This week we witnessed a brave and exemplary display as Simone Biles prioritized her health over competing in the team event at the Olympic games. I use the word “health” here comprehensively–some may say mental health, but in this case, I think physical health and emotional health were very much part of her decision. I am no gymnast, but I can only imagine the potential injury to the body that could result if the mental game is off. Her experience got me to thinking about “health.”
Health. What does that word stir in you? Your Healthy U appointment and trying to lose those pounds you have put on the past year? Your gym membership and the relentless “working out,” that shows few results? That “healthy diet,” the one that has you eating cardboard and going to bed with a growling stomach? Yes, there is the discipline of a healthy lifestyle. But what does health look like?
The definition of health is, “The state of being free from illness or injury.” “A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Read that statement over a few times and ask yourself a few questions:
- What does it mean to you to be complete?
- What would a life of complete physical, mental and social well being look like for you?
- How would health be a state of being free for you?
You see, health to our body is as essential as a healthy relationship and a healthy work environment. As humans and as organizations we spend a lot of time making sure we produce and perform, but do you ever consider ways to be healthy day-to-day? A healthy organization is a balanced, breathing, alive organism, not burned out, exhausted, and frustrated. So is a healthy individual.
If you started today focusing on becoming complete in your physical, mental, and social well-being, how would that impact your personal life, your physical fortitude, your recreation, your social relationships, your spiritual life, your intellectual insight and a myriad of other components of our ever increasing busy and stressful life? Take inventory. Change just one aspect and see the impact it has on you and those around you.
Yes, this type of health is a discipline. You might get a little more rest, have a lighter step, see life a little brighter, and see that other trouble spot in your life from a different perspective. You might even learn to self-prioritize your health like Simone. And that, my friend, is GOAT-like health.