My Best Year of Self-Care - 15 Things That Made All The Difference for One Entrepreneur

Today was a fun day.

I just finished my 250th workout on the Peloton app (most of which have been weight training), which caps off my healthiest 12-18 months since I was probably in my 20s.

Like a lot of you, staying healthy has been a unique challenge for me as an entrepreneur, despite all the freedom and privilege that can come with that role. 

So, here's the shortlist of the things that have made a big difference recently in my self-care journey:

An amazing accountability partner - If you're doing this alone, you've got my admiration. That's exponentially harder for me than having someone who pushes you to excel. My partner, who also happens to be an amazing therapist, is one of the most disciplined, driven people I've met in a long time when it comes to her health. With just a smile and a high five from her mid-workout, I want to push myself to be a better, healthier human.

An amazing leadership team (aka, I got out of their way) - Like many of you reading this, I'm a workaholic. Even on the days where I want to burn this thing to the ground, I still secretly love running a business. It's the best version of me that I've found, but that also leads to me holding on to things too tight, not delegating enough to my company's leadership team, and not getting out of the way of talented people who do so many things better than me. The last two years have been the most deliberate I've let go of the reins and it's made all the difference. A few of the books that have been instrumental in the process of "trusting away" and letting others lead are Traction, Buy Back Your Time, and 4,000 Weeks.

The Peloton App - Working out, especially with weights, has been one of the toughest things for me to be consistent at over the course of my life. I've never had a season where I've been great at it until my partner turned me on to the Peloton app. The workouts are quick and to the point, usually last 30 minutes or less.

250 workouts later, I feel as good in my body at 50 as I've ever felt. As a bonus, working out together and using the app as our shared focal point, has also been an amazing way for us to stay connected when I travel (which has been a ton over the last two years).

The Oura Ring - I'm a data nerd and this "wearable" has been the coolest source of personal KPIs I've ever had. I've become obsessed with my HRV, VO2 max, sleep, readiness, and activity scores (which I'm also able to share automatically with my partner for added accountability). Most importantly, the Oura Ring only needs to charge it every 5-7 days for less than an hour, which is so much better for me than the Whoop band I previously had.

Remade Sleep Powder - OMG. I'm normally a guy that rolls my eyes at supplement trends, but I cannot recommend this enough. But I haven't slept this well in my adult life and my sleep scores have validated that. It's non-melatonin, non-drowsy, non-GMO/organic, etc. Both my partner and I feel like we sleep like rocks, with fewer wake-ups and zero problems falling back asleep. I cannot recommend this enough. Use code "Therapist15" to try it and get a 15% discount.

9PM Bedtime - A by-product of raising a couple of amazing sons, while also trying to build a business, is that a lot of the busy work got pushed until after they were in bed for the night. I've lost count of the nights that I'd turn Netflix on, start returning emails, and work until well past midnight. This usually involved a few trips to the pantry as well. By getting myself to sleep at a consistent, reasonable hour I'm able to get up earlier, enjoy better sleep cycles, have more productive days, avoid late night snacking and have overall better connection with my partner. All huge wins.

Nutrisense Glucose Monitor - This single tool has made more of an impact on my diet and weight than any single thing I've tried in my life. Truly.

I did this voluntarily (it wasn't recommended by my doctor) and it got me in tune with how every bite of food impacts my blood sugar. With the Nutrisense GCM I ate less, more consciously, and began avoiding so many foods that I thought were safer for me, but were actually causing blood sugar spikes. Despite my fears, IT DOES NOT HURT to attach this to your arm or wear it. I promise.

The StepBet App - We all know movement is a big deal. This turned it into a game for me. I've literally pulled off the highway at 11 PM to get my last 1,000 steps in an empty Walmart parking lot because I didn't want to lose a contest.

In a nutshell, you enter contests, bet $40-50 total that you'll hit a certain number of steps every day for a certain number of weeks, and then the pool of money is eventually divided among those who stuck to their commitments. I'll likely break 10,000 steps per day this year for the first time in my life, and this will make all the difference.

Costco Delivery vs. Visiting the Store - Good grief, has this been helpful for me staying away from all the amazing things that you can buy in the frozen and snack sections at Costco. I love Costco for their veggies and protein and just get those delivered now, which saves me time (driving, wandering the aisles, etc.) and money (gas, impulse purchases, etc.). Rotisserie chickens, shrimp, and tons of oven-roasted or Blackstone veggies for the win.

IQ Protein Bars - The Nutrisense monitor ruined a lot of other "healthy snacks" for me. This became one of my top choices for eating healthier when on the go. IQ Protein Bars we easy to have delivered regularly via an Amazon subscription. Costco has also been carrying them as well.

Creatine Gummies - Again, I'm super wary of supplements. But I've gotten pumped (no pun intended) about creatine and where it fits into my own physical and mental fitness as I age. The bottom line for me is that I see better results with daily creatine use, have quicker and better recovery from workouts, and notice a difference in my mental resilience when I take it. I love the Allcoovita brand of gummies, which you can find on Amazon.

Finding my crowd(s) again - It's so easy to isolate as an entrepreneur. Your kids, your family, your side projects, etc. all feed you enough to help your crazy pace make sense, but they can also lack the ability to stretch your own thinking and worldview. There are very few wildcard conversations when you exist in isolation that blow your mind, remind you of why you are who you are, or open new avenues of innovation or entrepreneurship.

Going on the road as a Vistage speaker (300+ out of state gigs in three years), launching my 1F and Streamline practice owner groups, and getting involved in the Tugboat Institute were critical intellectual drivers for me that opened so many new doors and re-awakened some core conversations that fueled my earlier evolutions.

Good travel + airline lounges - Mark Twain said "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." He wasn't wrong. Few things shake up my snow globe for me like finding my away around a new city, much less a new country.

Looking back on all the travel I did in my 30s and 40s however, there was too much focus on the duration of trips and not the quality of rest they brought. "How long can we go" was more important than "will we be more exhausted when we come back than before we left?!"

As I've aged, the little restful things on trips make all the difference. One HUGE x-factor for me in restful travel has been access to quality lounges at airports. I know it sounds bougie, but it's really not.

If you're only an intermittent flyer, a couple of good co-branded credit cards will get you access to an airport oasis where you can use a clean bathroom, avoid lines for overpriced food, enjoy some quiet, and even get some help rebooking a flight if needed (depending on club). It makes travel so much less taxing and much more restorative.

I highly recommend the American Airlines Advantage Executive World card and the Amex Platinum card. Each card runs you $600-700 annually, but if you travel a lot or with family, you'll easily cover that cost in the free food alone. Also be sure to checkout out the Founders Card, which I use to get big time discounts on luxury hotels, in addition to discounts on stuff we use everyday for our business including RingCentral, Constant Contact, etc. 

Noticing Progress / Gains - It may be vanity, but seeing my physical gains fueled my progress. I tried some different ways of measuring it over the years through tracking my weight and body fat (check out the Hume home scale, if body fat percentage is your thing). But those didn't work well to motivate me to get up at 5AM and do sumo squats.

You know what did? My sons repeatedly saying "Damn!" because they were noticing my progress and pushing me to acknowledge it.

Targeted weight training paired with some new, better-fitting clothes did more than I realized to help me earn the feedback I needed to crave further training and change. I owe a lot of credit to my TikTok feed for introducing me to True Classic t-shirts, which fit better than anything I've worn and help my arms look great while not being too tight on the gut (one of my pet peeves).

Sobriety and the I Am Sober app - I saved this one for last because it's not for everyone and it's not a moral issue for me if you enjoy alcohol or other substances responsibly. But letting go of daily alcohol consumption and occasional THC usage made all the difference for me. As important, having a partner that joined me in that journey gave me a critical edge on rough days.

I'm not sure if I was an alcoholic or addict yet, but I was definitely working on it. Especially with seasons of grief that were present in my life over the last decade.

What I do know for sure is susbtances made me feel like shit for far longer than they numbed, disrupted my sleep, led to poor decision making, and robbed me of a lot of my natural motivation (including the anxiety that can light a fire under me as an entrepreneur).

The I Am Sober app was a HUGE help and something my partner and I did together, which also gamified a journey that I needed to take.

I'm not going to lie, there are days where I miss the mute button those things provided, but far more days where I know I never want to go back. If you're considering sobriety, my experience is there's a whole lot more upside than downside. You got this. 

Want more recommendations?

Check out our full spreadsheet of the apps, tools, platforms, etc that have made the biggest difference in building a 7x Inc 5000 mental health practice with 250+ staff across 20+ locations.  

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