Celebrating wins, budgeting calories, burn-out and leadership

Welcome to this week's newsletter

Today is the 1st of December and at this time of the year I always think it's important to start acknowledging and celebrating your wins from the last 12 months.

Before you begin to turn your attention to New Year's Resolutions and goals for 2022.

We're generally terrible at recognising the progress we've made.

I guarantee there will be positives from earlier this year that you've simply forgotten about.

Start a list on your phone or in your notebook/journal and spend the next few weeks noting down all the wins from 2021.

The highlights, the turning points, the challenges that you turned into opportunities for growth.

It's a really nice exercise to do throughout the month.

You'll be surprised by just how many wins will be on that list that you'd overlooked.

Give yourself the credit for them.

Feel good about what you've accomplished this year before you move onto next year.

Budget your calories

With Christmas parties and all kinds of extra social occasions at the moment, it's pretty likely you'll be eating more over the next few weeks.

Whether you're still trying to lose weight, or just avoid piling on the pounds, budgeting your calories is a great strategy.

Think of your calories as a budget across the week rather than just daily.

You know that you'll be eating more on certain days. So to balance things out you just have less on other days.

It's a very simple way of keeping control of your overall consumption.

On the quieter days you might have slightly smaller portions, maybe cut out snacks. That reduction of a few hundred calories on those days will help balance out the extra calories on the higher days.

Try to still keep your protein intake high though.

So if you aren't tracking, make sure you are still including a decent serving of protein with each meal.

And if you're are tracking on an app like Myfitnesspal, keep your protein intake the same and reduce your carbs and fats slightly to then reduce your calories.

The Score Takes Care of Itself, Bill Walsh

Brilliant book on leadership from one of the greatest coaches of all time!

His approach is based on the highest of standards across the board, from his star quarter back to the receptionist. All defined in his Standard or Practice.

In the very first paragraph he describes the huge price you have to pay in order to be successful in the NFL as a coach. The stress, loss of contact with loved ones, no appetite or sense of humour, the list goes on.

Almost glorifying the grind and hustle mentality.

When I read this I thought it would be just another book about the sacrifices and standards required to be successful.

But I was pleasantly surprised.

As described by his son Craig Walsh, “The lessons he shares in The Score Takes Care of Itself are both a beacon for leadership and a cautionary tale - what to do and what not to do.”

The book highlights the enormous toll it can take when you become so focused and so defined by just one element of your life – your job – regardless of how successful you are.

Bill Walsh talks about just how burnt out he was by the end his career. His exhaustion and overwhelm leading to him taking no satisfaction in victory.

It's both a fascinating lesson on leadership and high performance – regardless of whether you work in sport – and a stark reminder of the need to address your wellbeing too.

Check it out