To survive your entrepreneurial journey, you have to learn to recharge.
By Ariana Huffington care of Masters of Scale
Knowing when to turn the lights out is key to keeping the lights on. But you have to know when and how to recharge. Few know this better than Arianna Huffington, who dramatically scaled the Huffington Post — and then experienced profound physical burnout. Her venture Thrive Global now scales the idea of balance across an organization. Here’s what really stays with us from Arianna’s episode:
Integrate well-being and wonder into your life. This is not just a matter of mental health. It’s a matter of business. These elements are essential for professional success, and focusing on wellness does not mean trading efficiency or ambition. Rather, it means putting your focus on working smarter. So, find ways to rest and refuel — create a bedtime ritual or limit your phone use. And, build tools for your team to do the same — like "Thrive Time," which encourages Thrive Global employees to take time off after meeting a stressful deadline.
Develop a flexible approach to wellness. Whether you’re designing a company culture or trying to change your own approach to life, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Different people have different capacities, different priorities, and different ways to recharge. For one person, it might mean no phone after 9:00 pm, and for another person (like Reid) it might mean not working on Friday nights. Thrive has incorporated “entry interviews,” in which employees are asked what’s important to them outside of work, in order to both scale wellness and meet individual needs.
Keep it simple. Just as small, iterative changes in a system can have huge impacts on efficiency, modest course corrections in your culture can have huge impacts on wellness. As Arianna explains, “Neuroscience tells us it takes under 60 seconds to course-correct from stress.” As such, infusing your culture with moments to stretch or take some deep breaths can be effective in easing someone’s stress.
Relentlessly prioritize. Nobody can do anything important, let alone thrive, if they don’t identify what’s really important — what needs to get done, and what can wait. Take the time to identify your personal and business priorities, and encourage your team to do the same.
Listen now at https://listen.mastersofscale.com/AriannaHuffingtonNL.