MANAGEMENT & The SELF
I hope to meet you in the place where mental wellbeing meets management.
It is a goal for each of us to become their best selves, to thrive in all aspects of our life, personally, socially, professionally. But we can only do that if our mind is balanced. We can only build on a stable foundation, we cannot build on water, we cannot build on quicksand.
In recent years, there has been increasing acknowledgment of the important role mental health plays in, well, everything. According to the World Health Organization’s Mental Health Report of 2021, “Depression is one of the leading causes of disability. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among young people. About one in eight people in the world live with a mental disorder.”
But what is Mental Health, you may ask, since it’s such a trendy subject nowadays, since lately it seems to be more on everyone’s lips then in everyone’s head?
“Mental Health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stress of life, to realize their abilities, to learn well and work well, and to contribute to their communities. Mental health is and integral component of health and well-being and is more than the absence of mental disorder.” the WHO continues to tell us. We all want that, don’t we? To cope, to reach, to contribute. We all want to have more than the absence of disorder.
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As an architect, as an entrepreneur, as a yoga teacher, as a woman, in the many roles I’ve been balancing over the years, I’ve learned that showing up every day as our best selves is a task of management. Of constant, coherent, consistent, self management.
We’re talking a lot of Leadership these days, of daring to lead, of leaders without titles. It’s great. We all want to be leaders. And from some perspective we probably are. It’s a good place to be, being the leader. It sounds great, it’s vague, it has all the qualities. Nobody wants to be a manager anymore, it’s complicated, you’re being held accountable, it’s structured, it has rules. But guess what? You are accountable. To yourself you are accountable. You are the manager of your own system, you initiate, you plan, you allocate the resources, you monitor, you are responsible for the results. Not someone else.
You.
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We meet in the common desire to be better professionals, to be better entrepreneurs. That is why we are here. But how do we do that?
By managing ourselves first.
It’s time for a change of perspective. We need to see ourselves as responsible managers of our own existence. We need to find the balance in everything, we need to make sure that the system – us – goes from coping into well-being, and settles in a place where there is more than the absence of disorder. Only then, from this place of well managed self, we can successfully manage others, lead others.
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About self management, keep in mind just three thoughts:
First, Management means initiating: finding an idea, structuring your vision, the vision of your best self. Who do you want to be? Who do you want to become? Ask yourself these questions.
Secondly, management is planning. It’s researching, thinking, analyzing and finally, it’s producing the plan for the “Best Me”, for the “Balanced Me” project.
Thirdly, it is executing. It’s getting into action and staying there no matter what. It’s a state of being in a sustained, constant, intentional approach, following the plan.
During all this, monitoring and controlling are done in parallel and without interruption. We must be constantly looking at ourselves and evaluating if we are on the right track. Moreover, after each step, the perspective on things changes, we see new possiblities, new opportunities, new paths. We need flexibility not fixation.
Why do I use this parallel that is for some so insipid? Why should we constrain something so free as the self into such a restrictive template?
Because the solution to finding balance and growth and well-being requires diligence and discipline. And it requires direction, intention, planning, continuous care done with discernment.
But also because the template is not at all restrictive, that is a false perception. These tools are just our guiding lines like those a plane needs too take of, they are our tools of reference on where we are, our tools of leveling that indicate if we are heading towards our destination. Not more than that. Management is art, it is creative, but it is not random.
It’s easy in life to lose balance. It’s easy to focus on just one field, it’s easy to go so deep into a way of living that you completely lose sight of your set destination. Or to just lose the ability to course-correct.
Finding happiness is a complex goal with numerous components, among which mental health and well-being, physical health, social engagement, finding meaning, safety & economic security, personal growth.
When the mind is not balanced, everything goes out of tune.
When the body is not taken care of, everything goes out of tune as well.
When we are not balanced, we are reactive instead of intentional. We lose overview and purpose. We derail.
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I will leave you with just one call to action, if you can add it into your busy schedules, take these steps for yourself.
Find perspective: write down your Life Mission. Define who you are.
Find what you stand for: find your values. 5 are enough, even 3, but find them.
Understand the Key areas of your life and attend to each one like the diligent manager that you are: closely manage your personal life, manage your personal growth, manage family life, manage your social, your professional life and find adventure. Manage them intentionally and with clarity. Measure and take measures.
Whatever you do, don’t lose track.
You want to manage others? Manage yourself first.
You want to lead others? Lead yourself first.
You want to see change in your life? Manage change in yourself first.
And start as soon as possible. Start now.
