We've heard it over and over (and over) again:
In the event of an emergency, secure your own air mask first before helping others.
This applies on the ground as well, and the greater our desire to be of service, the more important it is to take care of ourselves in order to be able help others most effectively.
It's a simple principle to grasp, but the challenge is knowing just what this looks like in practice, both over time and at any given moment.
So what's your equivalent of an air mask? What activities and practices are essential to your health, well-being and effectiveness? What steps are you taking to insure that they get on your calendar and stay there? And how do you create and maintain boundaries that insulate these activities from the demands made on your time by other pressing tasks? (A job made harder by the fact that these activities are usually important but not urgent.)
For example, I've learned that daily physical activity helps me reduce stress, clear my head, and stay mentally sharp. When I'm active on a regular basis I'm a much better coach and a much happier person, and the two are related. I use Don't Break the Chain to track how often I'm active, and here's what my exercise calendar looks from July 1st through October 14th:
That's about 65% over a 100-day period--not bad. But that long blank stretch from September 21st through October 9th jumps out at me--what happened? Initially I was just knocked out of my routine for a few days--no big deal. But that carried over into the beginning of Fall Quarter at Stanford, which was a particularly busy time for me this year. And then I caught a cold that was going around campus--always a sure sign that I'm working too hard and not taking care of myself.
While I believe I've done some good work with my students and clients over the last four weeks, I've also done some work that could have been better--and some of it was more stressful and less enjoyable than usual. Knowing what I need to do to take care of myself and tracking my efforts on that front via Don't Break the Chain ultimately helped me get back on track, but I still needed to make some difficult in-the-moment decisions to prioritize my personal needs over other responsibilities.
And it's at those moments that I find the air mask principle useful. There's always more work to do, there are always people I'd like to support in some way, and I can always find a reason to put others' needs ahead of my own. But if I do that indefinitely, I'll burn out--or pass out. No air mask, no oxygen. Bearing in mind that I can't help others effectively unless I'm taking care of myself helps me choose to put my needs first when necessary without feeling that I'm letting others down or failing to honor my commitments.
