Who Is Looking After the Wellbeing of Owners and Managers?
How do we manage the wellbeing of owners and managers? As the world gets used to a new normal, it’s fair to say that everyone has had many challenges thrown at them over the past three months as well as throughout their lives. Who has the most stress? Owners and managers or the people that work for them? How do you look after your wellbeing? And while coping with change can be very difficult for many people, we will need to face more changes and more uncertainty in the months to come.
Will we return to normal, or a new normal? My wife once told me that the only “normal” there is, is the cycle on a washing machine!
And she is so right!
Brave Face? Is That Hurting Your Wellbeing?
There is a tendency to put on a “brave face” to the outside world while struggling on the inside. We do this for our family, colleagues, our staff, our clients, and our suppliers. All this tension can also lead to one feeling like an imposter. We present a facsimile of a person that is coping, yet on the inside, the reality is very different.
There are many programs and initiatives for staff to help deal with fear, stress, anxiety, and depression, such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, exercise, and many others.
But, what about the wellbeing of business owners and the managers? Often, they coordinate these programs for their team members. They frequently do not have time to benefit from these initiatives themselves. And then, what happens for them? What can they do? And more so than staff, they must maintain that “brave face.” After all, they need to show leadership. They can’t be seen to be weak.
And how is it that some business owners and managers thrive, even in a challenging economic market, while others struggle?
The Executive Code - Wellbeing for Owners and Managers
Well, that has been part of my study for over thirty years. While working with high-level executives and business owners, I developed The Executive CodeTM. This collection of science and research forms the most comprehensive and practical methodology available for your wellbeing.
So, where does one start? Well, we are all unique. There is no “normal.” And with us being unique, we also have a unique set of what I call internal priorities. Managing internal priorities contributes to the wellbeing of owners and managers, including you!
Let us go back to the Greek philosophers.
Filling the Voids Hurts Owner and Manager Effectiveness
Aristotle referred to the fact that each individual has an inner desire to fill what is empty in their life. What is most void in our life? We seek to fill what is empty, i.e., we seek to fill these voids. Many voids were created in the formative years of our upbringing.
For the voids which are the most empty in our life, we will unconsciously want to fill the most. In other words, we unconsciously prioritize these voids. And we unconsciously seek out ways to fill these voids.
When we fill these voids or this inner emptiness in our life, then we are filled. We are full-filled. Filling these voids is how personal fulfillment is achieved.
So, to obtain maximum personal fulfillment, we must fill our voids acting on the voids that are of most priority. And because we are unconsciously seeking out ways to fill these voids in line with what is of most priority, we, therefore, have what I refer to as a set of internal priorities. Aligning your internal priorities helps you as a person, owner, and manager.
Internal Priorities Improves Wellbeing
Because of these internal priorities, our unconscious is actively getting the executive center part of our brain to make manifest. The executive center in our brain is located in the prefrontal cortex. It is responsible for the organization, innovation, objectivity, and execution of actions in the fastest, easiest, and less costly way. What I mean by less costly is in terms of all the resources that are needed – time, energy, effort.
It is our internal priorities that activate most effectively the executive center part of our brain. And while our conscious mind processes 50 bits of information per second, our unconscious mind processes 11 million bits of information per second.
Therefore, when it comes to wanting to operate at your full potential, it makes sense to be operating from the executive center part of your brain. Using the executive center of your brain helps you achieve maximum fulfillment, be more innovative, objective, and organized, and achieve your goals in the fastest, easiest, and less costly way possible. Operating from the executive center of your brain develops your connection with your unconscious. Having this connection is even more critical when faced with challenges to our business or our livelihoods. Examples of these challenges are stressful situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or a recession.
In my experience, over 90% of people do not operate in line with their internal priorities and their executive center. Of all the individuals, executives, and business owners that I have worked with and observed, not following internal priorities is the main reason they struggle, while others thrive.
Issues from Not Following Internal Priorities
When people are not operating from their personal internal priorities, this leads to a feeling of lack of fulfillment or meaning in their life. Or a sense that they’ve lost their mojo. Or that they cannot find their purpose or focus in life.
The reason behind this is that your unconscious is trying to fill these voids. If a person is not working in line with their personal internal priorities, then these voids are not being filled.
Your internal priorities also form your unconscious blueprint when it comes to your relationships, your finances, your business, your health – everything in your life. It is these internal priorities that lead us to discover your true purpose and mission in life.
So, when we consciously know our internal priorities, and we mold our business or our career around our internal priorities, two main things are happening.
First, when we are filling our personal voids the most, we are achieving maximum person fulfillment.
And secondly, when we are utilizing our executive center the most, we begin to open the connection to our unconscious, and in turn, to the superconscious. And with this alignment, it enables us to achieve our vision, our goals, and our objectives in the fastest, easiest, and less costly way.
When following internal priorities, the results that clients get are amazing. And apart from the personal fulfillment that they get, life becomes easier for them. Following internal priorities improves the wellbeing of owners, managers, and you.
Becoming Aware of Internal Priorities
So, if our internal priorities are operating from an unconscious level, how do we become aware of them? That way we can build our business or career around our internal priorities.
Well, we look for the evidence in our lives.
We find evidence through a series of specific questions. By drilling down on the answers, we’re able to see what our unconscious is trying to fill the most in our lives, both externally and internally.
Externally in terms of our environment, how we spend our time, how we spend our money, how we use our energy, and how we communicate with others.
And also internally. Our thoughts, our dreams and aspirations, our internal energy, and even our internal communication – that little voice inside our heads.
Summary
When you know your own unique set of internal priorities, and you build your business, your career, and your life around them. That’s when you’re more motivated, more driven to achieve, more inspired to take action. That is when you get maximum fulfillment in your life. You are expressing your true authentic self. You are bringing yourself, your executive center, your unconscious, and the superconscious more into alignment. You’re more creative, more innovative, and more objective. It’s your true authentic inner leader.
Then when it comes to challenges that show up in your life like recessions, pandemics, redundancies, health issues, financial loss – whatever it is, when you’re operating in this way, then what you see are opportunities while others see failures. And while others see challenges, you see springboards to higher levels.
It is what makes the difference between the person that struggles versus the person that is thriving. That’s the best way owners and managers can look after their wellbeing.
To find out more, visit www.DavisBusinessConsultants.com and subscribe to “The Executive Code” podcast.
Paul Davis is a personal advisor to business owners, CEOs, directors and executives internationally, an entrepreneur, a best-selling author, an award-winning business growth consultant, an international speaker and creator of The Executive Code™
https://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/your-internal-priorities/
https://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/podcast/
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