Nourish Your Mind, Body, and Spirit

Build and Maintain Your Inner Strength in a Recession

Your mind, body and spirit are interconnected, and you need them all to survive a recession.

When a recession hits, many people stop exercising, sleep less, eat poorly, and use more drugs and alcohol. Stress is a major debilitating factor during tough economic times and has a negative effect on your potential performance. It is critical to exercise, get enough sun and air, sleep normal hours, and eat healthy to support your brain’s ability to function and ward off the physical and psychological effects of stress. It is also important to work in a comfortable, ergonomic, and safe environment to avoid stress-induced repetitive injuries or illnesses that interfere with productivity and creativity. Your physical comfort and well-being should not be forgotten just because the economy is bad!

A healthy spirit is absolutely necessary to survive and prosper during economic recessions. Spirit can be described as being in touch with the unlimited possibilities of life. Recessions kill enthusiasm, creativity, trust, and enjoyment in people and within organizations. The simple belief that you are going to be successful often guarantees your success!

Identifying if you have lost your spirit is easy. If you believe you are unsuccessful, you have lost your spirit. If you believe it cannot be done any other way, you have lost your spirit. If you are angry or resentful of people that are successful, you have lost your spirit. If you see everybody as untrustworthy or the enemy, you have lost your spirit. If you believe your success or failure is in the hands of somebody else, you have lost your spirit. If your employee turnover, sick days, quality control, or productivity get worse, your organization may have lost its spirit. All of these things have one thing in common—they undermine the ability to take actions necessary to ensure your success.

There are many ways to combat failure and regain the spirit of success. Many people find it in religion, community service, art, or humor. Getting involved in a group whose purpose is to explore spirituality will help you regain your spirit and deal more effectively with the financial problems associated with a recession.

Companies can regain their spirit by organizing off-site gatherings, creating a “buddy system”, developing a success program, having a children’s day, starting company yoga classes, hosting an “executive roast”, or raffling off a free vacation trip. Giving a small bonus check or gift to every employee can have a major effect on organizational morale (how would you feel if somebody just walked up to you and gave you a $10 bill?). Having an on-site customer appreciation day allows employees to rediscover why they do business and develop new relationships that solidify your company’s spirit of cooperation and mutual profit.