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We weren’t quite able to get it figured out this week - but in future newsletters, we hope to be able to include an audio version of the newsletter.

A Series: Optimizing Your Health Pt. 4

One of our core ideas at BETTER is that healthy leaders create healthy teams.

So - we are doing something a little different with our newsletter. This is the fourth in a 6-part series in our newsletter on “Leader Health”.

The core thesis of this series is an idea we call “100X”. If you are as close to 100% health, you won’t have to try to lead, it will happen. Your health will multiply (“X”) into those around you. More specifically…

• We examine the relationship between leader wellness and team health

• Real-life instances where leader health significantly impacted team dynamics

• Practical strategies you can implement to move closer to 100% health

The Idea: Physical Health

Today, we’re diving into a topic that, while oft written about and discussed, still seems to be taken for granted. In truth, it is a cornerstone of effective leadership: Physical Health.

What does your physical well-being actually do for your brain? Your physical condition profoundly influences your mental sharpness, emotional resilience, and the capacity to manage stress—all critical elements of leadership.

Research Insight:

Two neuroscientists, Richard J. Davidson and Bruce S. McEwen, examined the relationship between physical health and neuroplasticity in this landmark study.

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reform and reorganize synaptic connections. In other words, it is your brain’s superpower to adapt and change.

It’s like your brain is a city, and its roads—the connections between brain cells—can be rerouted or improved with practice and learning (think of the KYLY idea from last week). If something blocks the usual path, like an injury, your brain can find a detour. This adaptability is how we master new skills and recover from setbacks.

What Davidson and McEwen found profoundly shifted how we understood physical health and its effects on our brain. Here are some of the notable findings:

• Regular exercise promotes neuroplasticity in the regions of the brain associated with cognitive function (the mental processes we use to think, remember, and problem-solve) and emotional regulation

• Chronic stress can negatively affect brain structure and function, but physical wellness, including exercise, can mitigate those effects

• Physiological health and fitness enhance mood, reduce anxiety, and improve stress management

Anecdote for Inspiration:

Forgive us, but this is a sports leadership newsletter after all. Here’s our best attempt at a “pump-up speech.” 😁 

The coaches and leaders we work with are very quick to either point out the importance of exercise or lament their lack of exercise. Most of the time, we don’t ask. Leaders know it’s important. They bring it up on their own. But, often, it’s an afterthought. It is something they feel must take a back seat to their coaching, or their work, or their family.

Very few find it easy to put work down or carve into the busyness of their life to insert exercise, diet, or some sort of physical health routine.

But, it is also easy for Physical Health to feel bigger than it actually is! We thought long and hard about what to name this week’s newsletter because we were worried people would see the subject line and avoid reading it because of the mental toll it takes to consider it. We get it. We’ve been there. And we don’t pretend to have it mastered.

But, we have an advantage most people don’t. We’ve gotten to walk with leaders through this. We’ve gotten to watch as leaders’ peace in their lives has increased because they’ve slowly ramped up their holistic approach to their health. We’ve seen some strategies that work and some that don’t.

We’ve found a couple of frameworks that can help leaders break something that feels as big as “Physical Health” into bite-size chunks. It won’t happen overnight. It takes baby steps. Build one small routine at a time. Then, when you’ve got it, add one more. Then another. Pretty soon, you’re feeling confident and you have an “approach” to your health. Not failed resolutions.

A Helpful Framework:

At BETTER, we often use the concept of Opportunity Cost to explain the importance of Leader Health to leaders. We explain how vital it is for their team that they are moving closer to 100% health—both physically and otherwise.

Opportunity Cost is a concept studied in most high school Economics classes. It’s the value you miss out on when choosing one option over another. For a leader, there are real opportunity costs in not building a consistent health routine in your life. But, those opportunity costs don’t just affect you!

Given what Davidson and McEwen found in their research above, your team misses out too! They’re missing out on increased cognitive function, emotional regulation, better moods, less anxiety, and better stress management.

Is it worth it for your team to miss out on that?

Sometimes, your team’s ability to perform at their best isn’t impacted because of your individual ability as a leader. It comes from the work you are doing on yourself in your own time.

So, where do we start? At BETTER, we don’t pretend to be experts on all facets of physical health. There are entire industries in each takeaway we’ve included below.

But, we want this to be valuable. So, rather than give vague ideas, we will list some specific strategies we’ve used, or we’ve seen leaders use, to improve things like sleep, diet, or exercise. Some of them you can start with. Some, you can add to a routine you already have and tweak it to make it better.

Leadership Vitality Checklist:

1. Prioritize Sleep:

• Set a consistent bedtime and wake-up time, even on weekends (there are lots of great apps and phone features that help with this - do some research if you need help here!)

• Create a pre-sleep routine: dim the lights, avoid screens at least an hour before bed, and perhaps read or meditate to wind down.

2. Exercise Regularly:

• The American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week to minimize cardiovascular disease. They recommend combining cardio with moderate strength training. While everyone’s physical goals are different - the goal according to the AHA is to get your heart rate above 90 bpm for an extended period.

• Rather than goals like “exercise more”, think specific. What will you do? How often will you do it? When in your day/week will you do it? Put it on the calendar. Protect it.

• For example - “I’m going to walk for 30 minutes, 3 times a week at 5 PM on Monday, 3 PM on Wednesday, and during my lunch break on Friday.”

3. Balanced Diet:

• A good rule of thumb? According to Harvard’s School for Public Health, we should aim for half of our plate to be filled with vegetables, a quarter with lean protein, and a quarter with whole grains.

• Prepare snacks in advance to avoid reaching for sugary or processed options when in a hurry.

4. Hydration is Key:

• Keep a water bottle with you. Set reminders when you should finish the water bottle and refill. Again - there are some fun apps (check out Waterllama) that can help.

• Replace sugary drinks with water, and if you drink coffee or tea, match each cup with one cup of water.

5. Mental Fitness

• Your morning routine is paramount. Wake up before you have to. Engage in some sort of mental practice.

• Dedicate 10-15 minutes a day for mindfulness or meditation

• Do things that engage your brain that have nothing to do with “work” like puzzles, strategy games, or learning a new language!

Closing Thought: 

The pillars of physical health are not merely personal benefits but essential components of our teams getting our best! Creating routines around our health fine-tunes our brain’s wiring for peak cognitive performance. We gain mental clarity, stay agile, and ensure we are ready to lead. With the strategies we’ve listed above, you can form a holistic action plan to maximize your health. It sets a standard and allows you to be your best.

We want your feedback!

If an idea resonates with you, you have a question, or you just want to say hey - feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]

This newsletter is growing FAST! And that’s because of YOU. We’ve enjoyed hearing about connections that have been made between coaches and leaders through this newsletter. If you know of someone who would enjoy this or could use this newsletter as a resource - feel free to share the link to our newsletter with them.

The BETTER System

We’ve built a system to help leaders in athletics develop things like their Circle of Competence in a more intentional way. More than 300 coaches and leaders in sports are now unlocking the mindset, leadership, and performance of their teams with the BETTER System. It’s a suite of 7 tools including data collection tools, talks, culture playbooks, and team exercises.

Find out more about the System some of the top programs and athletic departments in the country are using to enhance their mindset, leadership, and performance.