Why Wellness is the Secret to Personal and Professional Success
[Music]
in 2012
after years of being a perfectionist a
people pleaser
and an overachiever i hit a wall
a wall of burnout exhaustion
defeat grief and what i deemed as
failure
i was a working mom of two little boys
and caught in the rat race of working in
the digital media and tech industry in
silicon valley
i was also part of a dual career couple
with my husband
i was sleep deprived filled with stress
and anxiety
and experiencing growing health issues
along with my husband
i was also ridden with mommy guilt
feeling inadequate at work and at home
unable to keep up with the demands in my
life and feeling disconnected
from my family friends and myself
this time in my life brought me to my
knees literally
and figuratively and made me yearn for
change and transformation
i had a deep and burning desire to get
my health back on track
have more time for my family and pursue
my lifelong passions around health
wellness and fitness i also wanted to
help others
make a positive impact on the world and
do so on my own terms
i then had a startling realization that
after many years
i might be ready to leave my corporate
career behind and step into the world of
entrepreneurship
it was both a terrifying and
exhilarating realization
and one that would take me a few years
before i was ready to act upon it
during those years when i was hitting a
crossroads in my career and life
my dear grandfather who i called my nana
passed away in 2014 on my birthday he
was my last living grandparent
and the biggest champion of my deepest
personal and professional aspirations
he told me when i was 23 years old he
could see me doing work
focused on the upliftment of human life
we were certainly aligned in our visions
for my future because when i was 19
years old and a sophomore in college
i wrote a personal mission statement and
in that mission statement which i still
have today
i wrote that i wanted to find my purpose
on this earth and serve humanity
to the best of my ability after all of
my struggles during this time
along with the death of my nana and
having to confront my fears of making a
drastic change in my career in life
i finally developed the strength and
courage
to catapult myself into where i am today
and
live out those visions and dreams my
nana had for me
and i had for myself all those years ago
i’m now striving for optimal health and
balance to find my way
for my family and myself i also finally
made that aspirational career transition
and i’m now the founder and ceo of a
health wellness and fitness company
with a mission of empowering women to
flourish both personally and
professionally through wellness
i actually knew early on in my life that
wellness
across four key pillars of mental
physical
emotional and spiritual health was the
secret to personal and professional
success
i’ve always had a natural passion to
learn and become certified
in fitness nutrition and behavior change
and in being a first generation born
indian american
i was exposed to and trained in yoga and
meditation at an early age
through my parents and grandparents but
i lost sight
of this very important concept of
wellness as my life became busier
through becoming a wife and mother and
became more complex and also trying to
balance my career and progress in my
career at the same time
through my struggles to balance all of
these roles along with experiencing the
consequences of sacrificing my own
health and happiness in the process
i thankfully found my way back to
wellness to be honest it was my only
choice
if i wanted true and lasting change and
transformation in my life
and as a result of my experience during
that time
i’m now doing my life’s work as i stand
here today
with empathy and grace to humbly share
my learnings
with all of you i know many women can
relate to my story
many of you may have your own stories
experiences and struggles around burnout
which is why i stand with you and
empathize with you
in fact in 2019 the world health
organization
classified burnout as an occupational
phenomenon
which has basically turned it into an
epidemic within the pandemic
we’re currently facing across the world
in 2020
and according to the centers for disease
control women
are especially vulnerable towards
anxiety depression
and stress these vulnerabilities
are even more prevalent right now due to
possible career uncertainties
increased household responsibilities
child care and virtual learning needs
for our children
and continued challenges with gender
equity in the workplace
based on a 2020 women in the workplace
report
by mckinsey and lean in and featured in
forbes
one out of four women are contemplating
downshifting their jobs
or leaving the workforce all together
these trying and unprecedented times
are having a negative impact on women’s
mental and physical health
and career trajectories and we as women
need to be the ones to put a stop to it
many research studies also show that
women
simply aren’t as happy as we were in
previous decades
due to a lack of time for self-care we
so often in our lives
put everyone and everything ahead of
ourselves
we neglect our own needs to tend to the
needs of others
and it’s killing us whether we believe
these are characteristics that are
innate in women
or develop socially and culturally over
time
we owe it to ourselves and the
generations that came before us
to break out of these norms and create a
better future for ourselves and the
generations that will come after us
now more than ever women need to be
fearless and at our best
both personally and professionally in
order to rise out of this difficult time
in history
become leaders and be successful if
we’re able to dig
deep and focus on our health and
wellness we’re more likely to feel
strong
empowered and resilient we may become
brave enough to take
risks face our fears and overcome
obstacles
we’ll be able to bring out the best
versions of ourselves for the benefit of
our family
and friends employers communities and
society as a whole
at the end of the day without our health
and well-being
we have nothing with our health and
well-being intact
we have everything and anything is
possible
so how do we incorporate this well-kept
secret of wellness into our lives
we can start by incorporating those four
key pillars of mental
physical emotional and spiritual health
here are some examples
of actions we can take pillar number one
mental health setting intentions each
day
versus letting the day get the best of
us getting organized in order to
maximize our productivity
and getting sufficient amounts of sleep
for optimal cognitive functioning
pillar number two physical health
incorporating a daily fitness regimen
for energy
stamina and strength and eating whole
and nutritious foods
for disease prevention and management
pillar number three emotional health
prioritizing our relationships with our
family friends and ourselves
by creating boundaries between work and
home life and
setting aside time for regular check-ins
with those we love
speaking up when we need support
speaking up when we see injustices
releasing the pressure to be perfect and
simply being our honest and authentic
selves
never giving up hope and taking a chance
on ourselves
and others and pursuing our passions
in order to spark joy creativity and
light
into our lives and the world around us
and finally pillar number four spiritual
health
connecting with our inner selves through
practicing mindfulness and deep
breathing
focusing on what is in our control and
letting go of the rest
knowing our core values and living
according to them
listening to our inner voice and our
intuition
and living with true purpose that’s
bigger than ourselves
and practicing kindness and empathy and
giving back in some way
ultimately it’s up to each one of us to
determine
which pillars and which actions within
each pillar
will be most relevant and transformative
for our lives now
verses later therefore i want to
encourage you
to prioritize and take one action at a
time
and then keep building from there over
time
i hope you’ll come to realize just as i
did that these four key pillars
of mental physical emotional and
spiritual health
are the tools we need to flourish and
they are the very reasons why i
wholeheartedly believe wellness
is the secret to personal and
professional success