Rest your body & your brain

- Hey everybody! Drew McLellan from Agency Management Institute, here with my intern, Heather. You probably remember a video from this fall when I could hold her and she was about this big; not anymore. So, in this week's message... And welcome, by the way, to my family room. In this week's message, I want to talk to you about something that I think a lot of you have overlooked, as we have been focusing on surviving the coronavirus and all the impact that it's had on our agencies. And what I think we're overlooking is how we're taking care of ourselves. So, I have been talking to you guys from early in the morning till late at night, seven days a week, and I hear your fear, I hear your panic, but what I also hear is that you're hurting. I hear the grief for what you thought this year was going to be for your agency and your family and your people. And, I think that's natural. I think we're all grieving the change that this virus has brought to our business, to our families. And while there certainly have been some bright spots: Getting to spend more time at home, getting to be with those that we love. For many of you, you're also away from the people that you love and in some cases, away from them when they're in crisis or they're hurting. And so, the reality is, for all of us, we're on week three, week four of this in the US, and this is a marathon. This is not a quick sprint. And we have to take care of ourselves, if we're going to survive this. Because you are the captain of the ship and you're the captain of the ship at work, you're the captain of the ship at home. And what that means is, you've got to stay healthy, not just physically, not just getting enough sleep and eating good food, but I'm super worried about you mentally and emotionally. And so, what I want you to do is, I want you to: Every day, on your to-do list, because I know you're all making to-do lists, you are a Type A to the very nth degree, and on your to-do list, I want you to put one thing that is mentally and emotionally healing for you. So, whether that's playing board games with your family, whether that's picking up the phone and calling your old college roommate, whether that is running errands for an elderly neighbor, whether that is running errands for an elderly neighbor, which makes you feel good because you're being a helper, whether that's going for a really good, long walk every day and just breathing in some fresh air, it is critical for you to take good care of yourself. We've put together a list of self-care tips for agency owners and leaders, and you will find the URL for that blog post at the end of this video. But please, please, please make sure that you recognize how critical you are to your family, both your work family and your home family, your personal family, getting through this. You've got to stay really in great shape in terms of your body, your mind, your heart, your spirit. So, again, whatever that is, whether that's online worship at your church, whether that is still getting together with a group of friends but doing it on Zoom, make sure that every single day, you've got something on your to-do list that is about taking care of you. Because we've got to get through this together and we need you strong to do that. Okay? I'll be back next week with another tip, but in the meantime, go check out the blog post. In the comment section, please add things that you're doing, that you might suggest to other agency owners and leaders, that they could do for their self-help. But, let's do this together, let's stay healthy, let's stay strong, and let's get through this. Okay? I'll talk to you next week.