In January, you were too busy to look after yourself. In March, the quarantine made you sad, so you ate garbage. Today, you’re just ‘out of it.’ There’s a plethora of excuses to neglect wellness. But as a leader, you must prioritize your health because the burden upon you is tremendous. You take care of your home, family, and community. In addition, people come to you to resolve their problems. And you neglect your wellness? That is a surefire way to ruin your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Stop.

Don’t wait until something happens; instead, choose to care for your health every day. Here are a few tips:

Eat right: As the saying goes, “you are what you eat.” Thus, if you eat junk… Don’t be that leader. Eat foods that allow you to live life to the fullest. Avoid junk food, bottled drinks, and highly processed foods that have been shown to be harmful to the body. Plan ahead so you can avoid that last-minute dash for fast food. Now, I cook on Sundays what I package to eat during the week.

Move: If you don’t use it, you lose it. You may lose function in your legs, arms, other parts of your body that you haven’t moved since the lockdown. Note, as long as you have 4 feet by 4 feet space, you can move around. And you must move to retain your strength. Dance, walk, jump rope, squat, and do any other movement that strengthens your body.

Meditate: Take a breather – schedule time to sit in solitude in order to quiet your mind. Some meditate and others pray in order to bring their minds into a state of peace. It is beneficial to take refuge from the constant bustle of the world.

Feed your soul good thing: Listen, watch, and speak positive things into your spirit. Hang around people who share your joy for life. Laugh a lot. This not only reduces stress; it heals your mind and gives you a new lease on life.

Be a leader, be well.