A Healthy Discussion About What Ryan Hanley And Carol Lynn’s Boobs Have In Common

Today We Talk About Boobs

It’s true. But it’s also family friendly! Our topic today is about health and how that affects your productivity, creativity and of course your business.

But first…

A Job For SuperFreds Everywhere

There are three people we’d LOVE to have on our podcast so we’re bestowing a mission upon you, The Army Of Fred.

The first person is Sarah Rodriguez whose novel “Avarice Touched” is currently available for preorder and is dubbed “a fantasy novel about the corruption of power, the madness of the Gods.”

Sounds a little Neil Gaiman to us and we’re geeky like that so we want to talk to her!

Hit her up at @sarahtherebel on Twitter and tell her we request her presence.

The second person is Melissa Hunter who had a funny and clever YouTube series called “Adult Wednesday Addams” that we quite enjoyed until it was pulled for copyright infringement. We’re a little ticked about that, especially considering that the Wednesday Addams porn movies are alive and well.

Hit her up at @melissaftw on Twitter and tell her we want to chat.

Finally, we want to talk to ComicBookGirl19 (who has no other known name). She does great content about geeky stuff like books and movies and has a Game of Thrones wrapup that we wait for maybe even more than we wait for the next episode of actual Game of Thrones.

Hit her up at @cbgirl19 on Twitter and tell her we want to yell at her for not doing a weekly wrapup this season… I mean, tell her we want to talk about her awesome content!

And Now, Boobs

But really, health.

Today we talk about why it’s important to take care of you – mind and body – before you can take care of your business. The conversation starts with a mammogram, which I finally had after years of ignoring my doctor’s advice to get one. I mean, who wants a mammogram? Who wants to get half naked with a stranger and have your boobs squeezed and pulled like taffy? Definitely not me.

And yet, wisdom prevailed and I decided to suck it up and go. This summer was my second. And what I discovered is that it was not nearly as bad as I’d made it out to be in my head. It didn’t hurt. It was barely uncomfortable. The air conditioning was up a little high so it was colder than I like it to be but otherwise it was two minutes, in, out, done.

All that ado built up in my head for nothing. The good news is that I have a clean bill of health.

But there’s a lot more to health than a test once a year.

When You’re Busy, What’s The First Thing To Go?

Ralph and I took a few weeks off from podcasting because we were SO busy and we had to make some practical adjustments to our schedules.

But the podcast wasn’t the first thing to go.

As is usually the case, the first thing we stopped doing was taking care of ourselves.

We stopped exercising. We stopped eating well in favor of eating fast. Over time, we got fatter and out-of-shaper and tireder and unhealthier.

I know we’re not alone. We’ve spoken to plenty of business owners and entrepreneurs who kick health to the curb when time gets tight. We talked to Ryan Hanley on a recent episode about how when he was writing his book, he stopped exercising, didn’t eat well and felt horrible.

And so did we. So we decided to do something about it and started getting on the treadmill again, eating better and even taking care of our mental health with time off.

Bad health doesn’t happen at once. It sneaks up on you until suddenly you can’t quite walk up that flight of stairs as easily as you used to. Or you start to work more and more and get less and less done. Or you crash in the middle of the day and can’t get anything done.

Why Are You Working?

I don’t know anyone who works for the sake of work. Most of us want the financial freedom to do the things we love, to spend time with the people we love and to enjoy our lives.

But how well can you enjoy your life if you don’t have the energy to do it? Or if you’re too sick, tired or miserable to do it?

Either now or in the future, you won’t have the energy to enjoy the fruits of your labors unless you take care of yourself in the process.

If you don’t invest time in your own body, if you don’t take time off to recharge your mind you’re actually doing yourself harm.

Want To Run A Better Business? Eat Your Veggies.

One of the things we’re used to doing is grabbing something sugary and full of carbs for any and every meal.

Bagels, pancakes, muffins, cereal… all that breakfast stuff is common and can be pretty darn tasty but none of it is exactly high in nutritional value and none of it is going to give you sustained energy, mostly because it’s a lot of glorified sugar.

Now trust me on this, I’m not anti-carbs. I love a great loaf of bread and a big plate of chocolate chip pancakes. But those things don’t give me the energy I need to get through a few hours, let alone a day, let alone a day of work!

On days after I eat pancakes for breakfast I need a nap two hours later. On days when I eat bacon and eggs (sounds fattening, I know, but think of all the protein and nutrients…) I feel great for a long time.

You’ve heard of “the sugar crash”. And it’s true. If that’s all you’re constantly putting in your body, you can expect to function below your ability.

Want to be more productive, feel better, improve your creativity and mood and run a better business? Eat food. Real food. Fruit. Vegetables. Beans. Meat if that works for you. Stuff your mom probably told you to eat.

Your Mental Health Is Just As Important

Take it from us, work work work is not only not fun but it’s also not very productive. The more we work, the less we get accomplished. And believe me, I know that when you’re busy and you need to get stuff done you want to keep going for just another hour…

And just another one, it’s almost done…

And before you know it, 18 hours have gone by, maybe you’ve skipped lunch, you’ve surely skipped exercise and your brain is wiped out.

You can’t function with a broken brain any better than you can function with a broken body. In fact, studies have proven over and over that the more you work, the less productive you are.

The point is that in spite of how much you think you still need to get done, in spite of the looming deadline, in spite of all the things on your desk screaming for your attention and making you feel guilty for doing anything else, you have to turn it off.

Take time away from work – and in our case, and probably yours – that means stepping away from technology. It doesn’t mean turning off your computer and going straight to your iPad. It means disconnecting and doing something that relaxes you and lets your brain unwind.

For us that’s reading – real books, the paper kind, the ones that don’t ding and beep and send us alerts or tweets or emails.

I also like doing puzzles. And coloring. I like cooking, too, so just imagine the vegetables I can chop while I’m relaxing!

It’s Hard

This is not our first rodeo, so to speak. We’re currently on a journey back to health after a too-long spell of being rather unhealthy.

And every time we forget to take care of ourselves, it seems to take longer to remember. And it takes longer to get into a groove and make exercise a routine. It’s harder to say no to pizza and choose to chop vegetables instead.

Feeling energized and healthier doesn’t happen overnight. If you’re just starting out and taking better care of yourself, it can take a little time before you wake up feeling better. Getting out of shape doesn’t happen overnight – neither does getting back in.

And I can’t tell you how to do it, either. What works for me may not work for you. I’m an “all or nothing” kind of person. I need to eat 100% healthy or eat 100% crap. Nobody’s advice to “make one small change” has ever helped me.

So you have to find what works for you. Don’t try to do something you know you won’t. You’ll only end up frustrated. Whatever you do, do something.

Your Marketing Action Item

We think we need to rename the marketing action item since it’s not entirely about marketing, so if you have any ideas, let us know!

From Carol Lynn: If you want to take better care of your body, start by taking better care of your mind. When you’re able to focus clearly, relax and get out of the whirlwind of stress, you will be able to make better decisions about your health and stick to them. Figure out what that relaxing thing is for you, the thing that gets you away from work and doing something you enjoy. Your health – and business – depends on it.

From Ralph: Check out the Pomodoro Technique. It’s a method where you work for a designated length of time, like 20 minutes, then get up and do something else non-work related. It’s about decompressing all day long. There are a bunch of variations on the technique, so figure out what works for you and then take time out during the day to give your brain a chance to rest and recharge. You’ll end up doing more work in less time.

Links & Resources

• Ping Sarah Rodriguez and tell her to be on our show!
• Ping Melissa Hunter and tell her the same thing!
• Ping ComicBookGirl19 and ask here where our GoT wrapup is… then tell her to be on our show!
• Listen to our episode with Ryan Hanley where he talks about the toll his book took on his health and family
• Read Ralph’s take on his personal blog about the Adult Wednesday Addams business
• Brush up on the Pomodoro Technique

Where To Listen

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