Steve Jobs refused to pay utmost attention to his health but kept pursuing wealth, and this formed part of his regrets before he passed away. In a business world, there are alot to accomplish, an empire to be built, some skills to be improved upon, some deals to close, a rank to be maintained, salary to be paid, schedules to be met, enthusiasm to be rewarded and a whole lot more. The more the mind settles on these, then a pint of blood gushes out of the heart, and indeed the beginning of stress.
Derek is a friend, a next door neighbour, as well as an associate, but it was shocking to receive his death notice on a tuesday morning after he slept and couldn't wake up for his morning duty. He was a real time workaholic, dedicated and enthusiastic to be on top of his game in the banking industry. Derek wakes up early enough to catch up with time schedule, sometimes skipped breakfast, and most times jeopardised his sleep to get rewarded. He was a good friend that had to deal with so many family issues, and his all day sitting position never helped either way because it denied him of good exercise.
As I watched him alight from his car the night before his demise, I rushed to have some conversation with him, moving close to him shocked me as a grown man had eye bags full blown on his eyes, so I withdrew my initial conversation of the loan I intended to collect from his bank to discuss how he could safe time to get over stress, but little did I know that Derek was already a victim of stress to death.
I managed to share some tips with him because I can't deny that I have been a beneficiary of stress management owing to my wife's practice of nursing, that helped a bit. I told him to;
***Take control of his emotions, as stress is built on worries that things could be difficult to solve, or can't even be solved at all.
***I warned him to manage his time: The little weekend he has should be spent on pampering himself and not office work since that took his whole weekdays from him.
***In actuality, relaxation does not necessarily mean taking a nap, but a relaxed mood at work wouldn't pose a threat.
***Indulging in physical activity like moving around the banking hall when customers are not forthcoming is not a bad idea as I proceeded in my conversation with him.
***Talking to someone even if it's sharing humour with your partner at work can only reduce your stress hormones.
***I stressed the need for Derek to take some days off if he is ill instead of managing his health at the progress of a job that will, or has replaced him after his demise.
***Derek is always in haste to meet up target at work, but must the pressure overwhelm him, unfortunately it just did.
My friend wouldn't stop caffeine, and alcohol because he believed those kept him strong, but little did he know that they were agents to boost stress for him.
All these were my words to my dear friend that night as I watched him climb the stairs struggling with his suit and suitcase, but I never knew those would be my last words as he nodded in agreement that he would try to put my words into action. Derek is dead, Mahogany bank is alive, and it would keep recruiting to replace dead people like Derek.
Stress management is not the task of your industry management, but yours. I have seen bankers retired with no health challenge, I have seen bankers died, and I have seen bankers with hole in the heart, but not only bankers, the job you do shouldn't put your health at risk because you can control your personal schedule. Hope my words are not getting too late to you like it got late to my friend Derek. Do not panic, but act, because no one is irreplaceable in any industry.
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