A lot of times give everything they have to their jobs, careers and everyday lives – but the minute they get home, they’re completely different. The discipline, drive, and motivation all go away the minute we get home – and we don’t take care of ourselves with the same effort used to get our work done throughout the day.

Keep reading to learn why work and self-care are equally important, and how they go together.

How Do You Treat Yourself?

The analogy I like to use is treating ourselves like a million-dollar racehorse. They’re sprinters, who need to put in tons of effort and energy to run fast and work hard to win.

Most likely, you often feel like that when you’re at work. You put in your time and energy into your job, and you do your best to find a way to win[KJ1] .

Are you one of the top teachers in your school, the top executive at your law firm or bringing in more business in your sales role than anybody else? Are you the best at what you do?

Treating yourself like a million-dollar racehorse is a surefire way to excel in the workplace, but here’s the problem: it takes a certain level of energy and physical ability to be that million-dollar racehorse. Are you choosing to make the right decisions that feed your positive energy properly, day in and day out – and not just when you’re working?

This same analogy could be used with your children. If, for example, they want to be the best soccer player, baseball player, dancer that they could be, what are they putting into their bodies? Are they choosing to make the right decisions so that their bodies have enough strength to play the sport – even when they’re not playing?

Many of us don’t think that self-care actually matters when it comes to our work, but it does. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • Are you tired?
  • Are you getting enough sleep?
  • Are you putting the right foods and nutrients into your body?
  • Are you exercising?
  • Are you getting enough stress relief?

Be Self-aware

The racehorse analogy is really fitting and is something I’ve always found a connection with. They’re hard workers, who need to be fast and spend a lot of energy doing everything they do. When we work like that racehorse, it’s easy to add more and more onto our plates especially when it comes to our career or family – which is why you have to be self-aware to be able to know who you are and what you’re capable of doing or taking on.

  • Rest more. Working hard is great, but you have to actually make yourself rest enough to be physically able to get your work done. Getting enough rest will give yourself a higher level of energy than you’ve ever dreamed of having, and you’ll notice a significant added benefit to your life
  • Eat Healthy. Most people wait until they have a health scare to realize they have to change their eating habits. If you want to be healthier, you need to choose the right things to put into your body. If you don’t, your body won’t have enough energy to be that racehorse.
  • Invest in Yourself. Managing stress is something that we often ignore, but if you don’t take care of yourself properly, you’ll never be able to perform at your best. Using a wearable fitness tracker might be helpful, since it’ll show when you’re rundown, at peak optimization, or might need some extra rest and care.
  • Manage your Body. Take care of yourself the right way – feed yourself the right things, sleep the right amount, and exercise on a regular basis. Drinking water and moving more is a great way to improve yourself.

You know how you deserve to be treated, so it’s important to treat yourself well. If you want to be the best version of yourself at work, don’t forget that you need to be the best of yourself at home – where you choose what goes in your body, and how much sleep you get. All of these things help make you a high performer, but if you’re not producing that level of thought, you’re nowhere near where you need to be.

 The Four Quadrants of Life

I use a little tool I call the four quadrants of life, that include Relationships, Wealth, Spirituality, and Health. They’re put into four buckets, and the goal is to essentially balance out all four for optimal results.When you make a lot of these changes and are more in tune with yourself, you’ll actually find a more balanced approach to all four of these quadrants. When all the buckets are balanced, you’ll have produced:

  • More productivity
  • Higher energy levels
  • More enjoyable family time
  • A better external presence
  • A slower pace

All are crucial to learning how to best execute what works best for you. Are you taking care of yourself like a million-dollar racehorse? What are some of the major changes you’ve made in the last year that are making exponential differences in your life? Click here [KJ2] to join our discussion and let me know.