Fuelling your four hats.
When I talk about hats, I mean the different hats we all wear on a daily basis, let me explain…
I personally have four hats, some people may have more, some have less and the best part is everyone is different.
We are all the same person under these hats, but for me personally my work hat, for example, is very different from my social hat.
All of the “hats” need fuel to function though and when I say fuel I am talking about sleep, food, hydration, self-care, mental health.
My hats…
1/Mother
2/Wife
3/Business/work
4/Friend/social
Mother hat
This “hat” has me worrying a lot of the time, for example, are the children eating enough? are they getting the right foods to fuel them through the day? Am I doing a good job? Are they ok? Are they sleeping enough? Did their shoes match? (Yep, I have sent them into school with different shoes) Is it an inset day? Yep, I have sent them to school on wrong days too. I am that person, but that is book because we are all just trying to get through this thing called life right?
This particular hat is my most stressful of all because of the want to be seen as perfect and having it all under control. We all do, I want to teach values to my children and for them to grow to be respectful lovely children.
Not easy and a full-time job in itself. I have never experienced such love and guilt at the same time on such as a scale.
Health with this hat on is imperative, it is difficult to implement anything if you are tired or stressed. Personally, if I am tired and grumpy as a result of lack of sleep I am prone to making wrong decisions that can then affect everyone in the family. Clothes get shrunk and/or change colour for example, food comes from a box and not from the ground.
The best part of this is the learning process and I am about 80% there with this hat.
NUMBER ONE TIP
Never run on empty as a mix of hunger and sleep deprivation can make you a HANGRY person, hunger and anger is never a great look in my book.
Wife hat
Now my mother hat comes off after the kid’s bedtime and my wife hat goes on, sometimes I am terrible at this hat, but I work on being present and digital free most evenings. I also work on staying awake past 8 pm which in itself is a challenge when I am up at 5.30am.
NUMBER ONE TIP
Always have date nights and be present, staying awake past eight pm helps too.
Business hat
Business and work, now this hat is worn after the morning school run/dog walk and before school pick up. I need to be 100% on top form, I need energy and positivity. My work involves promoting health to others so I need to be a great advert for it. I have been accused of not taking this hat off though and have been known to keep it on when the mother/wife hat should be on. We all do this, it is about priorities and knowing what is important.
My number one tip…
Learn to switch off or you upset the unique balance of all the hats.
The friend and Social hat
Ahhh I love this hat, Coffee catch-ups with friends can be amazing. I need this hat to be separate from all others so I can be jus, well, just me.
When you have close friends who are all striving for similar goals you can empower each other. Some coffee mornings turn into business ventures, bouncing ideas off a close friend is magic.
NUMBER ONE TIP
Birds of a feather flock together
So fuel for your four hats involves all of the following and keeping it all in balance is essential.
Exercise for mental and physical health. Without this daily, the other hats will not get their full focus. Movement daily will give you the following benefits…
- Lowers blood pressure.
- Controls blood sugar.
- Helps control weight.
- Good for the heart.
- Lowers cholesterol.
- Relieves pain.
- Improves sex.
- Reduces falls.
- Improves mental health.
Diet is imperative for your energy levels and mental focus, again it is needed within a balance. Make sure your diet is working for you and not against you. Bullet coffee and high fats may work for one person but be detrimental to another. Know what works, diet plans will all work in theory, any calorie deficit programme will work short term but you need healthy longstanding habits too.
Sleep is vital for your overall wellbeing and without enough sleep your willpower and focus declines. Think bad food decsions for convenience, box meals leading to energy slumps and poor sleep and back to square one.
Aim for 6-8 hours a night of quality sleep.
Hydration fixes many ailments including headaches, dry skin, irritability and digestion and all the things needed to maintain balance within.
Aim for 2 litres daily of clean fluids and more if exercising.
Maria
x
