It doesn’t matter how close you are to the advice I share in my book and this blog… we all still falter. Many of you know that even as an “expert” on this subject, I still struggle with work-life balance and putting myself first. But it’s not just me. Even the team who is helping me with my book and this website – the team who reads and reviews the content of my book and blog everyday – still makes these same mistakes.

In fact, the same day that we submitted an article to a national magazine – an article that was about the dangerous consequences of overworking yourself and putting others first at the expense of your own health, which I referenced in last week’s special Mother’s Day blog post – a member of my book team ended up in urgent care with painful difficulty breathing because she had been taking on too much work for several years and the stress had caused esophagitis. Just like I have experienced, and I’m sure many of you have experienced, she is a leader in her organization and couldn’t let herself say no or delegate or simply take a break. And now she’s on a restricted diet and restricted activity while she heals. The doctor said she’s lucky she hadn’t developed an ulcer.

As I’ve mentioned in past blog posts, we can’t help others if we don’t take care of ourselves. And if we don’t find balance on our own, our bodies WILL find a way stop us (usually abruptly) from continuing down that path. I was worried when I heard what she had gone through that day. But I also empathized.

Fortunately, because we have been working on this book for over a year, she recognized it right away and I truly believe the changes she is making right now are going to be long-lasting. Part of the reason for that is because we have each other. And that’s a big part of Lifecircle Leadership: leading in a way that helps others and takes care of your community.

I’m glad she’s on the mend, and I’m so happy that our work together made it easier for her to immediately recognize the need for a change to help ensure she stays healthy and happy.

If you have experienced something similar, or if you’re trying to make changes to help put yourself and your health first, I’d love to hear from you. Please post a comment under this blog on my LinkedIn page.

My hope is that we can all find ways to take the best care of ourselves so that we can do more good for others in our communities.