is true for us. We grow when we pause to reflect on what we’re doing. That’s why, if we want to develop as leaders, we need to prioritize down time.

Start Your Day Slowly

I learned to take daily time for reflection from my late friend and coauthor, Norman Vincent Peale. Norman taught me that we all have two selves: an inner self that is thoughtful, reflective, and a good listener; and an outer, task-oriented self that is focused on achieving and too busy to reflect. Guess which one wakes up first in the morning? The task oriented self! Most of us leap out of bed into our task-oriented selves without giving our inner selves a thought. We race through the day, filling every moment with activities and achievements, until we fall exhausted into bed, with hardly enough energy to say goodnight to the loved one who might be lying next to us. The next day we’re at it again. Soon, one day leads into another, and life becomes a rat race. As Lily Tomlin said:

“The trouble with being in a rat race is that even if you win the race, you’re still a rat.”

The way to avoid the rat race is to honor your inner self by starting your day slowly, in solitude, taking time to reflect, pray, or meditate. I get inspiration from a booklet of favorite uplifting quotes that I put together and read in the morning.

Take Your Personal Time Off

In addition to carving out daily reflection time, it’s also important to take vacation time. But according to a recent Pew Research survey, a significant share of American workers—46 percent—say they do not take all of their available paid time off. People cited worry about losing their jobs or falling behind in their work as the reasons for not taking the time.

Leaders and managers need to encourage people to use their personal time off. While it may seem counterintuitive, several data driven studies show that time off leads to greater, not less, productivity. It’s easy for me to believe those studies, because their findings track with my own experience.

For more than 60 years, my wife, Margie, and I have had the great privilege of spending the summer weeks at our lakeside home in Skaneateles, New York. Surrounded by a deep, green forest and overlooking the water, our cottage is the perfect place to rest, reflect, and recharge. Here is where I often find new inspiration for the books I’m writing.

No matter where you live or what resources you have, it’s important to find a place where you can recharge and reflect. Maybe it’s a nearby park, a beach, or a campground in your favorite national park. Once you find that special place, prioritize spending time there. Not just because it will make you more productive, but also because you deserve the quiet joy of being in nature and spending time with the people you love.

Harold Kushner, the author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People, said that in all his years as a rabbi, he never heard anyone say on his deathbed, “I wish I had gone to the office more.” So if you haven’t taken time off yet this summer, get to it!

Three Deep Breaths

/ Ken Blanchard / 4 Comments

Recently I spent some time with Tom Crum and his daughter, Alia. Tom’s a good buddy of ours and is an Aikido expert. He wrote a wonderful book called Three Deep Breaths. I think I probably have shared these at some point but they are worth repeating… You know, as you head off any day in the car – I think the car is a wonderful place to quiet yourself if you don’t listen to the radio.

The first breath is the Centering Breath – you just breathe in, into your center right below your belly button. Just center yourself and feel your breath. Continue reading →

March Madness

/ Ken Blanchard

Last week and this week we are having a “Blanchard March Madness” tournament here at the corporate office. Last week we had some individual competitions including HORSE and a Sharpshooter tournament, and this week we are having 3-on-3 games. Well, on Thursday we had the finals of the individual competitions, and do you know who won the sharpshooting contest? Yours truly! Ha! I made 16 out of 20 shots from the foul line. What a great time we had, and I couldn’t believe I beat all the youngsters here at the office!

It was interesting. I’m proofreading the second edition of The Mulligan that I wrote with Wally Armstrong, about golf and faith. There’s a lot of mental stuff in there too. Tony Robbins said that if you want to perform well, there are three aspects. One is focus—you have to see yourself doing well. And you know, I used to be a great foul shooter when I was younger, so I just saw myself pouring the shots in. Then Tony said you have to have the physiology—you have to walk like you know what you’re talking about. So when it was my turn, I just walked there like I knew what I was doing. And then Tony said you have to have a routine. So I bounced the ball and tossed it around the same way every time before I went for the shot. So I made 16 out of 20 at the line, which even surprised me.

I also read in there what we wrote about playing NATO golf—Not Attached To Outcome. So you’re not worried about your outcome, you’re just going with the flow. Last week we were at a program called Inspire San Diego. The guy who put it on was Greg Reid, who cowrote a book called Three Feet from Gold, which really built on the ideas from Think and Grow Rich, the classic book by Napoleon Hill. Just listen to this line from Napoleon Hill:  “There are many things you cannot control, but you can control the only thing that really matters—your mind and your attitude. External forces have very little to do with success. Those who program themselves for success find a way to succeed even in the most difficult of circumstances. Solutions to most problems come from one source, and one source alone: yourself. You can do it if you believe you can. You control your destiny. Decide to live life to the fullest. You may be three feet from gold.”

That was fun. Life is a very special occasion, don’t miss it!

Make Love Your Goal for the Holidays

/ Ken Blanchard / 2 Comments

You know, at this time of year you can really get yourself hassled. You know, running around, making sure you have every present bought and everything done and all that. And life can be a burden rather than a joy. This is supposed to be the season of joy and love, not of burden and hassle and all those kinds of things. It doesn’t mean that you don’t want to get things done and cross things off your list, but don’t make “list accomplishment” the goal of this holiday season. Make LOVE the goal of this holiday. If you couldn’t find the right present for someone – maybe you should sit down and write that person a note about how much you care about them and that you’ll send them something after the holidays. Stress is a major problem this time of year because people have so many “to do” lists. They forget why they’re doing it and get too much into the doing. Too often this time of year we’re human doings rather than human beings. I just wanted to check for you, as well as myself as I run around and try to get things done at the end of the year, that I’m a human being, not a human doing.  So reach out to anybody you talk to and wish them the greatest holiday, the greatest the greatest New Year, and just tell them you care about them. Maybe that’s what you ought to do. What I like to do this time of year, too, is to go through my phone list and call people I haven’t talked to in a while, and just tell them I care about them. What can you do to make this a joyous time, rather than a hassled time?  Remember, life is a very special occasion if you keep things in perspective.

Monday Again?!

/ Ken Blanchard / 1 Comment

One day last week, I suddenly realized that I was having a great day at work. I had so many different things going on that I lost track of time. That’s when you know you’re doing what you ought to be doing. Are you losing track of time?  If you’re watching your watch, and you’re thinking, “Thank God it’s Friday,” or, “Oh no, it’s Monday,” then talk to somebody in the company about switching jobs, because you’re probably in the wrong job. Remember, to be the best, you need to be passionate and excited about what you’re doing. That’s the way I was last week – I just lost track of time because I was having a ball. So you have a ball today. Love what you do, because when you do that, your customers are going to love you and you’re going to have a successful company.