Committing to Rhythms

Prioritize your well-being daily.

Up and at ’em. Brush my teeth, hit the gym, come home, walk the dogs, feed the dogs, eat breakfast, head to my office.

Aaah, now it’s quiet time. Read, meditate, be still, visualize. These rituals are my “fundamentals” recipe to begin my day. These rhythms lay the foundation for a fun, satisfying, powerful life for me. When they are working, life just goes better. When they go missing, things become, well, more difficult. I was reminded of this recently.

Tap tap tap. It sounded like an angel knocking on my home office door. I opened the door and indeed found an angel — my 18-month-old grandson, Oliver. He and his parents were using my home as a way station for a couple of months on their way to Seattle. Having my family stay with me was such a gift. Getting to be with my grandson on a daily basis made my heart sing. But I didn’t plan for was the effect on my “fundamentals recipe.” The sounds and smells from the kitchen were joyful — how could I stay away in quiet meditation with all this love and action? I couldn’t.

Unfortunately, compromising my well-being began to take a toll. I’m an eight to nine-hour sleeper, but that presented a problem with an 18-month-old who doesn’t sleep through the night. I began sleeping through some of my mornings at the gym, which in turn lead to missing my quiet time, which tweaked everything else in my day too. It all added up to my brain not functioning at its normal level.

I recall thinking “I’m going to write my next column on how to maintain a high level of well-being during challenging times.” Well, that didn’t turn out the way I had expected. I don’t have a checklist to give you. What I came away with was a renewed commitment to my well-being and vitality. When my daily rhythms are missing, I don’t have the same level of resilience. My joy, power, and satisfaction are diminished.

What I took away from this experience is that to maintain sustainable high performance, it’s critical to commit to healthy well-being. I once read a quote from Tony Robbins about this that I think rings true. ”If you don’t have ten f–ing minutes for your life, you don’t have a life.”

So, when you miss that morning at the gym, shake it off. No need to waste energy feeling shame and guilt. We get a fresh restart every single day. Create your well-being checklist of 10 things you need on a daily basis. Post it. Have a person that will hold you accountable. Staying on track with the things that support you is key to realizing your dreams.