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A Healthy Dose of Performance Management
Copyright © All rights reserved
By Beth Lanier
Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.
As the President and CEO of
“You, Inc.”, you are responsible for ensuring its continuous improvement
toward peak performance. You must manage your body’s performance like you
would manage that of any employee; setting it up for success by providing
both the information and the tools it needs to perform up to its potential.
Approach your journey to wellness like a physical performance management
process:
1.
Assess your current state of physical health.
Get to know the real you by assessing the state of your health
o
Get a physical and get a handle on health
indicators such as cholesterol levels, blood pressure, blood work, etc. Ask
your doctor how you stand against weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) targets
as well.
o
Utilize your company’s wellness program if
available. Annual physicals, blood work and even preventive diagnostics
such as mammograms and colonoscopies may be offered for free or reduced
costs.
2.
Set realistic goals for improvement.
o
Prioritize the health risks you have
identified and then measure their reduction over time.
o
Develop a plan with 3-5 realistic short-term
and long-term goals for improved fitness.
3.
Implement a plan for positive change.
Go about this personal project like you would any other.
o
Keep your goals in front of you. Use
self-reminders and other tools to help you follow your plan. Place post-it
notes in strategic places with goals and/or inspirational quotes. Keep
sleeping and/or eating journals. Plan menus ahead of time and make sure
your grocery list is guilt-free.
o
Schedule your exercise time on your calendar
or planner. Note now when it is time to review your progress. It is harder
to break a commitment to yourself when it is written down.
o
It is even harder to break a commitment to a
friend. Find others with similar needs and work as a team to reach your
wellness goals together. Share advice, seek ideas and best practices and
offer plenty of encouragement along the way. In the face of temptation
there is strength in numbers!
4.
Hold yourself accountable and reward yourself
along the way.
o
Seek help from those around you. Give people
permission to give you gentle reminders. Ask your family and friends to
honor your food choices instead of leading you into dietary temptation.
o
Set measures of progress and track them
faithfully. Use scales and a measuring tape to track weight loss in pounds
and inches. Keep an exercise diary to note endurance and/or weight-training
levels. Perform blood pressure checks at regular intervals.
o
Don’t forget to celebrate success! Positive
motivation requires praise and rewards for milestones made along the way.
Allow yourself a favorite dessert on the weekend if you’ve eaten healthy all
week. Promise yourself a new outfit when you reach your first fitness
goal. Pick a few of your favorite things or activities, and use them as
incentives to get you through moments of temptation.
The ultimate goal of performance management is to ensure the success of the
individual in helping the organization be successful for the good of all.
Managing the health of “You, Inc.” is no different. Your body must perform
at its best both physically and mentally in order for you to perform well
all of the responsibilities of your life, whether professional duties in the
workplace or labors of love outside of it. People depend on you to be there
for them. Depend on yourself to ensure you are.
For more information about
Ken Chapman and Associates’ Leadership Development Programs, contact Ken
Chapman at 205.366.0265 or email Ken at
kchapman@leaderscode.com.
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