You Need This Now More Than Ever

With the turbulence that this pandemic has brought, so many people are looking for new ways to invest and create cash flow.

The entrepreneurial spirit is strong at the moment.

Unfortunately, the long term sheltering in place and quarantine is derailing many people from moving forward. If you are like many entrepreneurs out there, you see investment opportunities, but more roadblocks than usual.

From youth to seniors, this difficult period has been a struggle. It is easy to let excuses pile up when facing the fatigue and strain of quarantine.

Effects of Quarantine on New Entrepreneurs

• Brain fog
• Languid disposition
• Stiff and tired joints

It’s time to reclaim your body and mind, in order to take control of your future. We can’t redo the past eight months, but there are some small changes that we can make that will set us on the path to action and reignite your passion for life.

Entrepreneurs, just like everyone else, need to be healthy in body and mind.

WHY WELLNESS NEEDS TO BE YOUR PRIORITY DURING THE PANDEMIC

Wellness is essential, even vital, especially for entrepreneurs in the residential assisted living industry.

As a result, comfort food can be counterproductive. Donuts, pizza, coffee with loads of sugar, candy, cake, pie, cookies, and the list goes on are foods given out of admiration, love, and support. These comfort foods are best suited for short periods of time and special occasions.

The long-term effects of COVID-19 means that some diets must change, in effort to preserve good health and wellness.

Unhealthy weight gains, depletion of energy, and increased diagnosis of preventable diseases, intensify amid poor healthcare.

So, what’s the cure? What’s the clear solution to an ever evolving and unforgiving crisis? In one word, the answer is wellness. Wellness is the cure and must remain the aim.

Individuals must take responsibility for their overall health and with some support from employers these programs have proven to be highly successful.

Entrepreneurs in residential assisted living, more than anyone, should embrace wellness. The success of your business is much more thoroughly enjoyed if one is well.

So how is this done? The key to an effective wellness program is full participation.

Who Should Participate in Your Assisted Living Wellness Program

• Owners
• Management
• Care Staff
• Activity Staff
• Residents
• Family Members

Full participation creates an environment of accountability and success. When business owners make health and wellness a priority, everyone benefits from their leadership. When leaders lead the way with wellness, no one objects to fruit trays at meetings and events, as opposed to a cookie tray.

Components of a Fully Functional Wellness Program

1. The need for improvement in overall health.
2. A commitment from leadership and their participation.
3. Competition to fuel participation and engagement.
4. Process for journaling, tracking, and showing improvement.
5. Basic baseline labs. Weight loss should not be the only indicator of success.
6. Low Impact Exercise during the workday.

Six Cores of Wellness

• Eating more fruits and vegetables
• Drinking plenty of fluids, primarily water
• Breathing deeply and often
• Performing 3 exercises daily taking approximately 15-20 minutes daily
• An attitude of gratitude.

Operating a successful wellness program at a residential assisted living home is not a complicated feat; yet, it does require intentionality.

12 TIPS TO STAYING AWAKE NATURALLY

One of the most overlooked and disregarded aspects of wellness is rest. Getting sufficient rest is a cure for many physical and mental complications. A minimum of six hours of rest nightly will solve many problems and obtaining the needed eight hours can help combat many diseases.

It has even been reported that health challenges such as weight loss, hypertension, and a sharp reduction in the severity of diabetes is affected by adequate rest.

Rest gives the body an opportunity to repair and rejuvenate.

What happens when employees are slacking in rest? Sugary solutions become the go-to fix. We all know them, as they canvas our convenience stores and grocery counters.

• Red Bull
• Espresso Drinks to Go
• Caffeinated Sodas

These popular “go-to” pick-ups only solve one issue to create multiple others. So, how can you stay awake naturally?

1. Get Up and Move Around to Feel Awake
   Movement increases blood flow, which increases oxygen, which enhances alertness. Also, many eat heavy lunches or dinners at work. Avoid these. Instead, opt to eat lighter foods and eat more often. Take a walk after lunch to enhance digestion, and increase energy naturally.
2. Take a Nap to Take the Edge Off Sleepiness
   Who said naps are only for preschoolers? If possible, take a nap during the day. Short naps are powerful in terms of energy, focus, and productivity. A nap as short as ten minutes is long enough to rejuvenate you and keep you productive during the long afternoon hours.
3. Give Your Eyes a Break to Avoid Fatigue
   The blue light illuminating from your computer screen is no help at all. Take a break from your computer. Limit your exposure to blue light in 50-minute increments. It has been proven that 50-minute exposure to blue light with a 10-minute break reduces fatigue and enhances productivity.
4. Eat a Healthy Snack to Boost Energy
   Avoid junk food at all costs. That means no: cookies, cake, candy, chips, soda, energy drinks or sugar filled coffee. Instead be sure to have on hand in your business or residential residential assisted living home:

• Bananas
• Apples
• Nuts
• Water
• Stevia instead of Sugar
• Granola Bars

These are just a few examples. Snacks should be healthy, which will enhance true energy without the danger of developing disease in employees.

5. Start a Conversation to Wake Up Your Mind
   The mind is awakened when forced to synthesize language. Therefore, talk to someone. Strike up a conversation. Talk about sports, current events, children, marriage, parents, housing, whatever intrigues you. The conversation will be a jolt of good energy as it is generated by intellectual stimulation.
6. Turn Up the Lights to Ease Fatigue
   Dim lighting equals sleep. If your residential assisted living home has low lighting, consider changing to something more luminous. The light need not be parking lot bright, but certainly stimulating enough and bright enough to see across the room. Better lighting contributes to better energy. Additionally, it is best to get as much sunlight into the home as possible. It’s not just better for staff, but for the residents as well. Sunlight is the absolute best light. The sun is a natural energizer.
7. Take a Breather to Feel Alert
   Literally, breathe. Deep breathing increases oxygen levels throughout the body and does so relatively quickly. Circulation is improved by this because of a reduction in heart rate and a decrease in blood pressure. Your mental capacity increases and stimulation is enhanced. Anyone with an Apple Watch, Fitbit, or any other wrist device synchronized with a smartphone has the added benefit of being triggered to deep breath. This is incredible for productivity. There are various techniques for deep breathing and the jury is still out on which is most effective. What is known is that they all work:

• Abdominal breathing from the mouth out of the nose
• Pulmonary breathing from the nose out through the mouth
• Yoga-style breathing and stretching

Again, the object is to get as much oxygen into the body as quickly and calmly as possible.

8. If You’re Driving, Pull Over When Sleepy
   Driving while sleepy is just as bad as driving while drunk. Be responsible. If you are fatigued after work, especially those working night shifts at residential assisted living homes, take a nap. Just 10-15 minutes could be sufficient to get you home safely.
9. Switch Tasks to Stimulate Your Mind
   Change the way in which you operate at work. Switching tasks traditionally done in the morning to the afternoon causes your brain to work harder, thus stimulating you. It’s energizing to change tasks. You may even trade tasks with others in the business who will be able to fulfill them without much training. This stimulates the mind and will provide a jolt of natural energy.
10. Drink Water to Prevent Tiredness
    Dehydration is the primary cause of fatigue. The body needs adequate water in order to operate optimally. If you are dehydrated, you will not have adequate absorption of nutrients or sufficient blood volume to carry nutrition and oxygen to much needed cells. The result will be fatigue. So, drink water.
11. Get Some Daylight to Regulate Your Sleep Cycles
    Get outside during your breaks and get sun. You need exposure in order to inform the body the time of day. Do not worry, you need not talk to yourself and draw unwanted attention. Sun exposure is enough to get the job done. Your body will automatically clock the time when exposed to the sun.
12. Exercise to Increase Energy and Reduce Fatigue
    Exercise is key. Sitting or walking short distances in the residential assisted living home is not enough to burn unwanted calories. You need to exercise. But, do not get the wrong idea. You needn’t lift hundreds of pounds of weight. Quite the contrary. Brisk walks, pushups, pull-ups, air squats, stretching, yoga, breathing, light jogs are just a few things that qualify as sufficient exercise. When combined with a healthy diet, your body will change. More importantly, your blood chemistry will change. That means, glucose numbers start dropping, hypertension reduces, cholesterol gets in appropriate range, and you feel, look, and work better.

BALANCING WORK AND WELLNESS

Entrepreneurs have always shown America what to do and how to do it. The ingenuity that accompanies the entrepreneur fuels our society.

t’s important for owners and operators of residential assisted living homes to learn everything it takes to be successful in the business.

This is why the Residential Assisted Living Academy teaches everything from A-Z during the 3-day course.

Visit RALAcademy to learn more and get registered.

Do you want to take advantage of the incredible investment potential in residential assisted living? Do you expect your employees to be productive? Do you desire them to be happy and deliver quality care to residents? The key to success starts with unlocking the door to wellness.