Meeting with Karla Harter-20230808_014625-Meeting Recording.mp4
By Karla Harter
Hello Friends! How are you feeling today? Do you have a morning routine that you do to start your day? Do these activities leave you feeling refreshed and renewed so you can tackle a new day with energy and purpose? Today, I am going to focus on mind, body, and spirit and this relates to leadership and why it is important. Thank you for joining us today, and I hope that you find this topic of interest and beneficial.
It is especially important to take care of yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually, and everyone does this differently. You might be wondering what this has to do with leadership. If you are taking care of yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually regularly, the more balanced you will be. This allows you to be a better leader to others. Gratitude is especially important to practice. “Embodying and practicing gratitude changes everything.” (Brown, 2018, p.83)
I have found personally that when I start the day with good sleep, some alone time to express gratitude for my daily blessings and listen to Christian music on the way to work, I am in a much more balanced state to be a better co-worker, family member, and leader in all areas of my life. During my lunch break, I like to be alone and often play some games on my phone as I am eating. When I am accomplishing tasks on my to do list, I feel motivated to get even more done. This is an example of a wonderful day for me that will continue into the evening at home.
Even though I just described the ideal day and how I like to start it, unfortunately not all my days are wonderful, and I am dragging from the start even before I arrive at work. How many of you can relate to this? These are the days that it is evident that I need to continue to develop strategies to help me mentally, physically, and spiritually and consistently practice them. As I continue to grow as a leader, I recognize what works and does not. Expressing my gratitude in a silent time before I get to work really allows me to focus on the simple things throughout my day better as it is often the insignificant things that make a substantial difference. Please take a moment to reflect on your blessing today. How do you feel spiritually?
Listening to music is a way that I mentally escape and renew myself. When I am studying and working on my assignments, I listen to classical music played on piano or instrumental versions. The music blocks out the outside distractions so I can focus more intensely on the task at hand. I would say that my physical being is the area that I need to work on most as I am often not happy with my appearance and how I feel when I look at myself in the mirror. I have gained weight over the last 8 years, and it has been hard to lose weight which I think is due to my change in metabolism.
As I have learned about the importance of mind, body, and spirit and how it pertains to leadership, I have discovered how precious the concept of self-care is. When I first started pursuing my master’s degree in leadership, I was working full time, the only driver in my family, babysitting one grandson full time second shift, and trying to be there for my two sons and my husband also. What a full load it was, but somehow, I made it through the first few classes without losing my mind. It was not always easy, though.
When my grandson was sleeping, I would work on my homework. When it came to running errands, it was much more efficient for me to do them over my lunch break and after work. Then once I went home for the evening, I did not have to go out again. Ordering groceries online and picking them up the next day became a regular way of life for us, so I did not have to spend my precious time walking the aisles of stores. Finally, my husband and I make a good team and do a decent job of dividing and conquering the household chores.
When my mom passed away suddenly in October 2021, three weeks before the birth of my second grandson, it became evident that I would not be able to keep up with all my obligations. With my mom’s death, I inherited the additional responsibilities of being the executor of her estate and assisting with the care of my older brother that lived in a home as he cannot take care of himself. So, with the support of my professors, co-workers, and my family, I took a leave of absence from the master’s program to concentrate on my personal life. This turned out to be the best decision I could have made. How many of you have had an unexpected turn of events happen, and how did you cope with it? What is your advice to others?
Now that I have returned to the master’s program and have successfully made it to the halfway point, I see even more the importance of self-care and how I can finish this program better than I would have been able to the first time around. I am working on my tendencies to procrastinate, giving myself a specific night off from errands and schoolwork to spend quality time with myself, which usually includes watching some television.
Since I still struggle to find time to spend with my family on an individual basis, I have tried to make some different changes in my routine to help be more successful at balancing work, school, and my personal life. I spend a lot of time with my grandsons as they currently live with us, along with my daughter. She has begun taking them to an in-home daycare which has taken away some unnecessary stress from my life of babysitting them when it comes to the evenings.
I try to spend time with my family members individually in numerous ways. The best time to bond with my husband is in the later evenings in bed where we can plan meals, grocery lists, and watch some television together while catching up on the day’s events. My grandsons often get my attention in the early mornings before I go to work since they go to daycare second shift due to their mom’s work schedule.
Thank you for joining me today so I could share my thoughts about mind, body, and spirit and how it relates to leadership. I hope you all have taken away two or three ideas that you had not thought about before or considered how important these concepts are for you to be successful as an individual. Remember, take time for yourself, and think about how you can renew mentally, physically, and spiritually daily if possible.
References
Brown, B. (2018). Dare to lead: Brave work, tough conversations, whole hearts. Random House.