Mental and Physical

On Saturday morning the alarm went off well before it should have. OK, it went off when I set it for but at that moment it seemed far too early. I had an extremely busy week, one of those when everything seems to occur in rapid succession. As a result it was a total of five days early rising and late getting to bed.

This is not to say that the week was not of my choosing. Nor is it to say that the week was not one that I felt like something was accomplished.

However, this Saturday morning I had agreed to get up and help out all day at a charity barbecue. Oh, yes, one other thing. The weather forecast for the day was thunder storms with heavy rain. Just the sort of day you want to be in an open plaza cooking and selling hot dogs.

The temptation was to turn off the alarm and go back to sleep. Perhaps call someone and say I was not feeling well. For those who care, I did not call in but rather went to the event. Yes the rains did come. Then the sun came out. All in all we had a great time and raised funds for a worthy cause.

This whole episode made me think of people who face a similar situation every Monday through Friday. The job they have is either mentally or physically exhausting. They do obtain a certain sense of satisfaction when the job is done but it is not a true passion of theirs. These are the folks who work to live rather than the ones that live to work.

In these cases, it is a matter of the mental being able to win out over the physical. The body is saying "call the boss and say you are not feeling well". The mental is saying "get going now you have important work to do that people care about".

Unfortunately, the mental needs reinforcement just like the physical does. People exercise and train to keep their bodies in condition to do the physical tasks required of them. No doubt you have received an offer from a health club in the past 2-3 months. We all do, and some of us actually sign up. Again, the mental aspect comes into play again. We sign up then do not go.

Thinking of it from a business perspective, business owners should focus on making the mental message the stronger of the two. That means showing employees that their work is valued. Showing employees that their coming to work every day counts for something. The recognition need not cost a lot in terms of dollars. However it needs to mean something to the recipient.

Just something for all of us, both employees and employers to think about.