I say and hear this from my fellow entrepreneurs and committed workaholics quite often and we all believe it’s true even better we believe it’s true right in the midst of a cold or flu…no matter how bad the symptoms are.
BUT last week wow I was and am still a bit sick and it sucks and why did it happen, what caused these stages of symptoms to run through my body and basically kick my ass for the past 5 days?
I mean really kick my ass it was like food poisoning X 10 I pulled muscles in my throat and entire upper body just from puking so much for 4 days. I had a client dinner one night with my favorite as well as largest client so I pulled it together for the dinner came home and just continued puking but for those 3 hours of dinner I had to go into Superhero mode and wanted to (a lot of people would have cancelled, that’s a luxury that doesn’t come with this job).
Even some real Superheroes that were sick and couldn’t go out to save the world came back after healing to win:
1. Superman
2. Batman
3. Spiderman
One of my all time favorite examples of an entrepreneur being sick and still fighting on is Pete Sampras at the US Open in 1996 when he was throwing up his intestines in the middle of match against Alex Corretja in the 5th set and they were going to disqualify him…he pulled it together and HE WON!
1996 Sampras Video Clip
(Yes I do believe athletes are entrepreneurs as well, we can talk about that in another post)
He used mind over matter and the passion of his moment he was in to switch into Superhero mode. At the end of the Open the entire world was cheering but Pete he probably didn’t even realize nor did he care what he just accomplished HE WAS SICK! He just wanted to go home and puke more and sleep and when that was over he would be able to sit back and realize what a champion he became that day.
Since I started being an entrepreneur at 19 I believed and still do sometimes it is mind over matter and I can mentally beat whatever illness I have, get my work done, make that dinner appointment and all is normal. Of course not considering the people everywhere I go that I am possibly infecting with a deadly virus (well it can feel deadly) and then they are infecting others and even worse their wife/husband and kids.
Way to go Brian you are so considerate you just possibly killed a small percentage of the population of NYC or wherever it is I am traveling to. Oops sorry…I NEVER get sick!
I remember around 2001 (I am horrible with tracking time) I was sick in a few ways, I was also scared really scared of the real world so I took a 3 month break from work, I had been going nonstop for 6 years to build the company…I was tired. I decided I would travel the world a bit, I would start dating again, and I was going to work on my foundation more. You know what I did, I stayed in my house for about 95% of the time and thought about everything in my life too much that I felt I screwed up in some way or just could have handled differently…total waste of time.
What pulled me out of this? Well for years I would tell people I didn’t have a choice I was called in for a meeting with one of the biggest record label owners in the world that I was trying to get as a client and I had to be at the meeting in 2 days…2 days I thought oh no I look like I a mess I need a month but well his ego was not hearing that so I had NO choice.
I realize now I could have said NO, you always have a choice and he didn’t pay his bills anyway so I actually lost money working with him, but I was back and ready to work. I went to my office, sat at my desk, read some reports and called a full staff meeting I was ready again and I wasn’t scared. After all what was there to be afraid of, to this day I have no idea except stuff I would make up or just think the worst possible outcome for. I was exhausted and making myself sick.
There are major diseases I will not consider/include in this but when it comes to a cold, flu, exhaustion or depression it’s a message from our mind and body to take it easy, what does it mean to take it easy:
-Get some sleep (try for 8 hours a night)
-Surrender to your body and rest, it is telling you it needs it, take a day off!
-Put an Auto-Responder on – I AM SICK! As the subject line
-Take a lot of deep breaths throughout the a day
-If you’re like me call your Mom : ) always makes me feel better
– Don’t drink alcohol or drink as little of it as possible
– Drink lots of tea and water
I have learned 99% of what I do now to stay healthy in mind, body and spirit from the help of my friend James Altucher and his creation of “The Daily Practice,” I have made additions and iterations to it for myself, you can do the same but do follow the key recommendations and concepts for optimal performance of self.
The Daily Practice By James Altucher
So I will leave you with this advice that you will not take from me so…LISTEN to your body and mind when they come together to send a message to you. I know you will take their advice because they know what is best for you.
We all get sick and tired and need a break and we get stronger from it, it’s not a sign of weakness and you will not be less of a Superhero by resting a few days you will be a better and stronger one for it!
getbrice 