28: Optimising Your Energy, Productivity & Health Via The Four Pillars of Badassery

I had a moment of realisation while recording last Friday’s episode of the Enlightened Entrepreneurial Badasses podcast. I slightly touched upon the concept of what an ‘Enlightened Entrepreneurial Badass’ actually is. Or at least, what I believe it to be. And then it suddenly dawned upon me… Despite running this podcast and associated Facebook group for a few months now, I haven’t defined with complete clarity what I believe an ‘enlightened entrepreneurial badass’ to actually be. So that’s exactly what I want to do in this post. What Does An EEB Look Like? First off, I want to mention that I do not give two shits how much money said EEB is making. Obviously, money is a part of life. And having money goals, desiring more of it and wanting a more luxurious life for yourself and your family is perfectly normal and ok. But, to me, a true EEB is someone who is running a business or working a job that allows them the finances and freedom to live how they want while still feeling purposeful and making their desired impact in the world. It’s about creating a foundation in ourselves of all-over mind, body and soul health so that we have the energy and vitality to continue impacting the world in the way we want while also experiencing happiness and joy in our lives and relationships with the people we love. The Four Pillars of Badassery The key here is that it all starts with a foundation of all-over optimal health of the mind, body and soul. So this is why when I talk about the following ‘Four Pillars of Badassery’ that I don’t include anything to do with money, work or business, per se. Mastering the four pillars will allow you to make more money and become more professionally ‘successful’ as an off shoot of becoming the happiest, healthiest, most energetic, productive, purpose-driven badass version of yourself possible. Anyway, I hope that makes sense. Now let’s get into what these ‘Four Pillars of Badassery’ actually are: #1 Mind & Happiness This is where everything starts. Before thinking about any of the more ‘practical things’ for optimal health, performance and entrepreneurial badassery, we need to set a mindset for success. Getting clear on your values, your purpose and your dream is essential. That may sound corny, but it’s true. We all have a dream. It doesn’t need to be to live a billionaire lifestyle, but we all desire to grow and achieve more, regardless of how much we’ve achieved so far. This is what powers you and what drives you. It is the reason you may make certain sacrifices in trying to be your very best self. Otherwise, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of living like you don’t give a shit! Getting clear on what you want, who you are and how you want to make an impact in this world is a huge part of performing at your optimal best and being happy. And then doing regular self-development work and taking daily actions to reaffirm and look after this is essential too! #2 Sleep & Recovery The next pillar of EEB-ness is something I believe many entrepreneurs and professionals skimp out on. Work, work, work at any time of the day or night seems to be common. Many of us even see long work days and getting by on little sleep as some sort of badge of honour. Trust me, I’ve been there and it’s a recipe for burnout. Plus, who wants to spend their life working 18 hours a day? But from a physiological point-of-view, getting good quality sleep and balancing out the daily stresses you go through by activating the parasympathetic nervous system is a game changer when it comes to healing and achieving optimal health, energy, body composition and productivity. So valuing your sleep and down-time just as much as your ‘up-time’ is what, in my opinion, a true EEB does. #3 Food & Nutrition Again, it’s easy for us as busy business owners and professionals to fall into the trap of grabbing processed garbage that’s quick to prepare. But, as may not be a surprise, if you want to feel and perform like a badass then it’s key that you fuel yourself like a badass too. The true EEB is someone who understands the power of investing a little time and energy in regularly flooding their body with nutritious foods, quality water and giving their bodily systems everything they need to perform at their best. Now everyone is different in this area. There’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ formula for everyone to adhere to, so it’s about working out what works for you and what makes you feel good. To go vegan or Paleo. To fast or not to fast. To supplement or not to supplement. All this stuff may or may not work for you. But I aim to explore them all (among all the other pillars of Badassery) within this website and podcast. #4 Activity & Movement Regularly moving the body is essential if you want to look, feel and perform at your best. Now a key thing to note here is that I say ‘activity’ and ‘movement’. It’s not absolutely necessary for us all to ‘activate beast mode’ in the gym and start smashing ourselves to bits with crazy workouts. Of course, if you genuinely WANT to do that, you’ve mastered the other pillars of Badassery and your body is ready for it, then go ahead. Otherwise, you could be adding a butt load of further stress to an already stressed body, which creates metabolic chaos. A true EEB is someone who appreciates that movement is essential for optimal health and performance, but that a light workout or long walk can sometimes be more effective than a 90 minute smashing at the local boot camp. Going Forward So these are the four pillars that I believe make up an EEB. Once again, you can call complete bullshit on this if you wish. But I genuinely believe that by working towards mastering these four pillars we put can give ourselves a distinct advantage when it comes to experiencing a successful business and happy, joyful life. We gain the rock solid mindset, clarity and self-belief. We don’t have any niggling health issues holding us back. We regain optimal energy and productivity. And we just generally look better, feel better and perform better in our businesses, lives and relationships. So investigating these four pillars and achieving all-over, Real Health from the inside-out is what I’m dedicating myself to on this podcast. Take a listen to the podcast episode for this blog post via the player at the top. Or head over to iTunes and subscribe there for Apple lovers, and over on Stitcher for non-Apple peeps. Love, Laughter & Light, Mike P.S. If you haven’t done so already, click here to join my Facebook group and engage with all the other dudes and dudettes in the Enlightened Entrepreneurial Badasses tribe!