Effortless Thursdays #10: How I find resilience when the shit hits the fan

What theory looks like in real life

This has been a pressure cooker week for me of deadlines and deliverables.

I’m moving back to London after being based in the Lake District since June last year. So there’s the logistics of what to move, when and how. 

I’m also crafting the lessons and resources for participants in my community of Pioneers who have joined the Effortless Leadership course I’m running. 

We’re about to start on the 2nd pillar of Effortless Leadership: unlocking your courage to change. 

ps Here’s a sneak peek of a video lesson that’s available in the community about the 1st pillar of Effortless Leadership: reclaiming the joy for what you do.

Granted, I’m not working an intense 18+ hour day like I was when I was a corporate M&A lawyer, but the intensity of learning, thinking and applying new skills and techniques is as high.

What’s different to how I’ve run programmes in the past is that I’m learning new skills and techniques - and applying them at the same time as building the programme - to make the community experience outstanding.

Why? Because:

Community boosts individual transformation.

It definitely feels like I’m building the plane while flying it. 

Yet, despite all of that I feel in a state of flow.

Given that my course is about Effortless Leadership, I figured I should walk the talk, and share how I deal with the days when the shit is hitting the fan.

Theory is all well and good, but what does it look like in practice?

Last week, Effortless Thursdays #9 was about how cooking not only offers us lessons in resilience but also a recipe for true resilience.

Effortless Thursdays #9: Cooking: a recipe for true resilience

True resilience comes from a combination not just of how we think, act and feel, but also how we set the conditions for our thinking, actions and feelings. 

Cooking is the gift that offers us that combination.

And when we cook real food, we set those conditions by making health - which starts with food - the foundation for our success.

So for this week’s edition of Effortless Thursdays I’m taking the recipe I shared for true resilience, and showing you what I do to apply it in practice this week as the shit has hit the fan.

Let’s go!

1. Double down on my “eat real food” approach to keep my mental stamina

Given my autoimmune condition and knowledge of Functional Medicine I often get asked what one should eat when living with an autoimmune condition. With autoimmunity, it's important to minimise things that cause gut impermeability aka "leaky gut". I don’t apply it 100% all the time.

But when I have days where I'm experiencing more stress - deadlines are looming or the intensity of thinking and doing is high - doubling down on my paleo-template is critical for me to:

• keeping my thinking clear + mental stamina high

• getting easily into a flow state

• getting good sleep

• not falling ill

You can get a copy of the “eat real food” principles I apply 80-90% of the time here.

These are pics of my batch cooking this week - all super quick to make, with plenty of leftovers to save time cooking again.

Lunch / Snacks: Homemade tortilla (30 mins)

Lunch: Lemon and garlic roasted salmon, sweet potato and avocado mayonnaise, and rocket (20 mins) 

Dinner + Lunch leftovers: Homemade Chicken stir fry with shitake and oyster mushrooms, and okra with basmati rice (15 mins)

I tend not to drink during the week, but if I do and still want to wake up feeling as right as rain, I aim for low-sulphur, low additive, organic, lower sugar wines.

If you’re in the US, this is a good supplier.

If you’re in the UK, this is a good supplier.

2. Exercise, adapted to my energy levels

I know you know exercise is important for feeling good when you're under pressure. It relieves stress and improves your metabolic health.

But exercise is a stressor, and when you have more stressors at play than normal, it’s important not to overdo the exercise. 

I found this one hard in the past, especially if I was adhering to a fitness regime. “I can’t miss a session” was a common story I told myself.

What happens, though, is that taking it easier gives your body the space to regulate, and you'll come back even stronger than if you had pushed through.

Zone 2 training is ideal for high intensity work periods. 

Check out the link in the “What I’ve been listening to” section below if you want to geek out on the science-based benefits behind Zone 2 training that we’ve learned from applying it to high performance athletes.

3. Start my day with something that sparks joy

When I start the day with something fun and easy, the rest of the day seems to fall into place. 

My go to list that I choose from?

• Applying learning from the day before

• Spending 30 minutes doing my creative writing

• Going outdoors for 5 or 10 minutes to kick start my intradian rhythm

• Meditating in front of my Near Infra Red Lamp for 10 - 20 minutes

4. Recognise the positive in a negative situation 

There's a lot of ideas and thoughts in my head about how to run the course. And lots of difficult questions, too. 

• How do I create engagement in the different sessions?

• What’s the balance between asynchronous learning and live sessions?

• How do I help people experience the transformation into an Effortless Leader?

Sometimes what I've tried doesn't work the way I had hoped. So there's feedback I get about what didn't work. But in amongst the areas for improvement, I’m also getting feedback about what has gone well, too. 

We’re wired to pay attention to risks and danger. But we can also choose to focus on what’s going well. That’s a key part of creating the confidence and stamina to keep going when the path gets tougher: where you place your attention.

5. Tap into my sense of adventure, meaning and purpose

I know the entrepreneurs, professionals, and increasing creators that I work with want to create something meaningful that has impact. That might be tapping into their calling, or nurturing others, even changing the world. 

Right now, my adventure is taking me along a path to help people wanting to create something big without the cost to their health or their relationships. Success doesn't feel as sweet if you're struggling to get out of bed, super stressed (or bordering on burnout) and worried about the long term impact on your health.

I want to help people avoid the mistakes I made, and show them it is possible to lead and live life in a way that feels effortless. That’s what gives me purpose.

Over to you

I hope these five examples give you inspiration for how you can find your true resilience when the shit hits the fan.

I’d love to hear what inspiration you’ve got, what works for you, and what you learned from this edition.

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What I’ve been listening to

Peter Attia is one of my go-to individuals for Functional Medicine approaches to longevity (lifespan + healthspan), and metabolic health. If you think you know about cholesterol, and still think in terms of “bad” and “good” cholesterol, this video will challenge your thinking. 

Peter Attia did a podcast with guest Iñigo San Millán, Ph.D. He’s an expert in mitochondrial function in everything from metabolic health to elite exercise performance who’s trained world class cyclists and athletes.

These are the two deep dives into zone 2 training - how it burns fat, improves metabolic health, and keeps you young.

Part 1

Part 2

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That’s it for this week!

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