On Saturday I got a phone call from my coach, Coach Brown. He had been rushed to the hospital after he started experiencing chest pains while training a personal training client. He had noted he wasn't feeling well and apparently he seemed off and in pain. He called me from his hospital bed to talk to me.
Today I had my early morning OpenBox class -- an intermediate level class that starts at 7am. I was almost through the class when in walked Coach Brown, all smiley and as if Saturday hadn't even happened.
I can relate all too well with Coach Brown's level of stress and level of responsibility. I don't have a family (kids) though but in Korea I did have extra stress attached to me that came with being a female foreign entrepreneur with Korean in-laws. None the less, stress is stress and the responsibility that comes with being your own boss is greater than most can comprehend.
I'm always telling Coach Brown he needs a means of disconnection -- a way to separate himself from his work, if even just for a couple of hours to breath. If you can't afford the time or money to take a vacation or staycation then finding a means of disconnection is key. For me, in Korea, it was running. When I ran no one could contact me -- you couldn't call or text and you couldn't just show up at my boxing club. You simply had to wait till I returned. This proved to be a great means of disconnection; I was becoming super active not only with my own training but with getting friends and Hulkies to join me but it was also keeping my sponsors happy. The downfall though of it was the fact that it was like burning the candle at both ends. It exhausted me and left me sleep deprived. No days my means of disconnection is church. No one I work with or workout with goes there. It's a pure place that has nothing to do with my training, my work or my boxing career. I've tried to take it a step further and designate Sunday as my entire disconnecting day --no no boxing and no weight training -- but this past Sunday I did weight training.
Disconnection, that was my best means of advice for him. Find a means of disconnecting yourself from your work and everyone/everything connected to it. Of course this is easier said than done but it's very much a necessity to finding balance in life.
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