STRESS: THE SECOND SYMPTOM THAT STANDS BETWEEN YOU & YOUR DREAM LIFESTYLE

The stress that so often dogs the successful can quickly sour relationships with family and friends. Relationships of any depth demand constant input of new energy, and often executives just don’t have the energy to spare.

Your loved ones, friends and family members require more than just your presence. They need sincere communication. They need you to engage with them, to remember those important shared moments and to be there to create new ones.

Engaging takes energy. Like the members of your team, your family, friends and loved ones want to feel special. They want to feel like they belong in your inner circle.

This is not something that can be bought or outsourced.

Give them anything less than they deserve and you run the risk of isolating yourself. The longer this isolation continues, the more difficult it will be to get the attention you need when you need it.

Unlike professional relationships, with their clear-cut hierarchies, personal relationships are non-hierarchical. Even the most powerful executive meets family, friends and loved ones as equals.

Unhappy team members can either get over their issues or find a new position elsewhere. The executive can stand firm and exert the power of their position. At home, relationships need to be nurtured; they can’t be ruled by force. This nurturing and engagement require energy.

Conflict is the inevitable result of long periods of disengagement brought on by a lack of energy. Conflict at home cuts a little deeper. The disapproval of a partner or child is the source of yet more stress and yet more fatigue.

It’s a never-ending downward spiral.