It’s interesting how at a young age in sports you learn how important it is to be mentally, physically and emotionally ready to compete during practice, and especially at game time. As you grow older, these same principles are just as critical to create a competitive advantage for your professional and personal journey, but they are not actively taught or discussed in any meaningful way (unless you are a pro athlete).

For me, there are four key elements I focus on for peak performance:

  1. Sleep
  2. Nutrition
  3. Mental + emotional well-being
  4. Physical training

Sleep

Early in my career, I knew that sleep hygiene was critical but still struggled with it. For help I turned to the New York University sleep clinic. The clinic provided a lot of recommendations (e.g., blackout shades, no caffeine) but the advice that helped the most was to have a set sleep cycle and to pay attention to what types of food you eat at night and when you eat meals.

Nutrition

As my career progressed and demands grew, I began having GI issues. For a period, I went back to a vegetarian diet but I found myself depleted. I sought out medical advice and discovered I had celiac. This started a multi-year journey to formulate a nutrition plan (food + dietary supplements) that would enable me to sustain my workload, intense weightlifting (benching my bodyweight) and still have energy to enjoy my family on the weekends. What surprised me was just how hard it was to find supplements:

  1. With clean ingredients and transparency on sourcing;
  2. That were effective and worked for my body;
  3. That were safe and had some type of certification.

Emotional

I also explored meditation. Out of the four elements, this was the hardest. I had to mentally commit to a multi-week “training” schedule to stick with it. Unlike winning in sports, there isn’t a medal. But I have gained a level of clarity in thinking and in the ability to reset. This has become invaluable for me when I have been delayed on a plane but still need to finalize a fiscal budget, or pivot to be truly present for my kid’s lacrosse game.

Physical

I love physical training. For years, this was my go-to activity for stress relief. I hit the gym every day when traveling and at home. Usually, it was weightlifting and sometimes running. Over the years, my goals have shifted. At first, I was focused on specific improvements. Now my focus is the prevention of injury, so I put a higher emphasis on agility training, stretching, and different types of cardio. My goal now is to ensure I am in great condition to sprint through an airport for a plane, help unload a case of product, or play pickleball with my kids. For me, being active helps me truly feel healthy.

Your turn. What advice do you have to stay in your optimal physical and mental shape for work and play?

Emily Culp is a Women in Retail Advisory Board member. Join Women in Retail today to get to know Women in Retail members like Emily!