Mind + Matter: Health Tips for CEOs to Fuel Success

Leading a startup is mentally challenging, emotionally taxing, physically demanding and hopefully deeply rewarding. You owe it to yourself to invest in your mind, body and soul so you can be your best self. In this chapter, you will learn simple techniques to optimize your health broken down into four categories: nutrition, exercise, sleep and mental health. 

You are What You Eat

The food you eat impacts your mood, mental capabilities, physical energy and body composition. It is that simple. We all understand this and yet our bodies are wired to fight against good decision making when we are under physical, mental or emotional stress. Thus, the most important decision you can make is to eliminate in-the-moment decision making.This sounds paradoxical, but I promise that it works and it will make your life better. For example, I have selected 3 healthy lunches that I like and one of them is ordered for me everyday. I now benefit daily from a good choice I made one time in the past. The same is true for eating out at restaurants. Look at the menu ahead of time, choose a healthy option and put it in your calendar invite so you eliminate the in-the-moment decision. 

Now that we’ve eliminated decisions, let’s ironically discuss what foods you should choose to eat. In general, the golden rule is to avoid sugar (and things that metabolize into sugar) and eat natural ingredients. 

Choose:

• Grass fed, hormone free meat and wild caught fish
• Fiber rich vegetables like broccoli, kale, spinach and brussel sprouts
• Raw nuts and berries
• Whole grain carbohydrates
• Water, coffee and tea

Avoid:

• Packaged/processed foods
• Simple carbohydrates like bread, pasta and rice
• Deep fried foods
• Sugary drinks and alcohol (if you have to drink alcohol, then choose a dry red wine or an anejo tequila or use soda water as your mixer)

Travel Tip: Healthy choices are even harder when you are on the go. I keep RXBAR and Quest protein bars in my backpack, travel bag and car so that I always have a healthy snack option. These bars have saved me countless times from eating junk food in an airport or a candy bar in an office.

Fit to Lead

Your body will deteriorate if you neglect it and that will negatively impact your ability to lead a company. Consistent exercise increases brain function, improves mood and energy levels and strengthens your immune system. Most people know this and want to exercise but they can’t find the time or they lack the motivation. Here are three simple hacks that will ensure you exercise:

• Accountability: You are more likely to exercise if you are meeting someone (and you will push yourself harder). You are also more likely to workout if you are tracking progress and sharing it externally. The easy solution is to hire a trainer. If that isn’t an option for you, invite people to work out with you. They can be colleagues, friends or anyone with whom you want to build a better relationship. 
• Integrate work/exercise: Make exercise work for you! This can happen in a myriad of different ways. One, you can work while you exercise (answer emails or join a conference call while on a treadmill). Two, you can invite work colleagues or contacts to join you for workout sessions or walking meetings. Three, you can build gym time into your commute (bike to work or go to the gym or a class on the way to/from office).
• Eliminate barriers: Don’t give yourself any excuse for not going! Block out time on your calendar. Join the gym closest to your house and/or office. Buy exercise equipment for your house and have it accessible at all times (don’t put it away in a closet). Sleep in your workout clothes so you are ready. Leave multiple sets of workout clothes and a pair of athletic shoes at the office or in your car. Whenever you hear your mind creating an excuse, design a system and eliminate that excuse forever.

Now that you have no excuses, here are the guidelines to follow to get the most impact from the least amount of time.

Choose:

• High intensity interval training for cardio
• Compound weight lifting movements
• Fitness classes like Barry’s, SoulCycle or Orange Theory Fitness
• Yoga, pilates or a form of stretching that enables flexibility and mobility
• Activities you love that involve exercise (indoor rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, surfing, dance)

Avoid:

• Long, low intensity cardio sessions
• Following a routine where each week or session is the same
• Workouts where you don’t have a plan or an accountability partner

Travel Tip: Right after you check in to a hotel, go look at the gym. You are much more likely to use the gym if you know where it is and have looked inside at the equipment. Also, buy elastic exercise bands and leave them in your travel bag. You can still get a great workout in your hotel room with exercise bands and bodyweight exercises (pushups, situps, squats, lunges). 

Sleep Your Way to the Top

Low quality sleep over an extended time period has been linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and more. Of course, chronic stress and the late nights often required as a CEO only exacerbate the challenge of getting high quality sleep. Poor My philosophy on sleep is simple: follow a routine to develop healthy sleep habits and then prioritize quality over quantity during the week while catching up on quantity on the weekend.

Choose:

• Create the optimal sleep environment: Optimal temperature is ~68 degrees. Make the bedroom as close to pitch black as possible or wear an eye mask. Soundproof the bedroom or use earplugs or a white noise machine to prevent noise distractions
• Follow a sleep routine. This means that you do the same few actions before you sleep every night in the same order. You also go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time. Studies have shown 10pm - 6am is the optimal sleep schedule
• Take 400mg of Magnesium. This has been shown to increase the length of deep sleep

Avoid:

• Alcohol is the destroyer of high quality sleep so avoid it during the week.
• Blue light impacts your natural circadian rhythm. Set your phone/tablet/laptop settings for warm/red light to minimize the exposure to blue light after sunset
• Your phone. Don’t keep it near your bed and turn off all alerts while you sleep on your watch or any other device
• Naps. I love naps but they kill high quality sleep at night so save them for the weekend

Travel Tip: Keep an eye mask, earplugs and melatonin in your travel bag at all times. If you are traveling to a different time zone for a short trip (2 nights or less), try to maintain the same sleep/wake schedule despite the time shift. 

Breaking Down Mental Health

Stress at work will infect the entirety of your life so it is imperative to develop good practices for keeping your mind healthy. This will improve your personal life and relationships as well as your cognitive ability and stamina at work. I highly recommend every CEO discover what methods work for them. My philosophy is to integrate mental health into other aspects of my overall well being. For example, I enjoy yoga for both flexibility and the meditation aspect. I invite others to join me on hikes so I can exercise, build a relationship with someone and enjoy the inner peace of nature.  

Choose:

• Practice gratitude. Begin every day by thinking of three things you are deeply grateful for in your life. You can put your own twist on this by texting one person every day with a message of gratitude or you can exchange a message with your significant other every day
• Focus inward with meditation. Find at least a minute every day to clear your mind of everything and simply be. It gets easier with consistent practice and apps like Calm and Headspace can help
• Coaching/Therapy. I recommend every executive find a CEO coach or join a group of other CEOs that meets regularly for support. It is a lonely and tough job and there is no point in making it harder when you can benefit from the perspective, the accountability and the wisdom of those who have struggled before

Avoid:

• Comparing yourself to others. This is a trap that prevents you from being happy with yourself and your accomplishments
• Blaming others. Instead, ask yourself how you have been complicit in creating the conditions you say you do not want
• Over-analyzing situations. Spinning your wheels in the mud of the past is not productive. Focus your energy on moving forward 

Travel Tip: Take a vacation specifically for your mental health! Explore nature, get off the grid and read books that feed your soul. There’s always more work for you to do so you have to be intentional about taking breaks so you can power through for the long term.

Mind Plus Matter

Think of your body and mind as a machine that needs to be fueled and maintained properly in order to perform at its peak. If you give yourself the right nutrition, exercise, sleep and mental health, then you will be at your best. Of course, I’m not a doctor so take it all with a grain of salt and find the choices and practices that work best for you. Finally, please remember that startups can be all consuming if you let them and it is important to remember that we work to live (and not the other way around). Good luck!